Discovering the Legend 4: Read Goblet of Fire
by RoseDragonWitch
Summary: Sequel to Prisoner of Azkaban. After year 3, it seems hard to believe that reading can get even harder than before. But it will. They are on now on the next book… and are preparing themselves for the most difficult adventure they'll read yet!
1. Albus Dumbledore Who is he really?

**I'm gonna try to keep this story up here on fanfiction, though I wouldn't get to used to it. I'm going to try and cut out some parts of the copyright. I'm not going to post all the original work, only the snippets. By this, I'm not going to remove so much of the original text that the story doesn't make sense, but to keep only the important parts, the parts the characters are reacting to. We've put an example below to hopefully clarify this. If it doesn't work out, then you can find this story up on so for those of you who can't seem to find it, you have another site to go to.**

**I own nothing. I don't own Harry Potter. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling. I am merely trying to create this made-up series for others to read and enjoy. But do I wish that I own it? Yes, I do. **

**Prologue: Albus Dumbledore… Who is He Really? **

For a moment there was only stunned silence. Just a few seconds ago Albus had appeared in a giant fireball… no one seemed to be able to speak; they simply stared at him in amazement and shock.

Albus took a few steps forward and said to them quickly, "I have little time to explain." He sighed miserably—one hand absent-mindedly running a hand down Fawkes's feathers.

"What happened?!" Sirius demanded as he stepped forward. He was willing to bet everything he owed that it had something to do with Harry. If anything happened to his godson, he didn't know what he'd do. "Harry…?"

"He's fine, Sirius," Albus told him quickly and Sirius felt for a brief second that a great weight was lifted off his soul. "But I have to be quick. I'm afraid that Dolores Umbridge had discovered Harry's defense meetings with the other students. She laid a trap for him with the help of several Slytherins, and brought him to my office; hoping for a chance to expel him."

"What?! Who ratted them out?" Sirius demanded darkly. He didn't care if it was a student… he was going to make sure that they paid…

"That is no longer important now," Albus told him firmly. "What is important is that I was able to settle the situation."

"Settle it?" Sirius barked angrily. "How are you no longer being at the school to protect Harry settling anything?"

"Would you prefer it had I allowed Harry to take the blame for what happened? And allowed Umbridge to expel him? Or allowed Fudge to arrest him?" Albus demanded, a fire burning in his eyes, his voice echoing about the kitchen. Remus and Tonks both shrank back—forgetting just how rare it was to see Dumbledore display any sort of temper; his kindly face and eyes normally concealed the power that he was capable of. They had forgotten how terrifying it was…

"I'd prefer if you were back at the school looking after him!" Sirius retorted still sounding angry, but he took a step backwards from Dumbledore. "Without you there who's supposed to protect him? Granted you've done a terrible job of it so far…!"

"I had no other choice but to leave, Sirius," Albus cut him off regretfully. "In so doing I may have saved Harry's life AND the cause for which we are all fighting."

Sirius started to say something, but no words came out. And then he opened his mouth again once he realized what he just heard.

"What do you mean?" he asked surprisingly soft.

"Our worst fears are realized. Voldemort is now trying to invading Harry's mind," he told him grimly. "I had been dreading this for a long time. But know I can see it. When Harry looks at me I can see a flash of Voldemort in his eyes. This is why that I've been avoiding him all this year. It is also the same reason that I asked Severus to teach him Occlumency."

Remus swallowed and bravely stood up to speak. "If Voldemort gets inside Harry's head and sees you getting close…?"

"Then he could try to use that to get to me," Albus told him dismally. "But that is not what concerns me. Voldemort knows I do not fear him. No, the real threat is him seeing through what I've been trying to protect. Not only Harry, but the Order itself. If I stay any longer then it would only have put Harry in even more danger. Voldemort will no doubt try to use this connection to try and spy on us… or worse… try to possess Harry."

"Yes, but…" Sirius began, struggling to find something to say.

"Sirius, had I stayed, Fudge would have had me arrested and taken to Azkaban," Albus informed him dully. "Not that it would have held me for long, mind you, but I rather not waste my time. There wasn't anything else I could've done."

"But Kingsley was there too," piped up Tonks nervously, speaking for the first time since Dumbledore appeared. "Couldn't he do anything? Did something happen to him…?"

"Kingsley is the other reason why Harry is not being carted off to a cell in Azkaban," Albus explained, ignoring Sirius's flinch at the horrifying thought. "He was able to perform a Memory Charm on the student who had informed Umbridge of Harry's defense club meetings. Unfortunately, I was forced to attack him along with Fudge, Umbridge and several others. But I'm certain he understands why. But in case he doesn't, please apologize to him for me."

"I can't believe this," said Remus as he sat down shakily. "How—how did it come to this?"

"Fudge," Sirius spat venomously. "Fudge's lost his mind."

"Rather Fudge is afraid," Albus corrected him sadly. "Afraid of what the return of Voldemort will cause his well-organized world to come crashing around him. He is afraid of what will happen to his career if everyone finds out that the worst Dark Wizard to have lived had returned on his watch."

"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!" Sirius slammed a fist onto the kitchen table, causing the empty bottle of Firewhisky to fall and smash into pieces on the floor. "What an idiot! He's doing all this just to keep his job?!"

"I am far more concerned about Umbridge," Albus told them worriedly as he began to pace the room; Fawkes swaying on his shoulder. "She'll be appointed as Headmistress, there is no doubt in my mind. Fudge will make certain of that. She will be given the power to abuse the students without fear that I will find out. And I am confident she will do so, if it means keeping them under her control. And there's nothing I can do about it…" his fists clench tightly in anger at that thought.

"You can't mean that," said Tonks fearfully as the two men looked at him in horror. "Abuse the students? She'd never go that far—?"

"I saw her manhandle the very student who told her about the meetings," Albus said heatedly, his eyes blazing again in anger for that moment. "If she has no care for a student who had helped her, there is no doubt in my mind she will do far worse to those who oppose her. She will do anything to try and keep things under her control."

"What about Harry?" Sirius almost screamed in panic. "What will happen to him?"

"He must learn Occlumency as quickly as possible," Albus replied, almost to himself. "There is nothing as important as this, do you understand? I know it is as difficult for you Sirius as it is for Harry, to accept the fact that Severus must teach him. But it is for his own safety, and for the safety of everyone in the Order that Harry learn it."

Sirius shook his head in astonishment before he spoke again. "I just want to know one thing, Albus. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" he had shouted this last part, causing them all to jump and Fawkes to take flight.

"Sirius, you are going to have to explain what you are talking about," Albus replied calmly, but his eyes narrowed and blazing once more.

"Explain?" Sirius repeated. "Alright, Albus I'll explain. I'll spell it out for you. How is it that you; the most powerful wizard in the world, keep messing up so badly?"

Albus cut him off tightly, "Sirius if you are suggesting that I could have prevented this from happening then I am afraid that you are mistaken. I realize that I've made more than my share of mistakes in the past, but you have to realize that I cannot know everything."

Sirius sniffed disdainfully. "And yet the stuff you do know you don't think important to be dealt with?"

"I have many things that need to be done, Sirius," Albus said turning away from him; Fawkes squawking at Sirius in anger.

"Oh, in that case you have so much on your plate that you don't have time for a child? You knew this was happening didn't you, Albus? You _knew_ that Umbridge was like this! You _knew_ and yet you find yourself too 'busy' to do anything about it."  
"Sirius, Harry is strong enough to…" Albus began.

"He is a _boy_!" Sirius spat. "A boy who had to throw away his childhood. And for what? Don't tell me that you don't remember what we've been reading about already! Or maybe you did. That is what you do isn't it? Just forget about others suffering."

Albus looked at him sadly. "Sirius I don't have the gift of foresight. Surely you must realize that I couldn't have…"

"All I realize Dumbledore," Sirius snapped back, "Is that you are blind. Harry may be brave and strong, but he is still only just a child. You've read about him! I can't help but cry, knowing that the little baby I used to play with is gone. He can't be like that anymore; he doesn't even _know _how to be like that anymore does he? I can't help _but_ blame you, Dumbledore. As far as I'm concerned, you are the one responsible for Harry's unhappiness."

For a moment Albus stared coldly back at him—everyone else staring at them both in terror—wondering what each was going to do. Sirius was breathing hard as if he had just run a marathon… Albus… he just stood there and didn't move a muscle.

"Sirius, that's enough," Remus said firmly and got up to stand between them.

"Back off, Remus!" Sirius rounded on him. He turned back to Dumbledore and demanded, "I just want you to answer me one thing Albus. What did you think could possibly be gained from leaving Harry at the mercy of those Ministry morons!?"

Albus stared at Sirius resolutely, but there was no light shining in his eyes. "His safety, Sirius. His life. He wouldn't be safe with me around anymore. I know you don't believe me, Sirius, but it was very difficult for me by leaving him and the castle… especially when the Ministry is there. I had hoped that it didn't have to resort to this…" he trailed off; unable to finish.

"Well, maybe you just don't care," Sirius spit out. "So long as he does what you want, nothing else matters. What do you care if he's suffered?"

"That not fair Sirius," Albus protested softly as Fawkes let out a loud shriek of anger. Sirius opened his mouth to say something again, but Albus interrupted.

"I did what I thought was right," Albus said with finality, forcing himself to look into his grey eyes. "Harry is very important to me, Sirius."

"Yes, important just so long as he plays into your little game to win the war and defeat Voldemort when the time comes," Sirius snapped back. "He's nothing more than a pawn to you, Albus isn't he?"

"Harry is not the only person who has something to lose, Sirius," Albus said, his voice full of ice. "I cannot emphasize this enough. If I remain, then Voldemort will only continue trying to invade Harry's mind. He will learn of what we are trying to hide, and the danger to Harry, to all of us, will be far greater than any of us can begin to imagine."

Sirius glared back at his old Headmaster. But as much as he hated it—the old man made some fair points… not that he would ever admit it.

"What about you?" Tonks asked the Headmaster hesitantly after a few minutes of tense silence. "What are you going to do? Where are you…?"

"I was not here tonight," Albus said firmly, turning away from Sirius and to Tonks. "As far as you know I vanished after the encounter in my office and no one has seen me since then. You must pass this on to Kingsley—but I am sure that he has figured it out for himself. The fewer people who know of my whereabouts, the better it is. I will contact you in a few days. But do not contact me unless there is an emergency. If you need me, you know what to do."

At this, Fawkes—who had been circling the kitchen—flew back to Albus.

Albus reached up to grab Fawkes tail, his eyes moving back to Sirius sadly. "And…" Albus closed his eyes very tightly for a moment; Fawkes gave a much softer, sadder cry. Albus said simply, "I know that you don't believe me, Sirius. But like you said to Molly before… you aren't the only person who cares about Harry."

With another blinding flash, Dumbledore and Fawkes were gone. No one dared say a word. They all stood there, stunned—Remus and Tonks looked at Sirius with wide eyes, unable to believe what just happened.

"Well," Tonks said after a few minutes of awkward silence. "That went well don't you think?"

_*The London streets*_

Alastor (Mad-Eye) Moody was walking through the shadowy streets—keeping his eyes on everything that moved. This was a particular dark part of town where he knew that Death Eater wannabes would gather and exchange any information that they thought to be useful. That was when someone appeared right behind him.

At that, Mad-Eye swiveled his magic eye to look at the back of his head, and he grasped the wand in his pocket tightly. When he saw who it was, he relaxed slightly—but didn't let down his guard. Standing there, in the darkness of an alleyway was Dumbledore, who was wearing forbidding expression on his face.

"It is me, Alastor," he said as he held up his hands to show him that he meant no harm. "And my favorite jam is raspberry."

"Ah, Dumbledore," Mad-Eye said with his twisted grin, wandering into the dark alley so that he could speak with him without having to worry about being discovered. Though it was so dark out already that the only rays of light came from the dim streetlamps—Mad-Eye seriously doubted that anyone could see them here. "What brings you to a place like this?"

"Alastor," Albus said quietly as he walked up to him. "I need to ask a favor of you."

Mad-Eye raised his eyebrows. "Oh?" he asked and focused both eyes on him. "Do tell."

It took only a few minutes for Albus to tell him what had happened just an hour ago. Once he was done Mad-Eye laughed darkly. "Oh, what I wouldn't have given to have seen the looks on their faces. A good hard slap in the Ministry's face is just what they needed in my opinion. But what does this have to do with me?"

"I want you to do everything in your power to help protect the students," Albus explained.

Mad-Eye looked surprised; but only a little. "Don't you have teachers for that?"

"Yes," Albus nodded. "But I need you to do whatever you can to prevent anything happening to the students. I cannot think of anyone better than you to keep an eye on them. Please do this for me, Alastor."

Dumbledore raised his head looked him directly in the face. Mad-Eye noticed that his eyes weren't twinkling tonight. That only happened when he was angry… or sad… Mad-Eye observed the old man in front of him but scrutinized the two drunken men staggering down the street behind him, wondering if they were dangerous.

"You're the best we've got," Albus said to him simply.

"What do you plan on doing about Potter?" Mad-Eye asked, suspecting that it may have been what was upsetting him.

"I'm afraid that that is the main reason I am here asking you this," he answered honestly. "He's still at the castle and Umbridge will be made into the Headmistress. He and all the students will be left at the mercy of the Ministry."

"You think that something will happen?" Mad-Eye asked coolly.  
Dumbledore's eyes darkened and voice was steely when he said, "For the Ministry's sake, they better not. But I need your help with this."

"So you're just going to have people watching?" Mad-Eye asked lightly. "And then what? You can't do anything on the run."

"I must," Dumbledore said quietly, restraining frustration as he turned his back on him. "For his and other people's safety…"

"Surely you must know by now that Potter doesn't have the slightest clue what's going on!" Mad-Eye said annoyed. "I thought you knew that by now. Constant vigilance, how much must I tell you all this?"

"He is a child!" And with these sudden, harsh words, his dull eyes flamed; "He is a CHILD, Alastor! Only fifteen! Everything's he's been through—and seen… And I can't… I just can't!" Mad-Eye's eye fixes it to Dumbledore's blazing blue eyes, and radiating power and frustration, but not even his magical eye could see everything.

But the wrinkles in the corners of them said it all. Aurors are trained to study faces and bodies; and so Mad-Eye knew what this was about.

"I've made so many mistakes, and I can't fix them. I want him safe, but I also want him happy," Albus groaned miserably. "It pains me to know that he cannot have both, Alastor."

Mad-Eye watched him very carefully. The eyes that were full of weariness and regret and sorrow; the twitching hands that were restrained emotions… He was actually fearful, but of what? What is he so afraid of?

"What do you mean?" Mad-Eye asked lightly.

Albus let his arms fall to his sides; with a defeatist sigh, he leaned up against the wall, and ran a tired hand over his aged face.

"I've made a terrible mistake," he whispered, more to himself than to Mad-Eye. "But what else could I do?" He turned on his heel and was about to leave when Mad-Eye asked him something.

"Aren't you going to tell the boy?"

"I cannot do anything now," Albus said wearily. "I just told you…"

"Not that, Dumbledore," Mad-Eye cut him off frustrated as he limped forward to see him face to face. "I mean about how closely you've been keeping an eye on him?"

Albus froze. "It's not important."

"Yeah, but weren't you looking after him all this time?" Mad-Eye asked interested. "Potter doesn't realize it, but you have been keeping a very, very close eye on him. This is a very strange professor-pupil friendship, Dumbledore. But to Potter, the bond he holds with you is a source of strength and admiration. In fact, if it weren't for you, Potter may very well be considered dead today."

Albus sighed. "I have made a lot of mistakes. I have watched him more closely than you could ever imagine…"

"And perhaps you are starting to see a bit of yourself in the boy?" Mad-Eye asked knowingly.

Albus just turned away from him. "After everything I've done in distancing myself from him, do you think he'd be happy to know the truth? After all this? On top of everything else he is forced to go through?"

Mad-Eye's eye swirled around and was staring pointedly at him. Albus had faded out—thinking about what Sirius said just a few minutes ago and how those words stung.

_*Albus's POV*_

Albus just couldn't find it in him to tell Harry. He had realized long ago that he didn't care for the plan so long as Harry got to be a child for as long as possible, because hearing the prophecy would change him, he had no doubt about that. Anything could happen to him if he heard it? Would he try to run away from it all together? Albus didn't think so… more likely it would drive him further to defeat Voldemort? Perhaps it would, but then, Albus reasoned, that drive had always been there, even when he was younger, a desire to defeat the one who took the lives of his parents.

Albus had watched the boy through these years…

He watched the changes from afar, Albus followed the child's progress for almost 5 years. Whenever he had gone through something dangerous and threatening, Albus felt as if he would have a violent heart attack, hiding the all consuming panic that would almost overtake him.

His concern only got worse as the years went on.

A boy full of youth and innocence who was filled with an incredible resolve.

And even after all this, some things stayed the same. Like the eyes, the bright green eyes, that always seemed to pierce right through to Albus's heart. He saw the light in them, the same determination, whenever Harry looked at him. It took a few years, but eventually, he began to recognize the confidence in Harry's steps.

Severus would call it arrogance, while the Ministry would call it pride. Albus… he saw it as the boy moved with a self assurance that the headmaster had always known he'd gain once he was free from that house. Yes, Albus had seen it long ago. And it made him devastatingly sad.

But he had done what he had to do… to keep the child alive.  
These reasons, and more, were thought up so that Albus could postpone the time when the truth would come. Why? Because he cared about the boy. He cared more about his happiness and peace of mind than his plan. He had seen this coming from the start… how could he have allowed it to happen?

"It's best to watch him from a distance," Albus said at last. "That's it."

"Well," Mad-Eye said at long last. "It's not like I have much else to do. I'll keep an eye on the school."

Albus turned to him with gratitude in his own eyes. "Thank you, Alastor."

_*Mad-Eye's POV*_

He left not long after that—looking only too relieved to do so. Mad-Eye turned and continued his stroll down the dark street. He became lost in his thoughts for a moment.

Mad-Eye had always been interested of Dumbledore and his relationship with Potter. Dumbledore had always been the voice of reason, and the color of his eyes always has a calming affect that helps brings into focus issues of communication and self-expression, both in what others say how they present themselves to the world.

So what's so special about this friendship? Normally, for teens, the company of an 'older person' would certainly be considered boring.

At the start, Potter had never met the person who left him at the Dursley's font door that night so long ago. Despite that, before Potter had even spoke to Dumbledore for the first time, some sort of invisible friendship was already taking place. Having grown up with his horrible relatives, Potter never once felt remotely related to them. Not that Mad-Eye could blame him.

Strangely, the kid barely met Dumbledore three times throughout his first year, yet already he had created a much closer bond with Dumbledore than all three Dursleys combined.

Potter's first impressions of Dumbledore began when Hagrid was telling Potter about his past. When the conversation moved onto whether Potter should go to Hogwarts or not, he quickly learnt his aunt and uncle weren't particularly fond of Albus Dumbledore, especially when Vernon called him a 'crackpot old fool'.  
Mad-Eye snorted.

Since they are both greatly hated by the Dursleys, Potter was able to immediately relate to this 'crackpot.' As Hagrid revealed more, Dumbledore became an intriguingly mysterious character and Potter wanted to know all about him. In fact, he had just noticed that at the end of every book, every year, the two have a conversation that helps the boy grow into a better person.

But now that Potter's getting older, his illusion that Dumbledore can solve anything slowly begins to fade and he remembered the words he heard only days ago. **'Harry stared up into the grave face and felt as though the ground beneath him were falling sharply away. He had grown used to the idea that Dumbledore could solve anything. He had expected Dumbledore to pull some amazing solution out of the air. But no… their last hope was gone.' **

Through all his years at Hogwarts, Potter has shown nothing but respect for Dumbledore, and looked to him for guidance and answers. But now that's changed. Potter is going through his teen years and learning more about himself. Dumbledore must've watched Potter very closely as he was growing up, and despite what he says to the contrary, is probably seeing part of himself inside the boy. Unfortunately, for his own good, Potter is being ignored by the Headmaster this year.

Dumbledore can't solve everything, but that somehow always seems to be able to take the right course of action in a situation, even if it means something like sending Potter back in time to save his own life!

Mad-Eye thought back to the first book and pondered something that he had been wondering for some time. How much did Dumbledore know about Voldemort's attempt to get the Stone in first year? And the how fully did he realize that the trio were trying to thwart that attempt?

Hasn't anyone noticed just how many coincidences were? And if there was one thing he learnt about life is that there's no such thing as coincidence. The more he thought about it, the more strange it was…

First, he had Hagrid retrieve the Stone from Gringotts while Potter is with him.

Then he gave Potter the Invisibility Cloak for Christmas, effectively encouraging him to wander the school after hours.  
He secretly watched Potter interact with the Mirror of Erised, and then explained how it worked to him.

The same night that centaur Firenze told Potter about the Stone and the uses of unicorn blood, Dumbledore gave back the Invisibility Cloak. How did Firenze know about the Stone when the information was top secret? And why would he tell Potter?

He arranged the protections for the Stone that are unbelievably easy for these kids to get through. And these were supposed to keep out Voldemort?

And then there was that little matter of how he seemed to know instantly, and seemed completely unsurprised, when he discovered that Potter had gone after the Stone.

Oh, and what was Hagrid doing with a five-week-old newspaper clipping about Gringotts on his table, anyway?

It was almost as if Dumbledore wanted Potter to go after the Stone…

No. Mad-Eye didn't think that was what he wanted. So then what was going on here?

After Voldemort's Killing Curse rebounded, Dumbledore figured out how Potter had survived: Lily's sacrifice. It must have been. An Avada Kedavra is unblockable; what else is even possible? So Dumbledore proceeded to cast a spell that protected Potter from Voldemort as long as he lived with Lily's blood relatives. Potter is now completely protected from Voldemort for sixteen years.  
And Voldemort didn't know about it.

So Dumbledore devised a plan. His first goal is just to get Potter thinking about the fact that there's a valuable object in the third-floor corridor and someone is trying to steal it, just to get the boy paying attention. So Dumbledore has Hagrid retrieve the Stone from Gringotts while Potter is with him, puts on a big show about the forbidden third-floor corridor, and then sets about ensuring Potter makes the connection. Perhaps he even does so by visiting Hagrid just before Potter did, and left the Daily Prophet article on the table. Granted this is far from fail-proof, but if Potter failed to see it, then Dumbledore can always try other methods later on. Anyway, regardless of how the article got there, Dumbledore learned from Hagrid that Potter has seen the article, and is content to let that stew in Potter's brain for a few months.

At Christmas, with most of the school out of the way, Dumbledore took the chance to move the Mirror of Erised, gave Potter the Invisibility Cloak, and steers him to the Mirror. Perhaps he even enlisted Snape's help to get him there (which would explain why he was patrolling the corridors); perhaps he simply followed Potter and figured out a way to put the Mirror in front of him.

Not that it mattered.

The idea is just what Dumbledore cryptically tells Potter: "If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared." It was like he knew that Potter would see it again.

Potter then presents Dumbledore with a golden opportunity – he lands himself in detention. So Dumbledore sent Potter into the Forest, after the unicorn, and enlists Firenze to keep an eye on him.

Oh yes. And Dumbledore also had something to do about those "protective spells" guarding the Stone. Perhaps he even tailored them himself specifically for these kids… seriously, broom-flying, chess, and logic? But either way, he made sure the kids could make it through. He also ensures the potion bottles at the end refill themselves – so Quirrell and Potter can both go through the flames – but there's only enough potion for one person at a time. After all, Potter's friends don't have the blood protection he does, and Dumbledore knew Potter will be the one to go on and send them back for help.

All in all, the stage became for a showdown between Potter and Voldemort. Dumbledore's plan had worked, from start to finish.  
However, even though Albus was acting the part of a puppet master, Mad-Eye wouldn't say that he was wrong – no, quite the contrary. He knew that good and evil weren't black-and-white categories – they've got a whole spectrum of grays. And even when someone like Dumbledore is definitely on the side of good overall, sometimes his methods are less than praiseworthy, some things are necessary for the good of all.

As nauseating as it sounded like, if Potter's ability to love is his greatest power, it must also be Dumbledore's greatest power.

He displays love, acceptance, compassion, and forgiveness almost constantly. It had always been the 'crackpot's' philosophy to trust, and what has his trust resulted in? How is it better to trust and risk being betrayed, instead of never trusting at all?

Dumbledore knows pretty much everything. But Mad-Eye also knew that Dumbledore had always regretted the fact that he always had to be the one who knew, and who had the burden of knowing things that he would rather not know.

As a mentor to Potter, Dumbledore is a very wise man who knows that Potter is going to have to learn a few hard lessons to prepare him for what may be coming in his life. He had always allowed Potter to get into what he would never had allowed another pupil to do, and he also unwillingly permitted Potter to confront things he'd rather protect him from.

Mad-Eye was willing to bet that Potter guessed it right. Dumbledore didn't want to boy to go through all that on his own.

However he knew that Voldemort was sure to go after him sooner or later and he wanted to give the boy a chance to face him if he wanted to. That is the only way that he could begin to learn to be united.

Potter needs to learn to be united inside himself if he wants a chance to survive this war. Mad-Eye had remembered reading about the boy's sorting… how the hat pointed out 4 characteristics: _plenty of courage, not a bad mind, there's talent, and a thirst to prove himself. _

Potter's profile is the core characteristics of each of the four houses. Dumbledore had once told him how the sorting hat warned Hogwarts to be united from inside during times of danger… in this case, so too must Potter.

_Plenty of courage…_ is quickly identified as a Gryffindor. _Not a bad mind…_ so in spite of Potter's lackluster academic performance, he could've been sorted into Ravenclaw. As a Gryffindor, the boy is brave enough to face any outcome—but he needs to put his mind to work and learn to be able to think things through and come up with strategy instead of just jumping headfirst into battle.

_There's talent…_a quality for Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff is home to more than the leftover students. Talent is a trait not readily recognized. It requires hard work, patience, and determination in order to be cultivated and then come to full fruition. And _A thirst to prove himself…_ is part of the house of Slytherin and Voldemort. The reputation of Slytherin as the home of Dark wizards caused Potter to plead against his placement there. The reputation of that house was formed by when Hogwarts was divided after Slytherin got fed up and just walked out due to his pureblood mania, and was only intensified thanks to Voldemort.

That reputation continues through the actions of some students like Malfoy. But just as Hufflepuff is more than a house of last resort, Slytherin is more than the home of dark arts. As much as he hated to think of it, they are _cunning folk who use any means to achieve their ends. _Slytherin house must be accepted and acknowledged before it can be integrated and united with the other houses. Potter does have a darker side to him, such as his hateful thoughts towards Black when he thought he betrayed his parents.

Potter has proven himself brave, but in order to untie Hogwarts and the wizarding world so that Voldemort is defeated, Potter needs to be united inside of himself. He has brains, but has to use learn to use his intelligence effectively. He has also shown loyalty and compassion but needs to gain patience and resolve of hard work in order to bring his talents to their fullest.

Otherwise he's just going to be meat on a stick when he come face-to-face with Voldemort for a real battle.

That was probably why Dumbledore had done what he had done in his first year. He believes that Potter will have to deal with his own Slytherin-like traits, and acknowledge the fact that there is darkness inside him while at the same time, guard against it. It will require every bit of cunning and shrewdness out there to ensure that lowlife Voldemort is vanquished, never to return.

Mad-Eye's eye spun around to look behind him to where Dumbledore had been standing. He knew that there were many things that the old man wanted to keep hidden from Potter…

Whatever consequence this friendship will have, wherever it could lead, Mad-Eye was sure that it will only become more and more important. This bond between two people with such a wide age difference can teach many things. In a way, this friendship showed him, though he felt slightly queasy at the thought of something so sappy, that those who care for us most will stay hidden in the shadows, always making sure we're safe—and maybe seeing someone else happy can be the greatest give you can receive? Or maybe he was just reading too much into Dumbledore's behavior?

He ran a hand through his matted hair in frustration. Maybe he should go home and get some sleep for once. This was getting too deep for him.

**(Well? How was this first chapter? Hope you all liked it! I decided to write about this new side of Mad-Eye Moody. He was a former Auror after all and notices things that no one else does. I'm trying to show that everyone has more than one side to them. Well, hope you enjoyed it and I'll be putting up the next chapter as soon as it's done. Until later.) **


	2. Preview: Reading the Goblet of Fire

I own nothing! All of this belongs to J.K. Rowling!

_**Mad-Eye's Rules of Constant Vigilance! **_  
1. Try to remember anything that keeps repeating itself. If any detail is reinforced, memorize it!  
2. If someone is suddenly interrupted, there's a key clue!  
3. There's no such thing as a coincidence  
4. Don't take anyone's word for it  
5. Hermione is usually right (except when she gets emotional)  
6. Ron is usually wrong (except when he makes a joke about it)

**Preview: Reading the Goblet of Fire**

Remus and Tonks were sitting at the kitchen table in awkward silence. It had been almost two days since Dumbledore had appeared and told them what had happened at the castle. Ever since then, they all had been sitting there worried about what was going to happen.

Remus stared into his cup of now cold tea and was lost in thought. Things didn't bode well for Fudge. If he's attempting to make an example out of a fifteen-year old boy… how many others will he be willing to harm in his attempts to cling to power?

And then there was Umbridge… Remus knew that she was one of most hateful and prejudiced people he ever had the bad luck to meet. Finding a job was now almost impossible for him because of her and her new werewolf laws. And from what the teachers all said about her, she's not even trying to teach the students.

That's just… wrong and not just from an educational point of view. It borders on immoral; especially for the students in the O.W.L and N.E.W.T. years. It was as if she trying to get them to fail… which wouldn't surprise him, but he still felt sick thinking about it. To top it all off, she's allowing Fudge to use her to spy on Dumbledore and his staff… hoping to find anything to use against him.

Everything just seemed to be spiraling out of control…

Needless to say, Remus was worried. Not about Harry's skills with Defensive magic though. He was starting to think Harry's abilities in that area will surpass his soon. Not that Remus was terrible or anything, but Harry… Harry had a gift. Remus was probably acting a little smug about it, but one of his proudest moments as a teacher was finding out a teenage boy produced a corporeal Patronus strong enough to drive away a horde of Dementors. Especially considering that it had taken Remus many years to master the spell himself.

What he was worried about is Harry himself. Now with Dumbledore out of the way, what was left to protect the castle and the students? He knew that the teachers were there and would rather face an army of Death Eaters than allow any of the students to get hurt… but with the Ministry pulling all the strings, all it would take was for Harry to make just one little mistake and they could use that as an excuse to expel him… or worse.

Remus understood why Molly had been opposed to them doing this Defense group from the start. But now that Umbridge was in charge and with Fudge on her side… she would do anything to run the school her way and if anyone fought back they would be forced to leave. Maybe they should sit down and make out some plans. Just in case something like that was to happen.

Remus looked up to the seat where Sirius was normally occupied in. He also understood why Sirius was desperate for Harry to break those rules. He needed Harry to prove that he's James' son and show that rebellious streak in him. He wanted to know that Harry wasn't going to sit idly by, waiting for someone to make decisions for him. Rather like Sirius is being forced to do right now. The fact that Sirius lost his head and began yelling at Dumbledore like that proved that Sirius was cracking up.

"Know where Sirius is?" Tonks asked suddenly in a hoarse voice, causing Remus to jump. They had been sitting in silence for such a long time, that even her whisper sounded like a shout to his ears.

"Sirius?" he asked in surprise. "I-no I don't. Hang on; I think that's still upstairs."

She looked up at him when she heard his stutter. "What's wrong? You've been jumpy all day?"

"Nothing. I'm just… I'm just worried," Remus admitted. "I think that this house is finally getting to Sirius."

"I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks that," Tonks muttered as she sipped her tea.

"And what happened the other night hasn't helped," Remus grimaced. "How much worse are things going to get before Fudge finally admits that Voldemort is back?"

Tonks snorted as she leaned back in her seat. It had been somewhat of a relief that the summer had been so calm, even though it had been alarmingly quiet. They had known Voldemort was back and building up his army… but this waiting was worse than anything.

As Remus looked into her face, it was then that he realized that this was the first time that they had been alone since that night when he went running out of the room—unable to bring himself to kiss her. Tonks must've been thinking the same thing because she turned her head away with a blush on her cheeks.

Remus swallowed. "Ah, Tonks?" he asked, hoping that he didn't sound pathetic.

She didn't say anything—but she did look up at him.

"About what happened that other night…?" he began uncertainly, but before he had a chance to say anything else the door opened and a grumpy looking Sirius came in. This caused them both to jump as he took his normal seat and sat down angrily.

"Well," Tonks said slowly with barely a glance at her cousin. "Look who finally decided to join us."

Sirius didn't answer. Remus glanced at him long and hard as his friend put his elbows up on the table and rested his face on his palms. "Are you alright, Sirius?" he asked uncertainly.

Sirius shrugged his shoulder as he glowered at the table. It was then that Remus noticed how terrible that he looked. The dark bands underneath his eyes suggested that Sirius hadn't slept at all… probably not since that fight with Dumbledore.

"Sirius?" he began again hesitantly. "I know that you're upset…"  
"I'm not upset," he snapped back, his voice sounding like croak from not using it for awhile.

"Why did you say those things to Dumbledore?" he asked softly. "I know that he's made a lot of mistakes, but he did what he thought was best."

"And who will be there to protect the students?" Sirius demanded. "Abuse! That's what he said! You heard 'em! And if she's going to abuse the kids who help her, what about Harry and all the others?"

"I know that it's hard," Remus said sadly. "But I'm afraid that there isn't much we can do about it. But we can't blame Dumbledore. You have to admit that it can't be easy running a school, dealing with the Ministry, and helping the Order."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something but Tonks cut in.

"Look," Tonks said quickly. "That next book is supposed to be really long right? How about we start on it today? Give us all something to do right? Might cheer us up and take our minds off what's been happening? I'll contact Mad-Eye, Kingsley, and the two Weasleys and we can all meet in the drawing room as little as 10 minutes if they hurry. What say you?"

Because neither of them wanted another fight, they both nodded, though Sirius did it a little forcefully. Truth be told, no one believed that this book would be any easier to read than the last one.

And so as Tonks contacted the others, Sirius went up to his room where he had hidden the books. He pulled out book 4 without even glancing at the cover before he tucked it under his arm and left. He took his time coming back down the stairs before he joined Remus and Tonks, who were sitting there in silence. Obviously not able to say anything.

Sirius sighed as he lay the book down on the table and took his normal seat on the couch. Sirius knew that he was acting like a total jerk, but all the frustration of being trapped in this house and not being able to help his own godson was destroying him from the inside. He knew what this book was going to be about. He had dreaded hearing about this since he had read that Quibbler article. He wasn't sure hearing it from his godson's point-of-view was going to do anything to help his nerves.

He wanted to calm down though… to stop acting like this. So he asked, "Who's going to read first?"

Remus picked it up and looked over it. "No idea," he said. "We'll have to wait until the others get here. But there are plenty of chapters here to keep us busy for awhile I hope."

Sirius sighed again, glad to feel some of his own anger and frustration fading away by now. "I don't think I'm going to like this book."

"Since when have any of the books turned out to be pleasant?" Remus asked dully as he stared at the cover.

This was, without a doubt, the largest out of all four books. On the cover there was the familiar picture of Harry and his name was printed on top in a dark orange color this time. Harry was standing out in front, one hand holding his wand high, the other clutching a large golden egg to his side. Behind him were three people… three people that Remus recognized—though one he only knew by sight.

The one closest was of a handsome young man… Cedric Diggory. Remus felt his heart ache as he remembered Cedric from his one year at school. He had been such an amazing student and it pained him greatly just thinking about how soon he had died. Next there was the picture of a beautiful young woman that he recognized as Fleur Delacour… while young, she had recently joined the Order and was now working alongside Bill at Gringotts. He smiled at that as he looked to the last young man just behind her.

Remus had seen him in the paper or on Quidditch posters… a young man with a large, curved nose and thick black eyebrows—Victor Krum. The four champions of the Triwizard Tournament. In front of Harry, there showed the image of a long, spiked tail… he shuddered at the sight of it; that couldn't be a good sign.

While behind all four champions were what looked like... tall hedges? He could just barely see the pictures of what looked like spider legs crawling along, the cloaked figure of a Dementor, and the head of what looked remarkably like Padfoot! Remus fought hard not to laugh at that.

His eyes immediately went to the large banner that was right beneath Harry's name.

The Goblet of Fire.

"What does it say?" Tonks asked interested as she leaned over Remus's shoulder to read what it says. "**Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire**?"

"This is about the Triwizard Tournament," he explained. "I heard that the Goblet of Fire is how the champions of the three schools are chosen."

"Chosen for what?" called a familiar voice—though not one that they had heard from in a long time. And to their shock, Bill Weasley walked in, closely followed by his parents.

"What are you doing here?" Tonks asked in surprise as Remus quickly hid the book behind his back.

"Your message," Arthur sighed. "You sent a Patronus to us and Bill was visiting at the time. And when he heard about 'the books' he wanted to know what this was about."

Tonks blushed. "Oops," she said as Bill looked around the room.  
"What's going on?" he asked politely.

"It's kinda a long story, Bill," Remus said quickly, wondering if it would be safe to allow anyone else to know about the books. "Anyway… do you know what is happening to the school? We haven't heard anything since Dumbledore came and…"

"I have some information," said a deep voice that everyone knew.

"Kingsley?" Tonks called out the door.

Clunk, clunk, clunk…

Sounded like Kingsley wasn't the only one here; and sure enough, a few seconds later, Kingsley and Mad-Eye walked in. They both looked briefly surprise to see Bill there, but they didn't say anything as they took their normal seats.

"Just got your message," Mad-Eye grumbled to Tonks. "Was wondering when you would start the next book."

Before Bill could ask what he meant, Kingsley—who took his armchair closest to the fireplace—spoke up. "Some things have happened." He looked up to the Weasley's who still hadn't moved. "You're twins sure know how to cause a scene."  
Molly groaned miserably, "What did they do now?"

He shrugged. "Something about setting off fireworks in the castle to welcome the new Headmistress and for some reason no one seems to be able to control them?"

Arthur looked as if he was torn between wanting to laugh or groan. Sirius on the other hand had no problems laughing out loud as Tonks chortled along happily.

Bill only looked more confused as Remus sighed and stood up. He carried the book over to Bill and pulled him away from everyone else as he quickly explained what this was about. As he explained to Bill about how he found the books and some of the things they discovered, Tonks stopped choking back laughter and looked over to Kingsley to ask in a more serious tone, "How are things at Hogwarts?"

"Not good," he sighed deeply. "Umbridge has moved in and made herself comfortable. Like Dumbledore thought, Fudge made her Headmistress."

Tonks groaned in disgust. "I can't believe that toad is now in Dumbledore's office…"

"No, actually," Kingsley smiled slightly. "After everyone left the office, it somehow closed itself off. It won't let anyone in. She had a real tantrum from not being able to get past the gargoyle."

Tonks laughed again as they all looked pleased with that. "Serves her right."

"Why don't we get this over with?" Remus asked once he was finished. Bill was looking amazed but he sat down with them between his parents who were looking concerned.

"Is it alright that I read with you guys?" he asked—glancing at Mad-Eye more than anyone. "If these are Harry's memories and thoughts… then maybe I should go? It's just that when I heard about them I wanted to see what it was about…?" Mad-Eye considered him for a moment.

"Oh, fine," he grunted as he leaned back comfortably. "But you aren't ever to tell anyone else about this without discussing with us first."

After Bill promised, he offered to read first. He took the book and turned it over to read the back out loud.

_**You have in your hands the pivotal fourth novel in the seven part tale of Harry Potter's training as a wizard and his coming of age. **_

"They grow up so fast," Molly sighed as she looked at Bill. It seemed only yesterday that she still had all seven children in the house and now they were all fast leaving school and moving on. She supposed that every parent had to go through this… but that still didn't make it any less painful.

_**Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys **_

"I don't blame him for that," Sirius hissed furiously, his humor fading. He had forgotten that he would have to be stuck reading about the Dursleys again.

"Surly, they can't be that bad can they?" Bill asked, worried at all the angry looks on their faces.

"Remind me to let you read the first three books and then you'll understand," Sirius grumbled as he folded his arms crossly. "Hopefully we don't have to listen about them for long. Harry deserves better than them."

"I hope it's a short visit this time," Tonks said in bitter agreement. "I've lost brain cells simply reading about them. I shudder to think what would happen if you actually spent time in their company."

"Look at the bright side," Remus reminded them suddenly. "They all know that Harry has a dangerous murderer for a godfather now."

That did succeed in cheering Sirius up a great deal. He grinned and let out a bark of laughter. "Ok, maybe this won't be so bad to read after all."

Still looking confused, Bill read:

_**and go to the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron, and the Weasleys. **_

"And I really don't blame him for that," Sirius groaned in longing. He had been wishing that he could've gone with them. He thought back to James and remembered just how much that it would've meant to him to have been able to take his son to a real Quidditch game.

From the day that Harry was born both of them had been looking forward to teaching him to fly and taking him to all of the professional games. But just when his godson was finally going to his first ever professional game… it would be without him or James. That thought alone nearly broke his heart all over again.  
His only solace was that at least he was able to read about it and maybe pretend that he was there too.

_**He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream). **_

Bill had to pause there and blinked in surprise. Harry had a crush? That was something he didn't know.

"What do you know?" Tonks asked slowly as Sirius, who couldn't contain himself, roared with laughter. "He can be a teenage boy after all."

"Yes, yes… Harry had a crush, he is capable of being a normal teenage boy," Molly said firmly, but also fondly as well. Bill snapped out of it and went on:

_**He wants to find out about the mysterious event that's supposed to take place at the Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn't happened in a hundred years. **_

"Oh, no you don't, Harry," Sirius groaned. He swore to this day that he hadn't been able to breathe easy once that whole year.  
_**He wants to be a normal, fourteen year old wizard. **_

"Why can't he?" Molly demanded unhappily. "He's just a teenager. He shouldn't have to be worrying about all this. Why shouldn't he be allowed to be normal and happy for once?"

Sirius couldn't disagree with that. In fact, it was kinda nice not having to fight with Molly. He knew that the two of them were never going to see eye-to-eye. But ever since they had their talk, they seemed to have come to a better understanding of each other. He could live with that.

_**Unfortunately for Harry Potter, he's not normal - even by wizarding standards. **_

"Oh, that is only too true," Mad-Eye snorted at the memory of the last three books.

"He really is different," Bill nodded. He had heard so much about Harry, when he was growing up. And then he heard so much about him from Ron… he honestly had no idea what Harry would be like in person… but the moment he met him that day at the Burrow, he didn't seem to act any differently than anyone else.  
That impressed him even more than hearing all the stories about him as a kid.

_**And in his case, different can be deadly.**__****_

_**Fourteen-year-old Harry Potter joins the Weasleys at the Quidditch World Cup, then enters his fourth year at Hogwarts Academy where he is mysteriously entered in an unusual contest that challenges his wizarding skills, friendships and character, amid signs that an old enemy is growing stronger. **_

"Well that's an ominous start," Remus decided as Tonks leaned into his side and he tensed up instantly.

"What's this book called here?" Mad-Eye barked unexpectedly, causing them to jump.

"**Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, **" Bill said as he flipped the book back over so that he could read the cover.  
"Goblet of Fire?" Sirius snorted in sarcasm. "More like Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament."

"I don't know," Kingsley said lightly. "I always thought that goblets convey an image of Destiny don't you?"

"I've got some words to say to 'Destiny'," Sirius grumbled to himself.

Mad-Eye yawned, wondering if he should've waited before coming over. He was sure that the first few chapters were going to just be a reminder of the last few years… that's what happened in the last two after all and it didn't seem as if it was going to stop any time soon. Mad-Eye wanted to get to the useful and interesting stuff as soon as possible… in any case he could only stay for so long. He had to pay a trip to Hogwarts later… make sure that it was still standing. But he was curious to see how this next book would turn out.

Bill opened the cover and everyone could hear the spin crackling as he opened to the first chapter. He cleared his throat and read out in a strong voice, "**Chapter 1: The Riddle House**."

**(For anyone who's wondering, I figured it's about time that Bill joined them. Since the teachers might not be coming back, at least for awhile anyway, we might need someone else there. I've also been thinking about having Fleur come in as well because I'm pretty sure that she's also part of the Order and would want to hear about the tournament. Oh, and I thought I add something else that I thought would be fun… Mad-Eye's rules for Constant Vigilance! Hope you enjoyed them!) **


	3. The Riddle House

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 1: The Riddle House**

Bill opened the cover and everyone could hear the spin crackling as he opened to the first chapter. He cleared his throat and read out in a strong voice, "**Chapter 1: The Riddle House**."

When he had first opened the book, on the inside cover there had been picture of a large, wooden goblet filled with flames; that was sitting up on what looked like a jeweled treasure chest with a large tapestry draped behind it. This he supposed must've been the Goblet of Fire—that much made sense. But here underneath the first chapter was a picture of a deadly-looking snake slithering behind a large armchair in front of a fire. What was this about?

**"The Riddle House?" **Tonks repeated slowly and raised her now perfectly plucked eyebrows in surprise. "Okay, this can't be good."

"What do you know?" Sirius called in a loud, sarcastic voice. "We only read the title of chapter one and I already hate this book!"

"This isn't good," Remus agreed worriedly. They hadn't even started reading yet, and Voldemort was already making an appearance.

Bill was bewildered and looked up at them all to see the worried and angry looks. "What is this…?" he began but Kingsley cut across him quickly and explained, "Voldemort is bound to be in this chapter."

He looked at him startled. "What makes you say that?" he asked as he noticed the pale and furious expressions on his parents' faces.

"Son," Arthur began grimly. "We never got around to telling you this, but Voldemort's real name is Tom Riddle."

"Riddle?" Bill repeated in astonishment and doubled checked the title name again, hoping he read it wrong. Voldemort's real name is Tom Riddle? No wonder everyone was acting like this… finding out that Voldemort once had a normal sounding name surprised him… almost as much as the fact that his father said Voldemort's name without even flinching.

Remus must've noticed this as well because he smiled and said, "If you are too afraid to say a name, then you might not be ready to face him in battle. It's taken us some of us," he glance proudly at the Weasleys, "A little longer than others. But everyone here can now say the name."

"But…?" Bill began again, but was unable to finish. As if he knew was he was about to say, Remus went on and explained.

"Yes, Voldemort's _real_ name is Tom Riddle," he told him. "He changed his name to Voldemort when he was still in school. And if this chapter is called _The Riddle House_, then this must have something to do with him."

"But how do you know this?" Bill asked bewildered.

"Found out when we read the second book," Sirius waved his hand down at him. "We'll let you read it later. For now, just go on. This chapter is bound to be bad, and I want to get it over with."

"The Riddle House," Tonks repeated to herself as she leaned over to see the chapter title and picture herself, "Do you guys think that this means it's Voldemort's house? Call me crazy, but I have a hard time thinking of Voldy sitting in front of a fire. Makes we worry about what kind of house he _would_ live in. I really don't like the sound of this."

"I already don't like this book," Molly whimpered. That name had been on the diary… a name that her little girl thought that she could trust and it almost ended up taking Ginny away from her. Just thinking about that name made her sick to her stomach.

"This book is going to take forever to get through," Mad-Eye groaned to himself as he rubbed the bridge of what was left of his nose. "They can't even get past the chapter names and they're already interrupting."

Thankfully, Bill heard him and decided to read on.

**The villagers of Little Hangleton still called it "the Riddle House," even though it had been ****many years since the Riddle family had lived there.**

"Yeah, I'm sure that it's nice to know all that," Sirius said slowly, whilst wondering how any of this had to do with Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts. "What is going on here? I thought this was about, Harry. Not…"

"It's only the first chapter, Sirius," Remus reminded him patiently. "And it must be important. Otherwise it wouldn't be here."

"But still…" Sirius grumbled as Bill looked over at Kingsley and asked, "Does this happen a lot?"

He could only nod in mild amusement. "Interrupting and arguing? Yes, we are all constantly breaking each other off and adding in our own dialogue. But I find our little conversations quite entertaining sometimes. Don't worry. I'm sure that you will be doing it with us as well."

**It stood on a hill overlooking the village, some of its windows boarded, tiles missing from its roof, and ivy spreading unchecked over its face.**

**Once a fine-looking manor, and easily the largest and grandest building for miles around, ****the Riddle House was now damp, derelict, and unoccupied.**

"Sounds like a charming little place," Tonks noted cheerfully, while she shook her head. "Who wouldn't want to live there?"

"Sounds like a world-class dump," muttered Sirius scathingly as he glowered at their own surroundings. "Just like this house."

"Nah," Arthur said calmly. "I think that Grimmauld Place even beats that one. At least it looks much better than when we first moved in."

"If I had it my way, I would've torn down this house ages ago myself," he said truthfully. He silently made a mental note to permanently destroy this house once the war is over. Once Voldemort was gone, what use could they have for it anymore? He grinned longingly at the wonderful picture as he heard Bill go on.

**The Little Hagletons all agreed that the old house was "creepy." **

"Creepy," Sirius chortled in mild laughter as he shook his head.

"Little Hagletons," Tonks also said as she shook her own head, which caused a few more snorts of laughter.

**Half a century ago, something strange and horrible had happened there, something that the older inhabitants of the village still liked to discuss when topics for gossip were scarce. The story had been picked over so many times, and had been embroidered in so many places, that nobody was quite sure what the truth was anymore. Every version of the tale, however, started in the same place: Fifty years before, **

"Fifty years?" Kingsley echoed, raising his eyebrows as he shared a significant look with Mad-Eye who was looking interested. "That would be around the time that the Chamber was opened the first time?"

"Which means that something terrible must've happened to whoever lived there when Voldemort was still in school," Mad-Eye nodded. He then noticed that Bill was looking confused again and rolled both his eyes. "Read the second book on your own time!" he barked at Bill causing him to jump.

Bill gave him an annoyed look, but was now burning with curiously at what on earth they could've read about.

**Fifty years before, at daybreak on a fine summer's morning when the Riddle House had still been well kept and impressive, a maid had entered the drawing room to find all three Riddles dead.**

"Well, at least this book starts off on a cheerful note," Sirius muttered sarcastically. "And here I was thinking that it just wouldn't be a good novel without someone dying right away!"

"That's just horrible," said Molly, in horror.

"But what does this have to do with Harry?" Bill asked looking around them. "I mean, not that it's not interesting, but what on earth is this here?"

Tonks was thinking of something else however. "All three Riddles?" she asked thoughtfully. "What does that mean? All the Riddles can't be dead, what about Voldemort?"

"I thought that Voldemort grew up in an orphanage?" Arthur muttered, starting to get worried where this was heading.

"Look at the bright side," Mad-Eye stated as he took out his flask and looked at it, long and hard before taking a swig.

"You mean you are seeing the bright side for once?" Tonks asked interested and he ignored her.

"What I mean is," he said gruffly after he pulled the flask from his lips. "Is if this chapter is about Voldemort, then we might get some information on him that could be useful. Looks like these books are finally going to pay off."

"Yeah, sure," Sirius snorted. "You enjoy the happy parts as much as we do, Moody. But I have to agree with Bill. Why is all this in a book about my godson? I mean, this happened a good… thirty, thirty-five years before he was even born!"

Bill shrugged as he turned the page. "Let's see…"

**The maid had run screaming down the hill into the village and roused as many people as she could.**

**"Lying there with their eyes wide open! Cold as ice! Still in their dinner things!"**

"That sounds like the Killing curse," said Remus in shock. "But what… who…?"

"Jeez," Sirius said in mock surprise. "Who do we know who would kill an entire family like that?"

He felt his insides burn with anger—having a good idea who had done this. So, even before he became a monster, Riddle _was_ a monster going around and murdering people.

**The police were summoned, and the whole of Little Hangleton had seethed with shocked curiosity and ill-disguised excitement. Nobody wasted their breath pretending to feel very sad about the Riddles, for they had been most unpopular. **

"Oh well, that's nice," Tonks stated dryly. "Even if you didn't like them, you could at least be a little sorry. Some neighbors…"

_'Must be why Voldemort's turned out like this,' _Mad-Eye thought in amusement._ 'He can't help it, because it's in his blood. Makes me wonder what kind of people are on his mother's side…'_

**Elderly Mr. and Mrs. Riddle had been rich, snobbish, and rude, and their grown-up son, Tom, had been, if anything, worse.**

"Sounds like someone else I know," Sirius asked around with the air of telling little kids that one plus one equals two. "You know… the Malfoys might want to be careful. This could be their future."

"Sounds like the Tom Riddle we met in book two," said Kingsley, looking at the others, who nodded.

"What?" asked Bill looking up. "You mean you met him…?"

"Harry saw a sort of… memory of Tom Riddle in the second book," Arthur told his eldest son. "Though I'm not sure 'memory' is the best word… but I don't know how else I can describe it. Anyway, I'm not sure I understand what's going on here either?" he looked to the Aurors in the room and they answered.

"It can't be a coincidence," said Mad-Eye sharply. "If there is one thing I've picked up from these books is that there's no such thing as a coincidence. Tom Riddle? Tom Riddle is Voldemort's _real_ name… but he also said that he was named after his Muggle father!"

"I still can't believe that the biggest pureblood supporter around is only half-blood," Bill said in loathing. "Bit hypocritical isn't it?"

"Are you trying to say that this Tom Riddle guy who was killed is Voldemort's father?" Molly asked horrified.

"Unless you have another explanation?" Mad-Eye asked calmly.

"If that's the case…" Molly said slowly. "If this Tom Riddle is Voldemort's father and… his grandparents… then… does that mean that he…?" she couldn't go on. The idea was too awful to imagine—even for Voldemort.

**All the villagers cared about was the identity of their murderer — for plainly, three apparently healthy people did not all drop dead of natural ****causes on the same night.**

Remus nodded in confirmation. So it was magic responsible for this attack.

"So it _was_ a magical killing" Sirius responded quietly, a small frown on his face. "But why were they targeted? What was the point?"

Truthfully though, he had a pretty good idea what it was about… revenge if nothing else…

**The Hanged Man, the village pub, **

"And I thought that the Hog's Head was a bad name for a pub," Sirius snorted. "Jeez, why are the names for pubs always so depressing?"

"Maybe because drinking is bad for your heath?" Molly suggested as she looked pointedly at Sirius, who just looked away, pretending that he hadn't noticed.

**did a roaring trade that night; the whole village seemed to have turned out to discuss the murders. They were rewarded for leaving their firesides when the Riddles' cook arrived dramatically in their midst and announced to the suddenly silent pub that a man called Frank Bryce had just been arrested.**

"Why?" Tonks asked. "Nothing that a Muggle could kill with could ever do what the Killing curse does."

"But Muggles don't know that," Arthur reminded her fondly.

"Who's Frank?" Sirius couldn't help but ask as he scratched his head.

"Probably another Muggle," Arthur said excitedly and leaned forward in eagerness. Molly shook her head, the tiniest of smiles playing on her mouth.

**"Frank!" cried several people. "Never!"**

**Frank Bryce was the Riddles' gardener. He lived alone in a run-down cottage on the grounds of the Riddle House. **

"Why would a gardener kill his employees? He'd be out of work!" Sirius cried out. "What reason could he have, eh? I mean, if they were Voldemort's relatives, then I guess I can't blame him… but this is definitely a magical killing—there's no way that he could've done it?"

"Stop talking for once and we'll find out," Mad-Eye snapped at him.

**Frank had come back from the war with a very stiff leg and a great dislike of crowds and loud noises, and had been working for the Riddles ever since.**

"He sounds like a Muggle version of Mad-Eye," Tonks muttered happily with a grin at her mentor. "I think that you two would get along great."

"Watch it," Mad-Eye warned her, but he smirked slightly.

**There was a rush to buy the cook drinks and hear more details.**

**"Always thought he was odd," she told the eagerly listening villagers, after her fourth sherry. "Unfriendly, like. I'm sure if I've offered him a cuppa once, I've offered it a hundred ****times. Never wanted to mix, he didn't."**

"That doesn't make him a killer," Sirius snarled. Maybe it was just the fact that Frank had been wrongfully accused and imprisoned like he had been… but he felt the deepest of sympathies for this Muggle.

"He likes solitude," Remus frowned in agreement. "He doesn't like to be the center of attention. That doesn't make him a murderer."

Kingsley on the other hand was shaking his head. "Unfortunately, people won't be thinking like that. They'll all be convinced it's him before this is all over."

"Well, there must be some kind of evidence against him," Bill stated half-heartedly. "They wouldn't arrest him if they didn't have a reason."

"Oh, I'm sure they have a reason…" Sirius snarled and folded his arms tightly as he laid back grumpily. "They're all gits! That's their reason!"

**"Ah, now," said a woman at the bar, "he had a hard war, Frank. He likes the quiet life. That's no reason to —"**

"At least one of them has a brain," Sirius grumbled.

**"Who else had a key to the back door, then?" barked the cook. "There's been a spare key hanging in the gardener's cottage far back as I can remember! Nobody forced the door last night! No broken windows! All Frank had to do was creep up to the big house while we was all sleeping…"**

"That makes no sense," Kingsley stated as Mad-Eye nodded. "It was the maid who found them in their dinner clothes. Which means that they must've been murdered during the evening; not the middle of the night."

"People don't care about facts," Sirius barked furiously at the injustice. "Once they think someone did something, then nothing anyone says or does will change it!"

**The villagers exchanged dark looks.**

**"I always thought that he had a nasty look about him, right enough," grunted a man at the ****bar.**

"That poor man," Molly sighed unhappily. "How many of them actually know him?"

**"War turned him funny, if you ask me," said the landlord.**

"War does change people," said Remus sadly as he looked up at them all. All of them, aside from Tonks and Bill had lived and fought during the first war, and none of them were ever the same. "They say that when a war starts you live two lives. Before the war… and after. And once you live through a war, you can never go back to the first life. It does things to people… none of it good."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Sirius answered as he stared down at his clawed hands. What he wouldn't give to go back to his first life…

**"Told you I wouldn't like to get on the wrong side of Frank, didn't I, Dot?" said an excited woman in the corner.**

**"Horrible temper," said Dot, nodding fervently. "I remember, when he was a kid…"**

**By the following morning, hardly anyone in Little Hangleton doubted that Frank Bryce had killed the Riddles. **

"Hmmph… aren't they _so_ kind and faithful to their neighbors," said Tonks scathingly. "I'm glad that we don't live there." She looked to Sirius, "You see, Sirius? You could have worse neighbors than this place."

"True," he answered. "I mean, I could be living next door to the Malfoys. It's bad enough being related to them."

**But over in the neighboring town of Great Hangleton, in the dark and dingy police station, Frank was stubbornly repeating, again and again, that he was innocent, and that the only person he had seen near the house on the day of the Riddles' deaths had been a teenage boy, a stranger, dark-haired and pale. **

"That's strange," Bill murmured, narrowing his eyes. He had a feeling this teenager played a bigger role than simply being there. But who was he?

Everyone else on the other hand froze at those words. They all looked at each other, silently sharing a conversation. There was only one person that it could've been… Voldemort when he was Tom Riddle.

"Wasn't that the description of Riddle from the second book?" Tonks asked slowly.

"Yes," said Kingsley. "It had to be Voldemort. So it looks like he _did_ murder his father and grandparents."

"H… he killed his father…?" Molly murmured in a faint, shaking voice. "He actually killed his own father and also his grandparents?"

Bill looked over at his Arthur, feeling cold. How could anyone actually kill their own father? He may not always see eye-to-eye with his own parents… but he loved them both… he couldn't imagine anyone actually doing that.

"So Voldemort was only a teenager when he showed his true colors," Sirius said in disgust; that thing was rotten to the core even then? Why wasn't he surprised?

"That doesn't make sense though," Arthur muttered. "What about the Ministry? They'd know that a wizard did this. Why didn't they arrest him?"

"I suppose he most have framed someone else," Remus responded bitterly. "You know, like he did with Hagrid. And it probably didn't help that they were Muggles."

"Hagrid?" Bill began, but then shook his head. He really needed to read those first few books.

"There is something wrong with him," Molly murmured angrily, her fingers clinging tightly to Arthur's arm. "What child would actually kill their own relatives like that? Just walk right up to their house and kill, not only a parent, but their own grandparents?"

Arthur just held her tightly. "His father wasn't a saint, Molly," he said grudgingly. "He did walk out on him and his mother before he was born, but you are right. That doesn't mean that man had to die." He looked from her face to Bill's and wondered what kind of man would walk out on their own wife and son like that? Not be bothered with what happened to them. He would never forgive himself if he had left Molly and any of their children like that.

"It's no excuse!" said Molly, her voice hardening. "Harry never knew his parents either! And I believe that Tom Riddle must've been treated much better at that orphanage than how Harry was at Privet Drive! In fact, Harry was actually fed lies about himself _and_ his parents by his so called relatives! But, look at how he turned out! I can't think of anyone kinder than that boy. That Tom Riddle has something seriously wrong with him!"

"I can't argue with that," Mad-Eye stated.

"I wish we knew more about Voldemort's past," Kingsley sighed deeply. "It might give us some clue to how to finish him."

"Who knows?" Bill said, trying to sound more cheerful. "This book might give us some real information that we can use." He then went on quickly.

**Nobody else in the village had seen any such boy, and the police were quite sure Frank had invented him.**

"Why am I not surprised?!" Sirius called out, throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation.

**Then, just when things were looking very serious for Frank, the report on the Riddles' bodies came back and changed everything. The police had never read an odder report. **

"I bet you could show them some, Mad-Eye," Tonks teased with a glance at her tutor who was smirking at that line as if he was thinking the same thing.

"I can't disagree with that," he admitted before he grinned sinisterly—which made them all nervous.

**A team of doctors had examined the bodies and had concluded that none of the Riddles had been poisoned, stabbed, shot, strangles, suffocated, or (as far as they could tell) harmed at all. In fact (the report continued, in a tone of unmistakable bewilderment), the Riddles all appeared to be in perfect health — apart from the fact that they were all dead.**

Sirius and Tonks couldn't help themselves and cackled despite the gravity of the situation. The description was just so funny.

"There is no doubt. That is definitely Avada Kedavra," Kingsley nodded, his face grim.

"So that's what it looks like to Muggle healers," Arthur mused to himself.

**The doctors did note (as though determined to find something wrong with the bodies) that each of the Riddles had a look of terror upon his or her face — but as the frustrated police said, whoever heard of three people being frightened to death?**

**As there was no proof that the Riddles had been murdered at all, the police were forced to let Frank go.**

"That's good, at least he wasn't imprisoned," Molly said in relief.

"I'm starting to think that the Muggle world does a better job with their law enforcement than ours," Tonks muttered almost enviously.

"Starting to?" Sirius barked back. "I _know_ it is. At least they questioned him! And when they couldn't prove anything, they let him go!" he then added to himself, "More than the Ministry ever did for me."

**The Riddles were buried in the Little Hangleton churchyard, and their graves remained ****objects of curiosity for a while. **

Sirius growled, his fists clenched at the very mention of the graveyard where his godson was almost killed.

Mad-Eye tilted his head slightly. If they were correct to assume that the grown-up Tom Riddle is Tom Senior, Voldemort's father. He must have gone back to live with his own parents after he abandoned his wife—Voldemort's mother. And so the dark-haired, pale teenager who Frank saw could only have been Tom Riddle Junior (Voldemort), as he came to commit the murders. Looks like Riddle managed to forget to mention that part to Harry.

**To everyone's surprise, and amid a cloud of suspicion, Frank Bryce returned to his cottage ****on the grounds of the Riddle House.**

"Why shouldn't he?" Sirius demanded in outrage. "I mean, it's not like he didn't anything wrong. They couldn't prove anything."

"He had a right," Tonks agreed hotly, feeling annoyed by the villagers of the town. "He lives there and shouldn't be forced to leave. Though I sure would if I had neighbors like that."

"That takes some guts to do that though," said Bill with a hint of awe before he went on. "That should show them all."

**"As far as I'm concerned, he killed them, and I don't care what the police say," said Dot in the Hanged Man. "And if he had any decency, he'd leave here, knowing as how we knows he did it."**

"No, you only think that because you're too stubborn to accept otherwise," Sirius huffed. "So you're annoying him for nothing."

**But Frank did not leave. He stayed to tend the garden for the next family who lived in the Riddle House, and then the next — for neither family stayed long.**

**Perhaps it was partly because of Frank that the new owners said there was a nasty feeling about the place, which, in the absence of inhabitants, started to fall into disrepair.**

"But if no one could verify he did it, then why are they like this?" Tonks demanded vehemently.

"But they think he did do it—to the Muggles he's the only possible person with the opportunity," said Remus sadly. "They don't know anything about magic. And if I'm right, then they would never think that this Tom Riddle had a son."

"Yes, I know, but it's still frustrating, all the same!" she huffed.

"I don't blame him," Sirius grunted. "If I had that _thing _for a son, I'd never mention it either."

**The wealthy man who owned the Riddle House these days neither lived there nor put it to any use; **

"So what's the point in owning it, then?" Sirius asked.

"_Wealthy_ owner?" Mad-Eye said slowly as several possibilities came to mind. "We do know someone who fits that description. It could be Lucius Malfoy, or Voldemort, himself?"

"Oh," Molly shuddered. "Don't bring that up. Any house that they own is bound to be bad news."

**they said in the village that he kept it for "tax reasons," though nobody was very clear what these might be. The wealthy owner continued to pay Frank to do the gardening, however. Frank was nearing his seventy-seventh birthday now, very deaf, his bad leg stiffer than ever, but could be seen pottering around the flower beds in fine weather, even though the weeds were starting to creep up on him, try as he might to suppress them.**

**Weeds were not the only things Frank had to contend with either. Boys from the village ****made a habit of throwing stones through the windows of the Riddle House. **

"And he works so hard…" Molly said heatedly.

**They rode their bicycles over the lawns Frank worked so hard to keep smooth. Once or twice, they broke into the old house for a dare. **

"What kind of boys would do that to the poor old man?" Molly demanded angrily. "What kind of parents raise these kids?"

Sirius shifted uncomfortably and Remus looked over at him.

"What?" Sirius demanded indignantly when he noticed the look. "I may have loved a dare in my time… and I may have stepped a toe out of line once in awhile, but I'm not that mean! I had my limits. Besides… those kids weren't pulling pranks now where they? There's a difference."

**They knew that old Frank's devotion to the house and the grounds amounted almost to an obsession, and it amused them to see him limping across the garden, brandishing his stick and yelling croakily at them. Frank, for his part, believed the boys tormented him because they, like their parents and grandparents, thought him a murderer. **

"Ever hear the saying _'don't believe everything your parents tell you?'_" Sirius snapped before he grinned fondly of his own memories of disobeying his own family views.

**So when Frank awoke one night in August and saw something very odd up at the old house, he merely assumed that the boys had gone one step further in their attempts to punish him.**

"That poor man," Molly said softly.

"Yes, but why is this part of the book?" Tonks asked. "What does it have to do with Harry and what happened last year?"

"I get the feeling that we're going to find out," Kingsley muttered as he gestured for Bill to continue.

**It was Frank's bad leg that woke him; it was paining him worse than ever in his old age. He got up and limped downstairs into the kitchen with the idea of refilling his hot-water bottle to ease the stiffness in his knee. **

Mad-Eye grimaced, making his twisted face look even more twisted, as he rubbed his own knee. He knew all too well how that was like.

**Standing at the sink, filling the kettle, he looked up at the Riddle House and saw lights glimmering in its upper windows. Frank knew at once what was going on. The boys had broken into the house again, and judging by the flickering quality of the light, they had ****started a fire.**

"Oh, for goodness sake! Give the guy a break! He didn't do anything wrong so why don't they just leave him alone?!" Molly demanded exasperated.

Sirius shook his head, "They really don't know when enough is enough. I would've given up long ago. That's a tough old man."

Remus, on the other hand frowned. Something didn't seem right about this. "Something tells me that it's not those boys behind it," he almost whispered.

"What's wrong?" Bill asked, though he was also starting to feel uneasy at the tense atmosphere.

"Nothing," Remus mumbled quickly. "Let's just hope I'm wrong."

**Frank had no telephone, in any case, he had deeply mistrusted the police ever since they had taken him in for questioning about the Riddles' deaths. **

"Are these police people the ones who deal with the law?" asked Sirius suddenly. "They've been mentioned before."

"Yes," Arthur said a little more brightly. "Think of them as… well sort of as Muggle versions of Aurors."

**He put down the kettle at once, hurried back upstairs as fast as his bad leg would allow, and was soon back in his kitchen, fully dressed and removing a rusty old key from its hook by the door. He picked up his walking stick, which was propped against the wall, and set off into the night.**

"He should just stay in bed and forget about it," Remus muttered anxious. "I don't like this."

**The front door of the Riddle House bore no sign of being forced, nor did any of the windows. Frank limped around to the back of the house until he reached a door almost completely hidden by ivy, took out the old key, put it into the lock, and opened the door noiselessly.**

Tonks didn't like where this was going, and she exchanged a nervous glance with Remus, who was fidgeting lightly.

Molly shivered and leaned closer into Arthur's side. "I think that maybe he should've gone for someone else before he went in there alone."

"But he doesn't trust anyone," Sirius reminded him. "Like Moody here."

Mad-Eye's eye glared at him as Bill reminded his mother, "Besides, who's going to listen to him? They all think he's a murderer don't they?!"

**He let himself into the cavernous kitchen. Frank had not entered it for many years; nevertheless, although it was very dark, he remembered where the door into the hall was, and he groped his way towards it, his nostrils full of the smell of decay, ears pricked for any sound of footsteps or voices from overhead.**

"I don't like this; he should leave before anyone else notices he's there. There's always a chance that it's not those boys," Tonks bit her lower lip. "And even if it was, they might've been dangerous."

"I knew that you had brains in there somewhere," Mad-Eye said and Tonks sent a nasty glare in his direction.

**He reached the hall, which was a little lighter owing to the large mullioned windows on either side of the front door, and started to climb the stairs, blessing the dust that lay thick upon the stone, because it muffled the sound of his feet and stick. **

"I should remember that," Tonks muttered to herself. "Who knew that dust could be so helpful?"

**On the landing, Frank turned right, and saw at once where the intruders were: At the end of the passage a door stood ajar, and a flickering light shone through the gap, casting a long sliver of gold across the black floor. Frank edged closer and closer, he was able to see ****a narrow slice of the room beyond.**

"I'm sorry, but that doesn't sound like kids to me," said Molly nervously. Surely something bad wasn't going to happen this soon in the story would it?

"I hate to agree with you," Sirius stated as he stretched his shoulders. "But I agree with you."

**The fire, he now saw, had been lit in the grate. This surprised him. Then he stopped moving and listened intently, for a man's voice spoke within the room; it sounded timid and fearful.**

**"There is a little more in the bottle, My Lord, if you are still hungry."**

Everyone paled; no one needed to speak. They all knew right away who was in that room.

"_My Lord_?" Sirius repeated, a cold feeling washing over his body, and all of a sudden it hit them all like a mountain of stones. He knew that this book was going to be even worse than the last three—he just didn't think it happen so soon! Something terrible was going to happen to Frank, he was willing to bet on it.

"Voldemort," Remus growled, his eyes narrowing in hatred.

"Well," Mad-Eye said calmly. "Glad I stuck around."

**"Later," said a second voice. This too belonged to a man — but it was strangely high-pitched, and cold as a sudden blast of icy wind. Something about that voice made the sparse hairs on the back of Frank's neck stand up. **

A voice like that… even though Bill was just reading it, made his own hair stand on end.

"Is that him?" Bill asked slowly. He had never seen Voldemort, but he had grown up hearing stories about Voldemort and his cruelty. This struck him really for the first time that they were in the middle of a war.

"Basically," Mad-Eye answered and Bill gulped. "What's left of him."

**"Move me closer to the fire, Wormtail."**

Sirius swore loudly, his hands clenching into tight fists. So this was when Peter had returned to his master? Sirius's eyes were narrowed into dangerous slits, and he was scowling, feeling hatred build up inside of him. Remus was looking livid, glaring at the book with angry eyes as if the book had mortally insulted him.

"Wormtail's there?!" cried Arthur, looking up in horror.

Sirius pounded one of his fists into his other hand and growled, "He's so stupid! Does he not realize Voldemort's gonna just do away with him the instant he doesn't need him?!"

"It seems not," said Remus unfeelingly.

**Frank turned his right ear toward the door, the better to hear. There came the clink of a bottle being put down upon some hard surface, and then the dull scraping noise of a heavy chair being dragged across the floor. Frank caught a glimpse of a small man, his back to the door, pushing the chair into place. He was wearing a long black cloak, and there was a bald patch at the back of his head. Then he went out of sight again.**

**"Where is Nagini?" said the cold voice.**

"Nagini?" Bill asked, frowning. "The snake?"

Arthur shivered uncontrollably at the mention of that snake and Molly wrapped her arms around his neck as she remembered how she almost lost him. Bill also reached over and put one hand on his shoulder—both of them making sure that he was still there with them.

"I'm fine," Arthur reminded them both gently. "I'm still alive aren't I?"

_'But for how much longer?'_ Molly couldn't help but think to herself, the image of that stupid Boggart flashed in her mind for a moment before she screwed up her eyes tightly to fight her tears. She didn't relax until she felt Arthur's arm around her waist.

**"I — I don't know, My Lord," said the first voice nervously. "She set out to explore the house, I think…"**

**"You will milk her before we retire, Wormtail," said the second voice. "I will need feeding in ****the night. The journey has tired me greatly."**

"Milk from a snake?" Sirius repeated, in disgust. "How do you _milk_ a _snake_?"

"I think it's more along the lines of venom," Kingsley suggested.

"Didn't need to hear that," Tonks said as her beak-like nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Whatever," Sirius said loudly, "It's still from a snake! Why would you want to drink anything from a snake?!"

**Brow furrowed, Frank inclined his good ear still closer to the door, listening very hard. There was a pause, and then the man called Wormtail spoke again.**

"Frank needs to get out of there before they discover that he's there," Molly whispered, shaking her head. "It's not safe!"

"You're right" Remus agreed, looking grim. "And he's a Muggle, which means that he won't be spared if they find him there."

"I doubt that he would've been spared even if he was a wizard," Mad-Eye muttered bitterly.

**"My Lord, may I ask how long we are going to stay here?"**

**"A week," said the cold voice. "Perhaps longer. The place is moderately comfortable, and the plan cannot proceed yet. It would be foolish to act before the Quidditch World Cup is ****over."**

"What plan?" Molly asked hesitantly—though no one could answer her. They were all thinking the same thing—Harry.

**Frank inserted a gnarled finger into his ear and rotated it. Owing, no doubt, to a buildup of earwax, he had heard the word "Quidditch," which was not a word at all.**

"NO!" Sirius called out, hand over his heart as if he was in pain. He had managed to lighten the mood… at least for a moment. Their smiles soon faded as soon as Bill continued.

**"The — the Quidditch World Cup, My Lord?" said Wormtail. (Frank dug his finger still more vigorously into his ear.) "Forgive me, but — I do not understand – why should we wait until the World Cup is over?"**

**"Because, fool, at this very moment wizards are pouring into the country from all over the world, and every meddler from the Ministry of Magic will be on duty, on the watch for signs of unusual activity, checking and double-checking identities. They will be obsessed with security, lest the Muggles notice anything. So we wait."**

"Obsessed?" Arthur hissed viciously under his breath, "What about those Death Eaters who went and ruined everything by attacking innocent people?"

**Frank stopped trying to clear out his ear. He had distinctly heard the words "Ministry of Magic," "wizards," and "Muggles." Plainly, each of these expressions meant something secret, and Frank could think of only two sorts of people who would speak in code: spies ****and criminals.**

"And the _thing_ in the room is both," Molly said worried about the Muggle.

"This Frank is cleverer than most," said Kingsley said in firmly, and the others could tell from his voice, that he didn't think Frank was going to make it out of the Riddle house alive. "Most Muggles would think that it would just be some kind of joke or something…"

"Funny," Sirius said harshly. "For some reason, I'm not laughing…"

**Frank tightened his hold on his walking stick once more, and listened more closely still.**

**"Your Lordship is still determined, then?" Wormtail said quietly.**

**"Certainly I am determined, Wormtail." There was a note of menace in the cold voice now.**

Everyone shivered and felt as if there was a Dementor in the room with them.

**A slight pause followed — and the Wormtail spoke, the words tumbling from him in a rush, as though he was forcing himself to say this before he lost his nerve.**

**"It could be done without Harry Potter, My Lord."**

Sirius froze, his fingernails were cutting deep into his palms; as many of them exchanged fearful looks.

"I _knew_ Harry would come up sooner or later," Sirius muttered, swallowing with great difficulty.

**Another pause, more protracted, and then —**

**"Without Harry Potter?" breathed the second voice softly. "I see…"**

"Yes, without him!" said Remus anxiously, although knowing it was useless. They all knew what happened…

**"My Lord, I do not say this out of concern for the boy!" said Wormtail, his voice rising ****squeakily. "The boy is nothing to me, nothing at all!**

Sirius couldn't stand it any longer. "That bastard!" he shouted and for a moment it looked as if he was about to get up and go out to hunt Wormtail down, but Remus and Tonks both took hold of the back of his robes to hold him back.

"Nothing to him? Yeah, he sure showed that when he betrayed me, James, and Lily before leaving a little baby all alone!" Sirius yelled angrily, and Bill was regretting having the book in his hands. "No, nothing but your best friends' son…"

"Sirius!" Remus cried and together he and Tonks were able to pull him back onto the couch with them. "That's enough! This already happened."

"I know that," Sirius spat steely, "But I still can't stand it. After everything that we did for that rat…" He muttered curses under his breath and what he was going to do if Wormtail was ever unfortunate enough to find his head between Sirius's hands. He went on for a short time until he inhaled sharply, closing his eyes tightly. His grip on the seat of the couch had become vice like, and his knuckles had turned white.

They all waited until they were sure he calmed down before Bill felt it was safe enough to go on.

**It is merely that if we were to use another witch or wizard — any wizard — the thing could be done so much more quickly! If you allowed me to leave you for a short while — you know that I can disguise myself most effectively — I could be back here in as little as two days with a suitable person —"**

"Is he saying that so that he can prove himself? Or simply to get away from him?" asked Arthur slowly.

"Who cares?" Sirius spat. In his opinion, it was far too late for Wormtail to ever make amends or change sides.

"I think he's trying to get away, but Voldemort won't be fooled by that!" said Remus.

"So he's regretting his decision to go back to his master," Sirius sneered. "Good… make him suffer."

Bill could understand why Sirius hated him, but he was surprised to see that his father was nodding venomously as well. It made him worry greatly at what he was in for.

**"I could use another wizard," said the cold voice softly, "that is true…"**

**"My Lord, it makes sense," said Wormtail, sounding thoroughly relieved now. "Laying hands on Harry Potter would be so difficult, he is so well protected —"**

"Not that it helped," Sirius spat, as he remembered every time that Harry had been put into danger. Why did he feel that the only way that his godson would be safe was if he was right in front of him?

**"And so you volunteer to go and fetch me a substitute? **

"It wouldn't that hard, in all honesty. So many people despise him, after all," Sirius said thoughtfully. "But nnnnnooooooo, Voldemort just HAD to go after my godson!"

**I wonder… perhaps the task of nursing me has become wearisome for you, Wormtail? Could this suggestion of abandoning the plan be nothing more than an attempt to desert me?"**

"Most likely. He has loyalty issues," Sirius snarled and Remus nodded dully.

**"My Lord! I — I have no wish to leave you, none at all —"**

"Sure," Tonks muttered sarcastically. "If that's true then I'll give up my Metamorphism for good." And then she changed her hair to a fiery red. She patted it and looked over at Remus and asked, "You like?"

Remus blushed as red as her hair and turned his head away, unable to say anything but a funny gargling noise which caused them all to laugh. Bill could only smile at how uncomfortable that Remus was and closed his eyes for a moment. Looks like some good was coming from these books after all.

**"Do not lie to me!" hissed the second voice. "I can always tell, Wormtail! You are regretting that you ever returned to me. I revolt you. I see you flinch when you look at me, feel you shudder when you touch me…"**

**"No! My devotion to Your Lordship —"**

"Devotion?" Bill echoed bitterly. "You don't care about devotion, all you care about is saving you own skin."

"Well said Bill," Sirius muttered with a clap.

**"Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere ****else to go. **

"Well, what do you know?" Sirius asked sarcastically. "Even Voldemort knows Peter's a pathetic coward."

"That is terrible," Molly frowned. "If you're scared of someone, you shouldn't blindly follow them."

"I think that's why they are following him, Molly," Kingsley spoke up.

**How am I to survive without you, when I need feeding every few hours? Who is to milk Nagini?"**

Sirius snorted with cruel laughter. "Oh, that has got to be humiliating for Voldy! He can't do anything without having a babysitter there to take care of him!"

"You think he would show a little more kindness to someone who he has no choice to depend on," Remus muttered shaking his head.

"Kindness?" Mad-Eye barked. "He knows no such thing."

**"But you seem so much stronger, My Lord —"**

**"Liar," breathed the second voice. "I am no stronger, and a few days alone would be enough to rob me of the little health I have regained under your clumsy care. Silence!"**

**Wormtail, who had been sputtering incoherently, fell silent at once. For a few seconds, Frank could hear nothing but the fire crackling. **

"Oh, I almost forgot Frank is still there," Arthur said in concern.

"He is so dead," Mad-Eye said bleakly.

"Do you have to say that?" Molly asked as she began to bite her lip.

**Then the second man spoke once more, in a whisper that was almost a hiss.**

**"I have my reasons for using the boy, as I have already explained to you, and I will use no other.**

"Don't you even think about touching him!" Sirius growled threateningly, sounding like Padfoot… as if he wanted nothing more than to sink his fangs into Voldemort. Why was it always Harry? He was just a child for Merlin's sake!

**I have waited thirteen years. A few more months will make no difference. As for the protection surrounding the boy, I believe my plan will be effective. All that is needed is a little courage from you, Wormtail — **

"Then there might be hope for us after all," said Sirius rolling his eyes. "There's not an ounce of courage in that coward's body."

"How did he get into Gryffindor then?" Bill asked him and he shrugged.

"That's what I want to know," he told him.

**courage you will find, unless you wish to feel the full extent of Lord Voldermort's wrath —"**

"But that's not courage at all," Kingsley muttered darkly. "He's controlling others with fear!"

"Voldemort probably doesn't know the difference," Sirius remarked as he rubbed his eyes.

**"My Lord, I must speak!" said Wormtail, panic in his voice now. "All through our journey I have gone over the plan in my head — My Lord, Bertha Jorkin's**

That got their attention and they all looked at each other in sadness—knowing what happened to the poor woman.

**disappearance will not go unnoticed for long, and if we proceed, if I murder —"**

"Murder who?" Sirius growled warningly.

**"If?" whispered the second voice. "If? If you follow the plan, Wormtail, the Ministry need never know that anyone else has died. **

"Not that they need to play it safe," Sirius yelled out with sarcasm. "You could kill an entire room of people in front of Fudge and he would just hush it up!"

**You will do it quietly and without fuss; I only wish that I could do it myself, but in my present condition… Come, Wormtail, one more death and our path to Harry Potter is clear. I am not asking you to do it alone. By that time, my faithful servant will have rejoined us —"**

Mad-Eye turned his attention fully onto the book. Even both of his eyes were staring at it. _'Someone else will die?'_ he thought. _'Someone besides Bertha Jorkins? Voldemort cut off Wormtail just as he was about to mention who… once again, we are being denied evidence… meaning that this is a critical clue.'_

"What does he mean by that?" Bill asked and no one could find a way to answer him.

**"I am a faithful servant," said Wormtail, the merest trace of sullenness in his voice.**

They all snorted at that, Sirius especially.

**"Wormtail, I need somebody with brains, somebody whose loyalty has never wavered, and you, unfortunately, fulfill neither requirement."**

"NO! Really?" Sirius asked sarcastically before he went on in a harsh tone. "Why does Wormtail find that surprising? Just look at him!"

"I think we get it, Black," Mad-Eye muttered.

**"I found you," said Wormtail, and there was definitely a sulky edge to his voice now. "I was ****the one who found you. I brought you Bertha Jorkins."**

"Shut up!" Sirius snapped, feeling the familiar anger flare up inside of him once again. "You pathetic… worthless little…" he trailed off, fuming, and Remus could see it was taking all of his self control to not get up and tear the book in half.

"Is he proud of that?" Molly asked with her lip trembling. "He brought an innocent woman straight to Voldemort! He might've as well have just killed her himself!"

"Seems like it," Remus answered with a glare.

**"That is true," said the second man, sounding amused. "A stroke of brilliance I would not have thought possible from you, Wormtail — though, if truth be told, you were not aware how useful she would be when you caught her, were you?"**

**"I — I thought she might be useful, My Lord —"**

Remus was really having a difficult time just listening to his… how could anyone actually want to _please_ Voldemort? To actually try to gain approval and acceptance from such a monster when Peter had friends like them in the Order? It was just sickening.

"Suck up," he heard Sirius whisper under his breath.

**"Liar," said the second voice again, the cruel amusement more pronounced than ever. "However, I do not deny that her information was invaluable. Without it, I could never have formed our plan, and for that, you will have your reward, Wormtail. I will allow you to perform an essential task for me, one that many of my followers would give their right hands to perform…"**

"That sounds boding," Tonks muttered, as chills went down her spine at those words.

"Why do I think he means that literally?" Bill just had to ask, and was looking a little green. They all shuddered; knowing that Voldemort did mean quite literally that Wormtail will be expected to give his _right hand_ to perform it.

"Maybe he's just serious about loyalty?" Mad-Eye asked with a smirk and several of them actually chuckled at that.

**"R-really, My Lord? What —?" Wormtail sounded terrified again.**

**"Ah, Wormtail, you don't want me to spoil the surprise? **

"Ooh, a surprise?" Sirius asked with sarcasm again. "I don't like his kind of surprises. I flash of green light… that's his version of a surprise."

"Not really," Mad-Eye offered. "Because you know that he's going to kill you, so that's not really much of a surprise."

"Alastor," Kingsley said as they all looked even sicker at what he said. "I think that maybe you need to learn to keep some of your opinions to yourself."

"Not my fault that you all can't take it," Alastor replied darkly.

**Your part will come at the very end… but I promise you, you will have the honor of being ****just as useful as Bertha Jorkins."**

**"You… you…" Wormtail's voice suddenly sounded hoarse, as though his mouth had gone very dry. "You… are going… to kill me too?"**

"I doubt it, because most of his followers are either in Azkaban or pretending that they never followed him so he wouldn't want to kill one of the few servants he has… especially when he is so weak," Kingsley pointed out.

"He disposes of his followers when he has no need of them," said Remus quietly.

"That's just what Voldemort does," Mad-Eye grunted. "He takes every single advance he can get from someone and when he doesn't need them anymore…" he ran a finger over his throat.

"If he does kill him, it won't surprise me," Sirius muttered, and Remus nodded in agreement.

**"Wormtail, Wormtail," said the cold voice silkily, "why would I kill you? I killed Bertha because I had to. She was fit for nothing after my questioning, quite useless. In any case, awkward questions would have been asked if she had gone back to the Ministry with the news that she had met you on her holidays. Wizards who are supposed to be dead would do ****well not to run into Ministry of Magic witches at wayside inns…"**

"How she became employed by the Ministry is beyond me though," Sirius couldn't help but speak up. "Though she did have a good memory…" he added in an afterthought.

"Sirius," Molly snapped at him. The woman was dead; there was no need to insult her memory.

**Wormtail muttered something so quietly that Frank could not hear it, but it made the second man laugh — an entirely mirthless laugh, cold as his speech.**

"If he's laughing then we know it can't be a good thing," Arthur said as he remembered how Harry could hear Voldemort laughing when he killed his parents. He thought that Molly was right—there was something seriously wrong with that killer. How could you laugh at wiping out an innocent life—one that was loved and would be deeply missed?

**"We could have modified her memory? But Memory Charms can be broken by a powerful wizard, as I proved when I questioned her. It would be an insult to her memory not to use the information I extracted from her, Wormtail."**

"What?" Sirius asked incredulously. "That sounds like… you mean to tell me that he's actually _defending_ her? Isn't it a little late for that?"

"An insult to her memory?" Kingsley said repulsion plain in his tone.

"So he can break Memory Charms?" Arthur had to ask in a mixture of surprise and disgust. "That's not good… breaking a Memory Charm is very dangerous and will lead to permanent brain damage."

"But why was there a Memory Charm on her to begin with?" Bill asked. "Is this about Barty Crouch?"

"Most likely," Kingsley nodded.

**Out in the corridor, Frank suddenly became aware that the hand gripping his walking stick was slippery with sweat. The man with the cold voice had killed a woman. **

"He's killed more than just one woman," Arthur said sadly as he took his wife's hand. "And is responsible for the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands more."

**He was talking about it without any kind of remorse — with amusement. **

"Well, that's Voldemort for you," Sirius sighed. "He has no heart or soul. I can't believe that he was born human."

"Well," Mad-Eye said, "He didn't stay that way did he?"

"Fair point," Sirius nodded glumly.

**He was dangerous — a madman. And he was planning more murders — this boy, Harry ****Potter, whoever he was — was in danger — Frank knew what he must do. Now, if ever, was the time to go to the police.**

"Yes. He's a good man," Molly said fearfully, biting her lip she knew he wasn't getting out of this house alive. "Get out of there before they find out that you're there. Please!"

Bill sighed as he turned the page, hoping that this chapter would end soon… though he dreaded the thought of when it did.

**He would creep out of the house and head straight for the telephone box in the village… but the cold voice was speaking again, and Frank remained where he was, frozen to the spot, listening with all his might.**

**"One more murder… my faithful servant at Hogwarts… Harry Potter is as good as mine, ****Wormtail. It is decided. There will be no more argument. **

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" Sirius yelled—half a mind to go to Hogwarts and bring Harry here so that he could see him and see with his own eyes that Harry was safe.

"Filth," Mad-Eye growled threateningly. He was still furious that a Death Eater had impersonated him last year. If only that piece of scum wasn't fed to that Dementor… he fingered his own wand in his pocket. He would've loved a chance for payback.

Once Sirius had calmed down a little he asked, "Now who do we know who is mean and nasty, knows Dark Magic, has it in for Harry, and is at Hogwarts?"

No one said a word for a moment.

"If you are talking about Snape," Remus began but Sirius cut him off.

"Of course I am," Sirius snapped back. "And I don't care what anyone says. Once a Death Eater… always a Death Eater!"

"Dumbledore must have a reason for trusting him," Remus said as he nodded quickly to Bill to keep going and distract Sirius. It worked… but just barely.

**But quiet… I think I hear Nagini…"**

**And the second man's voice changed. He started making noises such as Frank had never heard before; he was hissing and spitting without drawing breath. Frank thought he must be having some sort of fit or seizure.**

"Oh, he must be speaking parseltongue," muttered Remus needlessly. "So that's what it sounds like…"

**And then Frank heard movement behind him in the dark passageway. He turned to look, and found himself paralyzed with fright. **

Arthur shivered again—knowing what—or rather _who_ was coming.

**Something was slithering toward him along the dark corridor floor, and as it drew nearer to the sliver of firelight, he realized with a thrill of terror that it was a gigantic snake, at least twelve feet long.**

Silence reigned for a moment, and then Tonks said in a slow, nervous voice, "So… I guess that's Nagini…"

Molly and Bill both looked at their father in fear, as if they thought he would disappear if they looked away. It seems impossible that he could've survived an encounter with something so deadly.

Arthur smiled as he wrapped his arm around his wife and glanced at Bill. "I'm fine," he assured them all. "It's not an experience I would like to repeat however."

"I wouldn't want to meet that snake," Tonks said with a shiver.

"Though it isn't as bad as the last snake Harry met," Sirius said, thinking about the basilisk.

"But what's he going to do?!" cried Molly suddenly before Bill could ask what Sirius meant. "Frank I mean?! He's cornered by that thing!"

"I don't think that he snake will do anything," Kingsley muttered. "So long as she's following Voldemort. If he lets the snake pass him, he'll have his chance to escape…"

"Oh, I hope he takes it," Tonks said nervously.

**Horrified, transfixed, Frank stared as its undulating body cut a wide, curving track through the thick dust on the floor, coming closer and closer — What was he to do? The only means of escape was into the room where the two men sat plotting murder, yet if he stayed where he was the snake would surely kill him —**

"No, wait," Tonks said, forgetting that she was talking to a book. "Wait till it's gone and then run for it!"

But she just remembered that there was no point. She knew that Frank Bryce would never leave that house again.

**But before he had made his decision, the snake was level with him, and then, incredibly, miraculously, it was passing; it was following the spitting, hissing noises made by the cold voice beyond the door, and in seconds, the tip of its diamond-patterned tail had vanished through the gap.**

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Tonks yelled desperately. "Get out while you still can!"

Bill gulped, wishing that he could stop reading, but bravely went on.

**There was sweat on Frank's forehead now, and the hand on the walking stick was trembling. Inside the room, the cold voice was continuing to hiss, and Frank was visited by a strange idea, an impossible idea… _This man could talk to snakes._ **

"Not impossible, but you wouldn't know about that," said Sirius anxiously.

"What does he think he's doing?" Molly cried frustrated. "Why doesn't he go?"

"I think he's too scared to," Bill spoke in barely more than a whisper.

"Of all the worst times to lose your head," Mad-Eye grunted.

**Frank didn't understand what was going on. He wanted more than anything to be back in his bed with his hot-water bottle. The problem was that his legs didn't seem to want to move. As he stood there shaking and trying to master himself, the cold voice switched ****abruptly to English again.**

Molly closed her eyes, pressing her face against her husband's shoulder with a soft moan. It was over for that Muggle man who hadn't done a thing wrong.

**"Nagini has interesting news, Wormtail," it said.**

**"In-indeed, My Lord?" said Wormtail.**

**"Indeed, yes," said the voice, "According to Nagini, there is an old Muggle standing right outside this room, listening to every word we say."**

"He is so dead," Tonks moaned.

"That's one way to put it," Mad-Eye said, though there wasn't any amusement in his tone.

**Frank didn't have a chance to hide himself. There were footsteps and then the door of the room was flung wide open.**

**A short, balding man with graying hair, a pointed nose, and small, watery eyes stood before Frank, a mixture of fear and alarm in his face.**

"So that's the man who betrayed Harry's parents?" Bill asked uncertainly. The look of fury on Sirius's face was answer enough however and he quickly went on, feeling sick again.

**"Invite him inside, Wormtail. Where are your manners?" The cold voice was coming from the ancient armchair before the fire, but Frank couldn't see the speaker. **

"Just as well, I wouldn't want to see him," said Tonks grimly.

"So not only has he been plotting to kill Harry even from this early on in the year," Sirius hissed and punched the arm of the couch, feeling helpless. "He must've already gotten back some sort of a physical form by now hasn't he?"

"It seems that way," Kingsley nodded as they all looked revolted at the thought. So even this far back, Voldemort was regaining strength.

**The snake, on the other hand, was curled up on the rotting hearth rug, like some horrible travesty of a pet dog. **

"I resent that," Sirius barked. Dogs were loyal creatures… he did not want to be compared to a snake. And Voldemort's own pet snake at that.

**Wormtail beckoned Frank into the room. Though still deeply shaken, Frank took a firmer grip on his walking stick and limped over the threshold.**

**The fire was the only source of light in the room; it cast long, spidery shadows upon the walls. Frank stared at the back of the armchair; the man inside it seemed to be even smaller than his servant, for Frank couldn't even see the back of his head.**

"You don't want to," Tonks whined. "I'm an Auror and I don't want to see him like this! It's got to be horrific!"

**"You heard everything, Muggle?" said the cold voice.**

**"What's that you're calling me?" said Frank defiantly, for now that he was inside the room, now that the time had come for some sort of action, he felt braver; it had always been so in ****the war.**

"Good man," Mad-Eye said quietly, feeling his respect for this man rise.

"If he was a wizard, he'd be a Gryffindor for sure," Sirius said half proud, half sad.

**"I am calling you a Muggle," said the voice coolly. "It means that you are not a wizard."**

**"I don't know what you mean by wizard," said Frank, his voice growing steadier. "All I know is I've heard enough to interest the police tonight, I have. You've done murder and you're planning more! And I'll tell you this too," he added, on a sudden inspiration, "my ****wife knows I'm up here, and if I don't come back —"**

"It won't work, and if you'd had a wife he would have just gone after her too," Sirius sighed, shaking his head.

"Nice try though," Tonks said, trying to find something to say.

**"You have no wife," said the cold voice, very quietly. "Nobody knows you are here. You told nobody that you were coming. Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, Muggle, for he knows… he always knows…"**

"And Snape thinks Harry is arrogant?" Sirius couldn't help but ask. "Look at Voldy here! If his head gets any bigger he won't be able to walk straight underneath all that weight."

"Bet he'd love to hear you say that," Bill said in admiration.

"I'd say it to his face if I ever get the chance," Sirius sighed. Once shot at Voldemort that was all he wanted. One fight… just the two of them. He might die in the process… but he would be given a chance to try and avenge James and Lily and protect Harry at the same time. If he could somehow defeat Voldemort, then his godson wouldn't have to. Was that too much to ask?

**"Is that right?" said Frank roughly. "Lord, is it? Well, I don't think much of your manners, _My Lord_. Turn 'round and face me like a man, why don't you?"**

Sirius snickered, and applauded. "That is a real man right there. I would've loved to have met him and shaken his hand. Talk about guts…"

"Maybe we could've brought him into the Order," Mad-Eye said approvingly. "We need more nerves like that around."

_'Too bad that mouth of his just sealed his fate,'_ Arthur thought in despair as he tightened his hold on Molly's hand.

**"But I am not a man, Muggle," said the cold voice, barely audible now over the crackling of ****the flames. "I am much, much more than a man.**

"Come on!" Sirius cried out in exasperation. "You're not a man! You're not even human! I don't know _what_ you are, but a man you aren't. You want a real man? Take a good hard look at that Muggle!"

**However… why not? I will face you… Wormtail, come turn my chair around."**

**The servant gave a whimper.**

**"You heard me, Wormtail."**

**Slowly, with his face screwed up, as though he would rather have done anything than approach his master and the hearth rug where the snake lay, the small man walked forward and began to turn the chair. **

"I bet he would," Remus replied sadly.

**The snake lifted its ugly triangular head and hissed slightly as the legs of the chair snagged on its rug.**

They all waited, holding their breath, knowing that whatever was in the chair would be the last thing that Frank would ever see.

**And then the chair was facing Frank, and he saw what was sitting in it. His walking stick fell to the floor with a clatter. He opened his mouth and let out a scream. He was screaming so loudly that he never heard the words the thing in the chair spoke as it raised a wand. **

Bill gulped as he forced himself to read the next two sentences.

**There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and Frank Bryce crumpled. He was dead ****before he hit the floor.**

Molly had covered her face with her hands and turned away from the book and hid her face in Arthur's shoulder. How could anyone be so cruel? So ruthless that they felt nothing even after they murdered someone in cold blood?

Sirius was looking angry, over the injustice of it all. The room was quiet for a moment, mourning the loss of a brave man. This went on for a time before Bill was able to choke out the last sentence.

**Two hundred miles away, the boy called Harry Potter woke with a start.**

"Huh?" Tonks said in confusion.

"What?" Sirius asked, frowning deeper this time… this time in worry.

"He saw that?!" Molly cried, lifting her head and looking alarmed.

Remus nodded, looking unsure. "I think so…"

"How though?" Sirius questioned. "What, what's Harry got to do with that? He wasn't there! It said so itself! Two hundred miles away!"

Though that wasn't nearly far enough from Voldemort in Sirius's opinion.

"Remember when Harry had a vision of you, Arthur?" Remus muttered and Arthur nodded, slowly understanding what this was about. "I'm guessing that Harry had one here as well."

Sirius groaned, not wanting to know how Harry could dream things like this, but at the same time he was burning to know what kind of 'connection' was between Harry and Voldemort. But why hadn't he ever heard of this? Why didn't Harry ever tell him…?

"Are you alright?" asked Remus gently as he took his shoulder.

"No," said Sirius sharply. "Voldy wanted to kill my fourteen year old godson and I had no way to help him! I never even knew about this! I am certainly not alright."

"But he's fine now," Remus said soothingly. "He's safe and sound up at the castle…" he didn't have the heart to remind Sirius that Harry was now at the mercy of the Ministry…

"I know, but still," Sirius said shaking his head.

Remus patted his shoulder and said, "Harry is, by instinct, becoming very talented in Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm sure that he's going to be fine…"

"Good," Tonks said grimly. "From what we can see in this chapter, he's going to need it…"

"That's the end of the chapter anyway," said Bill, relieved that someone else would read next.

"What a way to start off a book," Mad-Eye said curtly. "Better than _'Once upon a time…'_ rubbish."

"I think I'm next to read," said Arthur, gently taking the book from his son before anyone could say anything to Mad-Eye and with a sigh, turned to the next chapter.

He cleared out his throat to read out, "**Chapter 2:** **The Scar.**"

**(It's starting! Finally chapter one is done and over with! Please let me know what you thought of it! And I've been getting a lot of emails either telling me to bring Fleur in or not. Well, I made my decision and you will all find out during the 'Goblet of Fire' chapter. Right before they read about the names being pulled from the goblet. Thank you all and I hope you enjoyed this first chapter!)**


	4. The Scar

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 2: The Scar**

He cleared out his throat to read out, "**Chapter 2:** **The Scar.**"

Sirius frowned at that. What did Harry's scar have to do with this?

"Oh, no," Molly groaned miserably.

"What's happening?" Tonks asked worriedly.

"Harry has that strange connection with Voldemort remember?" Kingsley reminded them all. "I'm guessing that his scar must be hurting…"

"Yeah, and it's because of that damn scar that there's a connection," Sirius said bitterly. "It always hurts when Voldy's nearby."

"But why then?" Molly asked confused. "Why would it be hurting him all of a sudden like that?"

Arthur shrugged as he looked at the picture of Harry lying against a pillow; his hand was pressed firmly against his scar. "I think we're about to find out."

**Harry lay flat on his back, breathing hard as though he had been running. He had awoken from a vivid dream with his hands pressed over his face. The old scar on his forehead, which was shaped like a bolt of lightning, was burning beneath his fingers as though someone had just pressed a white-hot wire to his skin.**

"That's not good," said Sirius slowly, sounding unnerved. "That's not good at all… "

"Why was his scar doing that?" Molly asked again terrified. "I thought that it only hurt when Voldemort was near him. But it said here that he was at least two hundred miles away!"

"If I had it my way, he'd be a lot farther," Sirius snarled, grinding his teeth together. "If he so much as comes near him again I won't need a wand to murder him." Sirius would rather be damned than just stand by and watched as Voldemort took Harry away from him to.

"At first it only did that when Voldemort was near," Kingsley said in his deep voice. "But Dumbledore says that now it hurts Harry whenever he had a vision or when Voldemort is feeling a powerful emotion."

"Do you think Harry saw what happened to Frank then?" asked Bill asked slowly.

"Oh, I hope not," Tonks said as she shook her head. "Imagine seeing someone murdered when you sleep!"

"No, I didn't mean just that…" Bill explained quickly. "I mean, I'm sure that Frank _actually_ died there… I'm sure that all that happened. But it's just that… is it too much to hope for that Harry just dreamt it?"

"You honestly think that?" Mad-Eye asked annoyed. "It can be useful. If that connection didn't exist, then your dad would be six feet under by now."

"OK!" Arthur shouted out before his wife or son—whose faces both grew red with anger—could yell at Mad-Eye. "Continuing on…" he then read out quickly.

**He sat up, one hand still on his scar, the other hand reaching out in the darkness for his glasses, which were on the bedside table. He put them on and his bedroom came into clearer focus, lit by a faint, misty orange light that was filtering through the curtains from the street lamp outside the window.**

**Harry ran his fingers over the scar again. It was still painful. He turned on the lamp beside him, scrambled out of bed, crossed the room, opened his wardrobe, and peered into the mirror on the inside of the door. A skinny boy of fourteen looked back at him, his bright green eyes puzzled under his untidy black hair. **

Remus and Sirius smiled at that; they never got tired of hearing similarities between Harry and their old friends.

Molly chewed on her lower lip worriedly. "I hope he's okay."

**He examined the lightning-bolt scar of his reflection more closely. It looked normal, but it was still stinging.**

"Ok, I'm not an expert on scars, but is that normal?" Tonks asked concerned.

"Nothing about that boy is normal," Mad-Eye spoke up.

"True," Tonks conceded. "But what I mean is, do curse scars do that?"

"Not that I know of," Remus confessed. He knew that it was strange that Harry's scar reacted this way… especially since Harry had had the scar for years and, from what he heard, it had never hurt like this before he started school… "Though of course, I'm pretty sure that Harry's scar is one of a kind. So I'm sure that there are a bunch of things that we won't know about it."

"It is strange," said Bill thoughtfully. "Though in my opinion, I think that the dream would be worse than a scar hurting."

**Harry tried to recall what he had been dreaming about before he had awoken. It had seemed so real… There had been two people he knew and one he didn't… **

"Voldemort, Wormtail," Tonks counted off on her fingers, "And Frank. I'm sure that it was real."

**He concentrated hard, frowning, trying to remember… The dim picture of a darkened room came to him… There had been a snake on a hearth rug… a small man called Peter, nicknamed Wormtail… and a cold, high voice… the voice of Lord Voldemort. Harry felt as though an ice cube had slipped down into his stomach at the very thought...**

"I don't blame him," Bill spoke up. "It's bad enough knowing that he's out there somewhere—who needs to dream about him killing people?"

"It's not a pleasant thought," Arthur agreed, though he was silently grateful that Harry had this ability and had saved him.

Mad-Eye resisted the urge to groan. He knew that there was no way that they would be able to get very far with the book today. They were only on chapter two and, just like the last three, it was filled with constant interruptions. And to make matters worse, the book is at least twice as long as the last book!

No, at the rate they were going, they would be lucky to finish the first few chapters by next Christmas.

**He closed his eyes tightly and tried to remember what Voldemort had looked like, but it was impossible… All Harry knew was that at the moment when Voldemort's chair had swung around, and he, Harry, had seen what was sitting in it, **

"He saw Voldemort?" Molly gasped. She shivered at the thought. "Good Lord! I wouldn't be able to sleep for weeks after that!"

**he had felt a spasm of horror, which had awoken him… or had that been the pain in his scar?**

"It might have been both," Remus mused to himself, not liking this at all. "I wouldn't be able to sleep through that either. I doubt that anyone would."

**And who had the old man been? For there had definitely been an old man; Harry had watched him fall to the ground. **

"Oh, he did see that," Molly panted in horror. "I can't believe he saw that…"

"Maybe not," Arthur told her gently and read out:

**It was all becoming confused. Harry put his face into his hands, blocking out his bedroom, trying to hold on to the picture of that dimly lit room, but it was like trying to keep water in his cupped hands; the details were now trickling away as fast as he tried to hold on to them… **

"Thank goodness," Molly let out a tiny breath of relief, her hand over her heart. "So he didn't see it. That's a small blessing. I don't think he needs anymore nightmares."

"Trust me on this, Harry," Sirius agreed, silently grateful as well. "You don't want to remember that dream."

**Voldemort and Wormtail had been talking about someone they had killed, though Harry could not remember the name… and they had been plotting to kill someone else… him!**

"That's got to bother you… you know, dreaming about the very mad man who's trying to kill you," Mad-Eye said almost cheerfully.

"Dear Merlin," Arthur breathed just as Sirius shot Mad-Eye an aggravated look. "He really should write to someone about this. If nothing else, I'm sure that it would make him feel better!"

Molly nodded firmly in accord, staring piercingly at the book, and felt chills going down her spine as she stared at it. Why did all this have to happen? He was only fourteen years old and was forced to dream about something like this! It was preposterous that one young boy would have to deal with all this on his own.

"Well, it's a good thing that Voldy's plan didn't work," Tonks said a little smugly. "Harry got away and continues to be a thorn in Voldy's side."

"That's my boy," Sirius said quietly, but proudly.

**Harry took his face out of his hands, opened his eyes, and stared around his bedroom as though expecting to see something unusual there. As it happened, there was an extraordinary number of unusual things in this room. A large wooden trunk stood open at the foot of his bed, revealing a cauldron, broomstick, black robes, and assorted spell books. **

"Wait, he actually has his stuff in his room now?" Remus asked in shock.

Arthur looked up at him and smiled, "That's what it says."

"Well, yeah," Bill said looking at all their joyful expressions and not having a clue to what they were so happy about. "Why wouldn't he?"

At those words, Sirius suddenly grew angry again and looked ready to tear something—or rather _someone_—limb from limb. He twisted his sleeves so badly that they were fraying underneath his grip. And, predictably—some might say inevitably—he stood up and his fury went out of his control. The only time they heard anyone so angry was when Arthur lost his mind when he read about Pettigrew attacked Ron.

"BECAUSE THEY'RE CRUEL, EVIL BASTARDS! THAT'S WHAT! THEY WERE JUST HORRID TO HIM. FOR TEN YEARS THEY KEPT HIM LOCKED UP! AND EVEN STARVED HIM FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG! OH, THEY ARE SO LUCKY THAT I'M STUCK HERE! THE MOMENT THAT I'M FREE OF THIS HOUSE, THE FIRST THING I'M GOING TO DO IS TEACH THEM ALL A LESSON THAT THEY WON'T EVER FORGOET! YOU MARK MY WORDS WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH THEM, THEY ARE GOING TO REGRET THE DAY THEY WERE BORN!"

Bill stared at him in fear as Remus explained in a quieter tone, but still sounding angry, "Harry's so-called relatives locked all his belongings in a cupboard under the stairs every year before this one. It was the same cupboard that they forced him to use as a bedroom for ten years, while his cousin got two bedrooms to himself," Remus explained and Bill looked horrified.

Sirius just sat there, fuming at the Dursleys, fuming at Dumbledore for was putting his godson through much more pain by leaving him at that hell. He was going to make damn sure that Harry would never return to that house even if it killed him.

"But they let him have his things now?" Bill asked quickly.

"I think Black may have had something to do with that," Mad-Eye smirked evilly. Well, what he said did one thing right—it cheered Sirius up.

"Yeah, I have a feeling that when they found out that Harry had a dangerous murderer for a godfather was good for him," Tonks said with a smile. "And the Dursleys as well. They need a reminder that they aren't so high and mighty after all. They're probably petrified that Sirius will come in the middle of the night and do away with them."

An evil grin stretched across Sirius's face. "Well, I'm glad I can be of use. And I have to agree that it's not such a bad idea…"

**Rolls of parchment littered that part of his desk that was not taken up by the large, empty cage in which his snowy owl, Hedwig, usually perched. On the floor beside his bed a book lay open; Harry had been reading it before he fell asleep last night. **

Sirius shook his head in disappointment. Harry reading? He had such high hopes for him.

**The pictures in this book were all moving. Men in bright orange robes were zooming in and out of sight on broomsticks, throwing a red ball to one another.**

Sirius immediately brightened. "So he was reading about Quidditch! Alright! Good for you Harry!"

"And I don't need to guesss who gave Harry that book," Bill said thinking of his youngest brother.

**Harry walked over to the book, picked it up, and watched one of the wizards score a spectacular goal by putting the ball through a fifty-foot-high hoop. Then he snapped the book shut. Even Quidditch — in Harry's opinion, the best sport in the world — **

"Naturally," Sirius said beaming. "Reading up on Quidditch before bed, there we go! Not sure what he could possibly learn from the Cannons though…"

"Don't let Ron hear you say that," Bill warned lightly.

**couldn't distract him at the moment. He placed Flying with the Cannons on his bedside table, crossed to the window, and drew back the curtains to survey the street below.**

**Privet Drive looked exactly as a respectable suburban street would be expected to look in the early hours of Saturday morning. All the curtains were closed. As far as Harry could see through the darkness, there wasn't a living creature in sight, not even a cat.**

"Hence the most boring neighborhood alive," Sirius groaned.

"But that's a good sign, isn't it?" asked Bill. "Nothing to worry about."

"Voldemort or Peter aren't anywhere near there," replied Remus. "So, at the moment, yes, I would say that's a good thing."

**And yet… and yet… Harry went restlessly back to the bed and sat down on it, running a finger over his scar again. It wasn't the pain that bothered him; Harry was no stranger to pain and injury. **

"He's got that right," Molly muttered and pressed her fingers against the side of her face as if she had a bad headache. The boy seemed to end up in the Hospital wing several times a year.

**He had lost all the bones from his right arm once and had them painfully re-grown in a night.**

"Right, you don't know about that. You see, that was thanks to Lockhart," Arthur explained, when Bill looked confused.

"I still want to know what was going through Lockhart's pea-sized brain when he thought that he could do a better job than madam Pomfrey," Sirius fumed to himself. But he cheered himself up when he remembered fondly how the git had erased his own memory and is far away from everyone else.. Karma can be a wonderful thing sometimes.

**The same arm had been pierced by a venomous foot-long fang not long afterward. Only last year Harry had fallen fifty feet from an airborne broomstick. **

Sirius shifted guiltily at the memory of who's fault that happened.

**He was used to bizarre accidents and injuries; they were unavoidable if you attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and had a knack for attracting a lot of trouble.**

"_A knack_?" Sirius repeated, exasperated. "More like throwing jumping in head-first into dangerous, life-threatening situations!"

No one bothered to correct him for they all knew that it was true.

**No, the thing that was bothering Harry was the last time his scar had hurt him, it had been because Voldemort had been close by… But Voldemort couldn't be here, now… The idea of Voldemort lurking in Privet Drive was absurd, impossible…**

"Harry's own personal, built-in, _Dark Detector_!" Tonks called out loudly. "And Voldemort doesn't have to be nearby to activate it. That is and is going to continue to be useful."

"I sure hope to Merlin he's not there," Molly said, frightened for the boy she considered as another son.

"Don't worry, Mum," Bill said soothingly. "I think we would've heard about it if he was anywhere near Harry that summer."

"Yes, but I still don't see why that is," Kingsley declared, slowly shaking his head. He hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "Voldemort wasn't anywhere near there, but in a way, Harry seemed to be seeing into his mind… almost."

"Oh, I really don't like the sound of that," Molly muttered, shaking her head. "That scar never bothered Harry before he went to school. And if this was before Voldemort returned to full power, why would his scar start hurting all of a sudden?"

"Maybe it's because Voldemort's been getting stronger?" Tonks suggested. "That could explain why it's only just started happening that summer?"

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Sirius grumbled.

**Harry listened closely to the silence around him. Was he half expecting to hear the creak of a stair or the swish of a cloak? And then he jumped slightly as he heard his cousin Dudley give a tremendous grunting snore from the next room.**

"He is going to go crazy if he keeps expecting to hear something," Mad-Eye said coolly.

"And that's a lot coming from you, Mad-Eye," Tonks piped up. Mad-Eye looked away, wanting to throw something at her. Bill suddenly spoke up with a question of his own.

"Dudley? Who in their right minds would want to name their kid, Dudley?" Bill asked himself.

"What do you expect from two idiots like his parents?" Sirius told him sarcastically. "Dudley Dursley… yeah, that sounds like a nice, normal name."

"OH!" Tonks cried out with a laugh as she just remembered something. "Just wait till you hear what Petunia calls him. His nicknames are Dinky Diddydums and Dudders… I can't wait to see what else she calls him."

That set everyone off and they all burst out laughing at those ridiculous names for Dudley. After composing himself a little, Arthur resumed reading, tears of laughter still in his eyes.

**Harry shook himself mentally; he was being stupid. There was no one in the house with him except Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley, and they were plainly still asleep, their dreams untroubled and painless.**

Tonks then said a deep and serious voice, _"They're despised and loathed… they're the self-righteous, social-climbing scourges of suburbia… they are the Dursleys_!"

Sirius applauded loudly and clapped his cousin on the back. "Couldn't have put them better myself!" he roared with laughter.

**Asleep was the way Harry liked the Dursleys best; **

"I really don't blame him," Sirius waved his hand as if getting rid of an annoying fly. "Though in my opinion, I would like them better if they were…"

"Sirius," Remus warned, though it was only half-heartedly.

**it wasn't as though they were ever any help to him awake. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were Harry's only living relatives.**

"That doesn't make them family," said Sirius in a harsher tone than usual.

"I think he meant blood relatives," Kingsley pointed out to him kindly. Sirius still looked mad, but there was also a self-satisfied smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

**They were Muggles who hated and despised magic in any form, which meant that Harry was about as welcome in their house as dry rot. **

"And I'm sure the feeling is reciprocated!" growled Sirius crossly. "He's ten times the person than all three of you Dursleys combined!"

"It's OK, Padfoot," Remus cut in quickly and gently. "We all know that. And it's sad that they never will, but we'll find a way to fix this." Remus didn't have the heart to tell Sirius that he was sounding like a broken record, but he knew that Sirius was likely to stay angry until Harry left the Dursleys. He remembered how much his friend enjoyed himself during the Quidditch Final and hoped that the Quidditch World Cup would do the same.

**They had explained away Harry's long absences at Hogwarts over the last three years by telling everyone that he went to St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys. **

Sirius was grinding his teeth together in an effort to keep himself from yelling out.

**They knew perfectly well that, as an underage wizard, Harry wasn't allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts, but they were still apt to blame him for anything that went wrong about the house. **

"And has it ever occurred to them that it might be that horrible son of theirs and how they spoiled him rotten that might be causing all the problems?" Molly snapped and Bill was astonished to hear his mother say that. But after everything he heard about these people, he couldn't help but feel a bit of spiteful pleasure at all the insults thrown at them.

**Harry had never been able to confide in them or tell them anything about his life in the wizarding world. **

**The very idea of going to them when they awoke, and telling them about his scar hurting him, and about his worries about Voldemort, was laughable.**

"Actually, I think the idea of them caring would be even more laughable," Arthur muttered, sad at how lonely Harry must've been feeling. How he had no one he could trust to talk to… for all those years, he had no one.

"Poor guy," said Tonks sympathetically, finding it difficult to hear how alone someone must've felt for so long.

"Well, I still think that he needs to tell someone about this," Molly said restlessly.

"It's fine, because he can now tell me!" said Sirius proudly.

Molly stared at him for a few moments, before saying, "Well, in that case, maybe it's best to tell Remus."

"WHAT?!" he yelled and she waved him down before he could go on.

"I didn't mean that he shouldn't talk to you!" she yelled back. "I just meant that if you found out about this, then you were bound to do something stupid."

Sirius frowned at her. He already knew that Harry wrote to him that summer and told him about his scar, and he had taken off almost as soon as he got it. He stopped himself long enough to write a reply and waited until Hedwig took off before he got on Buckbeak and left himself. He grinned to himself at the memory; he was looking forward to seeing how they would react when they found that out.

**And yet it was because of Voldemort that Harry had come to live with the Dursleys in the first place. **

"And Dumbledore," Sirius muttered darkly but looked away pointedly—simply stating a fact.

**If it hadn't been for Voldemort, Harry would not have had the lightning scar on his forehead. If it hadn't been for Voldemort, Harry would still have had parents…**

"And Wormtail," Remus whispered depressingly.

"Do they have to bring this up in every book?" Tonks asked grimly. "I think we get it by now!"

"Not all of us," Arthur said with a half a glance at his son who had turned pale at what he was hearing and seemed to be listening with rapid attention.

**Harry had been a year old the night that Voldemort — the most powerful Dark wizard for a century, a wizard who had been gaining power steadily for eleven years — arrived at his house and killed his father and mother. **

Sirius flinched as horribly as if he was someone afraid of Voldemort's name. Just hearing this felt like a knife in his chest sinking deeper and deeper…

**Voldemort had then turned his wand on Harry; **

Sirius flinched again, but this time he pleasured himself for a minute by thinking of how many ways he could torture Wormtail when he got his hands on the rat.

**he had performed the curse that had disposed of many full-grown witches and wizards in his steady rise to power — and, incredibly, it had not worked. Instead of killing the small boy, the curse had rebounded upon Voldemort. **

"We already know this…" Sirius called out bluntly.

"We know, Padfoot," Remus said in determined patience.

"Sorry, I just wished that we didn't have to hear this every book," Sirius growled back. "It's bad enough having to hear it the first time." And it was still hard to think of James and Lily being dead. Even after all this time.

**Harry had survived with nothing but a lightning-shaped cut on his forehead, and Voldemort had been reduced to something barely alive. His powers gone, his life almost extinguished, Voldemort had fled; the terror in which the secret community of witches and wizards had lived for so long had lifted, Voldemort's followers had disbanded, and Harry Potter had become famous.**

"Even though he hates it," Remus spoke with a tiny smile.

**It had been enough of a shock for Harry to discover, on his eleventh birthday, that he was a wizard; it had been even more disconcerting to find out that everyone in the hidden wizarding world knew his name. **

**Harry had arrived at Hogwarts to find that heads turned and whispers followed him wherever he went. But he was used to it now: **

"That's a lie," Kingsley chortled in his deep voice. He may have only known Harry for a few months, but even he could tell that all that attention bothered the boy greatly.

"He doesn't seem to like the attention much, does he?" Tonks asked the room at large, even though she knew the answer.

"Nope, not like his father there," Sirius nodded; knowing full well that James would've loved all the attention—almost as much as he did.

**At the end of this summer, he would be starting his fourth year at Hogwarts, and Harry was already counting the days until he would be back at the castle again.**

"I did that when I lived with my dear old Mum," Sirius reminisced to himself. "I would put a calendar on the outside of my door just to annoy her."

"I'm sure that she was very proud of you," Tonks said with heavy sarcasm.

"Funnily enough," Sirius said in mock puzzlement. "I don't think she was for some reason."

**But there was still a fortnight to go before he went back to school. He looked hopelessly around his room again, and his eye paused on the birthday cards his two best friends had sent him at the end of July. **

"Oh, so this happened right after his fourteenth birthday?" Bill asked, making sure.

"He's lucky to have made it that far," Mad-Eye stated clearly.

"You just keep digging your own grave, Mad-Eye," Tonks whispered to him as Sirius sent a dark glare at him.

**What would they say if Harry wrote to them and told them about his scar hurting?**

"Oh, I have a few ideas," Molly and Remus both said at the same time. They looked up and chuckled as Arthur went on…

**At once, Hermione Granger's voice seemed to fill his head, shrill and panicky.**

**_"Your scar hurt? Harry, that's really serious… Write to Professor Dumbledore! And I'll go and check Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions… Maybe there's something in there about curse scars…"_**

They all burst out laughing at that.

"I'd say that was spot on," Remus murmured amused. It always cheered him up greatly to hear how close friends could be. "Harry really seems to know his friends inside out."

"She's right though," Molly nodded as her smile slowly left her face. "The Headmaster would probably want to know about his dream and his scar hurting…" she trailed off, her voice still worried. She shook her head, sometimes she forgot that this already happened.

**Yes that would be Hermione's advice: Go straight to the headmaster of Hogwarts, and in the meantime, consult a book. **

"Not sure that would help him here," Bill muttered. "How many others had survived the Killing curse?"

"Yeah, I could see why that would be a problem," Tonks nodded.

**Harry stared out of the window at the inky blue-black sky. He doubted very much whether a book could help him now. As far as he knew, he was the only living person to have survived a curse like Voldemort's; it was highly unlikely, therefore, that he would find his symptoms listed in Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions. **

"You got that right," Mad-Eye muttered privately.

**As for informing the headmaster, Harry had no idea where Dumbledore went during the summer holidays. He amused himself for a moment, picturing Dumbledore, with his long silver beard, full length wizard's robes, and pointed hat, stretched out on a beach somewhere, rubbing suntan lotion… onto his long crooked nose. **

The group couldn't help themselves. They all cracked up loudly at that; not even Arthur had been able to choke out that last sentence without dropping the book and his eyes watered up in mirth. They all laughed loudly at the mental image that one sentence showed them, and Sirius had his head buried in the couch arm from his laughter. That went on for some time—just hearing how vivid Harry's imagination was brightened everyone's mood.

"Call me crazy, but I don't think that's what he does," Sirius said, hiccupping himself to silence. "That kid has the best imagination."

"Are his thoughts always like this?" Bill asked as he was finally able to gasp for breath.

"Oh, yes," Arthur laughed. "And I have to say, relaxing on a beach doesn't sound like half a bad idea."

"Well, that is the question," Mad-Eye said—he was the only one not laughing, but there was a smirk. "Does anyone know where Dumbledore actually goes during the summer?"

"Now that you bring it up…" Tonks said slowly. "I can confidently say… I have no clue."

"I think that he stays at Hogwarts," Kingsley said, chuckling deeply. "But I also think that he does a lot of traveling during that time."

"Just one of the many things that we'll never know about Dumbledore," Tonks said.

**Wherever Dumbledore was, though, Harry was sure that Hedwig would be able to find him; Harry's owl had never yet failed to deliver a letter to anyone, even without an address. But what would he write?**

"Oh," Bill said as he blinked in surprise. "How are you supposed to ask that?"

**_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_**

**_Sorry to bother you, but my scar hurt this morning._**

**_Yours sincerely,_**

**_Harry Potter._**

**Even inside his head the words sounded stupid.**

Molly could only shake her head.

"I still think that he should tell him," she sighed, and several others had to nod in firm agreement. Except for Sirius and Tonks—who were still laughing at how lame that message sounded.

**And so he tried to imagine his other best friend, Ron Weasley's, reaction, and in a moment, Ron's red hair and long-nosed, freckled face seemed to swim before Harry, wearing a bemused expression.**

"Oh, this is gonna be good," Sirius said in excitement and rubbed his hands—he couldn't wait to hear this.

**_"Your scar hurt? But… but You-Know-Who can't be near you now, can he? I mean… you'd know, wouldn't you? He'd be trying to do you in again, wouldn't be? I dunno, Harry, maybe curse scars always twinge a bit… I'll ask Dad…"_**

They all laughed loudly again at those few sentences, because they knew that sounded _exactly_ like something that Ron would say.

"It's nice to know how close those three are," Arthur said, smiling softly.

"Close?" Tonks held her stomach as she wheezed, "They're inside each other's heads! I swear they know each other's minds than they know their own."

**Mr. Weasley was a fully qualified wizard who worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, but he didn't have any particular expertise in the matter of curses, as far as Harry knew. **

"No, I don't," Arthur confirmed with a shrug as he broke himself off. "I know some things, but I don't think what I know would help."

**In any case, Harry didn't like the idea of the whole Weasley family knowing that he, Harry, was getting jumpy about a few moments' pain. Mrs. Weasley would fuss worse than Hermione, **

Everyone chuckled as Molly blushed faintly.

"A very good reason, then," said Bill simply. Now he loved his mother dearly, but she tended to worry over everything.

"Is there something wrong with worrying about him?" she demanded, her cheeks still slightly pink.

"He's a teenager," Tonks reminded them all. "They don't like to have someone constantly worrying about them. Especially if they're boys."

"You sound like you know a lot of what goes on inside a boy's heads," Mad-Eye stated as his magical eye fixed itself on her.

"I'm not a Tom-boy for nothing!" she said loudly.

**and Fred and George, Ron's sixteen- year-old twin brothers, might think Harry was losing his nerve. **

"They would just laugh that off," Sirius stated with certainty.

"Nah," Bill commented nonchalantly. "Even they know that Harry wouldn't lose his nerve. I mean, after everything that's been happening to him, I'm sure they would understand why he's worried."

"But he sure knows us well," Arthur confirmed as he turned the page.

**The Weasleys were Harry's favorite family in the world; **

"Awwww!" Tonks cooed and Molly was looking rather teary-eyed. The boy was so adorably sweet—and it was so cute that he didn't even realize how sweet he was.

**he was hoping that they might invite him to stay any time now (Ron had mentioned something about the Quidditch World Cup), and he somehow didn't want his visit punctuated with anxious inquiries about his scar.**

"It doesn't matter about the game," Molly began sternly. "He still needs to tell someone about this…"

"But Molly," Arthur countered her gently; "Harry just wanted to go and have fun with his friends at a Quidditch match. I wouldn't want to have people treat me like I was some kind of porcelain doll that might break. And Harry deserved to just be able to sit back and have fun at the game like a normal teenager would."

"Why doesn't he just write to me and tell me and then worry about nothing but the game?" Sirius demanded as Molly looked down at the floor. Sirius remembered getting that letter, but what was taking so long?

**Harry kneaded his forehead with his knuckles. What he really wanted (and it felt almost shameful to admit it to himself) was someone like - someone like a parent:**

"That's not anything to be ashamed about!" Sirius spoke up, feeling as if a cold hand was squeezing the life out of his heart. Harry shouldn't have had to feel ashamed to admit that he needed someone there. He wanted Harry to be able to turn to someone with his worries and fears… he understood that better than anyone that you can't go through life alone.

The others were obviously thinking the same thing.

"There is nothing shameful for someone to say that you need help…" Remus almost whispered, his eyes shining sadly, "Harry—of all people—has more than a right to need and want someone like a parent…"

"Of course, he hasn't had anyone there for him for ten years. It really doesn't surprise me that he's feeling that way," Kingsley spoke up.

"You aren't helping make things better, Kingsley," Sirius snapped at him as Arthur went on gloomily.

**an adult wizard whose advice he could ask without feeling stupid, someone who cared about him, who had had experience with Dark Magic…**

"Come on, Harry!" Sirius almost begged at this point. "Just write to me! As soon as Hedwig gets back, write and tell me! What else am I there for?!"

**And then the solution came to him. It was so simple, and so obvious, that he couldn't believe it had taken so long – _Sirius._**

"Damn straight!" Sirius sighed in relief, looking pleased with himself. "I'm only hurt that it took him that long to think of me."

"To be fair, it _had_ only been a couple months since you two met," Tonks pointed out.

"What?" Bill asked as he looked around at them all.

Mad-Eye groaned and rubbed his normal eye in irritation.

"I still think Remus is a better option," Molly muttered, and Sirius looked ready to snap her neck. "I only mean is that he doesn't have to worry about Remus doing something risky or stupid!" she told him coldly.

**Harry leapt up from the bed, hurried across the room, and sat down at his desk; he pulled a piece of parchment toward him, loaded his eagle-feather quill with ink, wrote Dear Sirius, then paused, wondering how best to phrase his problem, **

"Just telling me what's bothering you is a good start," Sirius offered helpfully.

**still marveling at the fact that he hadn't thought of Sirius straight away. **

Sirius was also marveling at that as we… but he knew that Tonks was right and that it was going to take some time for Harry to get used to this. After all, his godson believed he was a murderer that was after him for almost a year.

**But then, perhaps it wasn't so surprising - after all, he had only found out that Sirius was his godfather two months ago.**

"Yeah, I could see that," Tonks said. Bill continued to look taken aback at what he was hearing and Mad-Eye was fighting the urge to rip his own hair out at this.

**There was a simple reason for Sirius's complete absence from Harry's life until then - Sirius had been in Azkaban, the terrifying wizard jail guarded by creatures called Dementors,**

A slight shudder ran through the room at the mention of the Dementors, but nobody interrupted as Arthur turned the page.

**sightless, soul-sucking fiends who had come to search for Sirius at Hogwarts when he had escaped. **

"Honestly, Dementors at Hogwarts," muttered Molly, still furious at what happened in the last book. "I'm never going to forgive the Ministry for doing that."

Sirius on the other hand was grinning triumphantly at the memory of his incredible escape as Bill rubbed his head in complete bewilderment.

**Yet Sirius had been innocent - the murders for which he had been convicted had been committed by Wormtail, Voldemort's supporter, whom nearly everybody now believed dead.**

Sirius's eye was twitching furiously at that commit, but he was able to hold himself back from saying anything, forcing himself to listen to Arthur.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew otherwise, however; they had come face-to-face with Wormtail only the previous year, though only Professor Dumbledore had believed their story.**

"He would believe their story," Mad-Eye muttered under his breath—the old man was so trusting it was almost sickening. Though in some cases, like dealing with Black, that was considered a good thing.

**For one glorious hour, Harry had believed that he was leaving the Dursleys at last, because Sirius had offered him a home once his name had been cleared. **

Sirius felt guilty, shaking his head heavily. "Damn that rat to the deepest pits of hell," he whispered for himself. He felt Remus grip his shoulder tightly, and the ache inside him seemed to lessen slightly.

**But the chance had been snatched away from him - Wormtail had escaped before they could take him to the Ministry of Magic, and Sirius had had to flee for his life. Harry had helped him escape on the back of a hippogriff called Buckbeak, and since then, Sirius had been on the run. **

"You did that?!" Bill called out in amazement.

Sirius smirked at that, "Maybe," he said mysteriously.

"That sure sounds like something you would've done," Remus nodded as he remembered the Sirius Black that he once knew… how he loved a flare and exiting with a bang.

**The home Harry might have had if Wormtail had not escaped had been haunting him all summer. It had been doubly hard to return to the Dursleys knowing that he had so nearly escaped them forever.**

"He was that close," Tonks sighed unhappily, holding up her thumb and finger until they were less than a centimeter apart. "_That_ close to getting out of there."

**Nevertheless, Sirius had been of some help to Harry, even if he couldn't be with him. **

"Oh? How so?" Sirius asked, grinning and leaning in. He wanted to hear exactly what the Dursleys thought of him… he was silently praying that they were constantly living in fear…

**It was due to Sirius that Harry now had all his school things in his bedroom with him. The Dursleys had never allowed this before; their general wish of keeping Harry as miserable as possible, **

They all looked livid at that—Sirius also thinking of some unique animals that he could turn them into… like maybe some shrews or slugs… forcing his ears to work and tuned in to Arthur's voice.

**coupled with their fear of his powers, had led them to lock his school trunk in the cupboard under the stairs every summer prior to this. But their attitude had changed since they had found out that Harry had a dangerous murderer for a godfather - for Harry had conveniently forgotten to tell them that Sirius was innocent.**

This chapter turned out to be the most spirit-lifting one they've read for a long time. It felt so good to laugh so much after reading such a terrible first chapter.

"Wish I could've seen the looks on their faces!" Tonks giggled happily. "It must've been priceless!"

"Harry, for your sake, don't ever tell them otherwise!" Sirius chuckled. "As far as they know, I am nothing but a murderer who is over-protective of his godson."

"Not so sure about the 'murderer' part," Kingsley said grinning. "But 'over-protective of his godson' describes you to a T."

Sirius could only smile proudly and held his head up a little straighter at those words.

**Harry had received two letters from Sirius since he had been back at Privet Drive. Both had been delivered, not by owls (as was usual with wizards), but by large, brightly colored tropical birds. **

"Typical," Remus sighed, shaking his head as Sirius's bark of laughter filled the room. "Of course you always like to make a statement."

"Of course," Sirius said leaning back, and putting his feet up on the table in front of him. "I thought that they would cheer him up!"

**Hedwig had not approved of these flashy intruders; she had been most reluctant to allow them to drink from her water tray before flying off again. **

"Are all owls always this proud?" Bill wondered out loud—remembering how strange the owl seemed to act compared to other ones he met.

"Not always, but I think that the real problem is that Hedwig was angry at the fact that there were other birds helping Harry and not her. All owls are incredibly loyal to their owners though," Kingsley told him.

**Harry, on the other hand, had liked them; **

"Good to hear," Sirius grinned. "So did I."

**they put him in mind of palm trees and white sand, and he hoped that, wherever Sirius was (Sirius never said, in case the letters were intercepted), **

"Not bad for someone like you, Black," Mad-Eye said approvingly.

"Why thanks I…" Sirius began before he realized what he said. "HEY!" he yelled. "That sure is a rotten way to give a compliment!"

He grinned sinisterly at him. "Of course…"

**he was enjoying himself. **

"Oh, believe me I was," Sirius sighed longingly as he thought as if from another life of those warm and sunny beaches. "Spain was wonderful," he mused. It was so different from the dark and cold of Azkaban. "Some good times… though I would've enjoyed myself more it if it were under better conditions. But just being out in the open again what the best I've felt in years."

"A nice beach would've been fun for some of us," Remus teased.

"I was making up for some lost time," Sirius retorted firmly.

"People would think you were on the run or something," Tonks laughed at him and he grinned back cheerfully—as he became lost in happy memories of bright beaches and a hot sun.

**Somehow, Harry found it hard to imaging Dementors surviving for long in bright sunlight, perhaps that was why Sirius had gone South. Sirius's letters, which were now hidden beneath the highly useful loose floorboards under Harry's bed, sounded cheerful, and in both of them he had reminded Harry to call on him if ever Harry needed to. Well, he needed to right now, all right…**

"I have to admit, it's nice that Harry has an adult that he feels that he can trust now," Arthur smiled, glancing at Sirius.

"Now if he would only do it a little more often," Sirius muttered.

**Harry's lamp seemed to grow dimmer as the cold grey light that precedes sunrise slowly crept into the room. **

"Talk about observant—now that's a description for an artist!" Bill laughed. "Who wrote these books?"

That made them all stop and look up at each other. "You mean…" Bill began slowly, his smile fading slightly. "You don't know who wrote them or where they came from?"

"No," Arthur said softly with a glance at Remus who was looking worried.

"I keep telling you all," he told them all exasperated. "I don't know where they came from or who wrote them. I just found them at Hogwarts."

"Then…" Bill began, "Should we be reading these?"

"No one at any problems reading them before," Mad-Eye muttered to himself before saying more loudly, "But the fact is, these books have facts about Voldemort. We can use that in this war."

"Yeah…" Arthur agreed uncomfortably. "But… doesn't anyone else feel guilty about reading these books without Harry knowing?"

"Well, if he was here," Tonks piped up, "Then we'd ask him…"

"True…" Kingsley said. "But doesn't anyone else feel just a little bit suspicious?"

No one really gave it much though, at least not for awhile. They all sat in silence for a few minutes before Tonks said, "It might help us… it might help us find a way to defeat Voldemort… and if these books help us do it, then it's a good thing right?"

They all silently nodded… though in truth, they were all so drawn into the book that asking them to stop now was almost impossible. It felt a bit deceitful, but they couldn't stop. So Arthur went on…

**Finally, when the sun had risen, when his bedroom walls had turned gold, and when sounds of movement could be heard from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's room, Harry cleared his desk of crumpled pieces of parchment and reread his finished letter.**

"Really, Harry, you don't have to worry over what to write," Sirius said, frowning slightly. "Just come right out and say it."

**_Dear Sirius,_**

**_Thanks for your last letter. That bird was enormous; it could hardly get through my window. Things are the same as usual here. Dudley's diet isn't going too well. _**

"Petunia put Dudley on a diet?" Tonks asked in astonishment—remembering the pampering mother from the first three books. "You mean to tell me that they're finally starting to discipline that pig of a son? Well, I guess late is better than never."

"That fat git is on a diet, that should be a real laugh to hear," Sirius said as he cleaned out his ears, sure that he heard wrong. Most of them were sneering at the idea, but Molly didn't look as pleased as the others.

"I don't think it'll be like that. I get the feeling that they'll starve Harry even more than they used to," Molly said worriedly which wiped the amused grin off Sirius's face and he glowered.

**_My aunt found him smuggling doughnuts into his room yesterday. They told him they'd have to cut his pocket money if he keeps doing it, _**

"Finally, they're starting to put some authority over that boy," said Kingsley. "Maybe now he'll start to see that throwing a tantrum won't get him everything."

"I think that it's a good thing for that spoiled brat," Mad-Eye grunted. "A nice hard slap in the face… that should teach him a thing or two."

**_so he got really angry and chucked his PlayStation out of the window. _**

"What's a PlayStation?" Arthur asked curiously.

"Dad," Bill reminded him, "You're the one with the book."

"Oh, right," he muttered, earning a few chuckles.

**_That's a sort of computer thing you can play games on. Bit stupid really, now he hasn't even got Mega-Mutilation Part Three to take his mind off things._**

"OH!" Arthur cried out in excitement. "That sounds fascinating!"

But the others were thinking of something else.

"He's acting like a two year old!" Tonks cried out angrily. "I bet that he'll then be expecting them to by him a new one too! Boy, if I ever acted like that when I was a kid, then my Mum would've punished in the blink of an eye."

"What can you expect from the offspring of people like Petunia and Vernon?" muttered Sirius under his breath.

"They would actually get him a new one?!" Molly demanded harshly. "Oh, sure, I wouldn't be surprised if they did. They would replace a most likely expensive item that their own son deliberately broke, and yet, they can't remember Harry's birthday!" She glared at Bill for a moment and said, "I guess I should be glad that you, Ginny, and the rest of your brothers never acted like that."

"Only cause we weren't stupid enough to make you that mad," Bill smiled back at her.

"And giving a child a game like that to play," Molly raved as if she hadn't heard him. "What was it called? _Mega-Mutilation_? What kind of parent would even think about getting something like that to their children? I don't even what to know what kind of game it is."

They let her go on for a while until she was out of breath and had to stop. Arthur then went on before she had a chance to get her second wind.

**_I'm okay, mainly because the Dursleys are terrified you might turn up and turn them all into bats if I ask you to._**

"Oh, there is no _'might'_ in that sentence, Harry," Sirius promised, his tone completely serious, "Just ask me, and I'll take care of them."

"Not that he's asking you to there, Sirius," said Remus quickly. He would've loved seeing the Dursleys pay, even just a little bit, but he didn't want Sirius to risk prison again.

Sirius looked to Remus and said, "But it's such a tempting idea, Moony. You can't deny that."

"They probably wouldn't make good bats anyway," Tonks informed him. "But if you were to turn Dinky Diddydums and Vernon into pigs and turn Petunia into a horse I don't think anyone would notice anything different. And if, by some chance, start getting suspicious, then you could just sell them to a farm; I think that would be good for all of them."

"Well, yes," Remus agreed. "But if you do that, then Harry will be blamed and punished for it. I promise that we will get back at them for this, but we have to wait."

"Spoil sport," Sirius grunted and folded his arms grumpily.

**_A weird thing happened this morning, though. My scar hurt again. Last time that happened it was because Voldemort was at Hogwarts. But I don't reckon he can be anywhere near me now, can he? Do you know if curse scars sometimes hurt years afterward?_**

"I have no idea," Sirius confessed as he thought back to that day when he opened that letter. He was relaxing underneath some shady trees and breathing in the hot, dry weather when Hedwig landed beside him. He remembered the excitement he felt when he opened the envelope… only to be scared witless that something terrible was going to happen to Harry. _'Well,'_ he thought gloomily, _'I was right after all, wasn't I?'_

**_I'll send this with Hedwig when she gets back; she's off hunting at the moment. Say hello to Buckbeak for me._**

**_Harry_**

"What about the dream?" Remus asked suddenly. He was about to ask if he could see the book himself when Sirius spoke.

"Yeah, he didn't put that in!" Sirius said. Well, what do you know? Apparently, Harry had forgotten to mention that little detail in the letter and he was feeling slightly hurt that Harry didn't trust him enough to tell him. "Damn, I wish that he told me about that!"

**Yes, thought Harry, that looked all right. There was no point putting in the dream; he didn't want it to look as though he was too worried. **

Kingsley sighed, shaking his head.

"Typical boy," Tonks said knowingly.

"He really shouldn't leave important things like that out," Remus said, looking bothered.

"Yes, he should've put the dream in," said Sirius sounding frustrated. He wanted to chew Harry out about this. And he thought that _he_ had problems opening up to people. But what else was a godfather for anyway if you couldn't tell them when you were worried or scared?

**He folded up the parchment and laid it aside on his desk, ready for when Hedwig returned. Then he got to his feet, stretched, and opened his wardrobe once more. Without glancing at his reflection he started to get dressed before going down to breakfast.**

"Not like his father in that respect, then," Sirius sniggered playfully. "James was always looking at himself in the mirror!"

"Like you were any better, Sirius," Remus laughed loudly. "At school, you used to spend at least an hour in the bathroom looking at your reflection and taking care of your hair. I had to wake up extra early to get the bathroom first because I knew that between you and James, I wasn't going to be any hot water otherwise!"

"Hey," Sirius told him. "I had something to be proud of. Well, I did at least…" he added as his hands went through the mess of hair that had once been his pride and joy.

"Well, that's the end of that chapter," Arthur murmured in relaxation. He closed the book and stretched out of his uncomfortable position on the sofa with it sitting on his lap.

"Good," Mad-Eye said as he tucked his flask back into his cloak. "I say we call it a day."

"What?" Sirius demanded, sitting upright. "Why? We've only read two chapters and you already want to stop?!"

Mad-Eye stuck his thumb out at Bill. "I'm sick of explaining to him what's happened. Come back when he catches up with everyone else."

But Bill didn't want to stop. "I can read the other books later," he promised them all. "But can't we read a little more today?"

When Mad-Eye opened his mouth, Bill said quickly, "But I'm sure that I'll make my appearance soon. This was the year that I met Harry and I at least want to read until we meet. Should only be in a few chapters…"

"Oh, fine," he snapped back. "We'll read only until you make an appearance. And then we stop until you get some idea to what's happening. Only I'm getting sick of having to explain every little thing. Read on your own time!"

"Well," Sirius said brightly as he snatched the book from Arthur. "Who wants to read?"

"I will!" Tonks volunteered and snatched the book back. "It's been so long since I've read and I want to hear about _Dinky Diddydums_ and his diet." As they all snorted at that, she cleared her throat and read out cheerfully, "**Chapter 3: The Invitation**."

**(So Mad-Eye is getting tired of going over everything. Can't say that I blame him. So on this first day, they'll read until after Bill comes into the picture before he goes off to find out what's been happening. I've read in a bunch of other 'reading the books' series how everyone complains that no one in their right mind would start a series in the middle. So I thought, why not have someone join in and not have a clue to what's going on. Hee-hee. Hope you all liked this chapter and I don't know how many times I have to tell you all this. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW IF I'M DOING ORDER OF THE PHOENIX YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I'M DONE WITH GOBLET OF FIRE. SO PLEASE STOP ASKING ME THAT UNTIL WE'RE DONE HERE. WE ARE ALSO GETTING A LITTLE AHEAD OF OURSELVES AT THE MOMENT. Right now, we aren't even to the darker chapters yet. Well, that enough for now. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but I also have school so please try to remember that I am also busy most of the time. Thank you, and once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.) **


	5. The Invitation

**(Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling! I own nothing)**

**Chapter 3: The Invitation **

"I will!" Tonks volunteered and snatched the book back. "It's been so long since I've read and I want to hear about _Dinky Diddydums_ and his diet." As they all snorted at that, she cleared her throat and read out cheerfully, "**Chapter 3: The Invitation**."

The picture this time was an envelope covered with so many stamps that she could only barely read the address.

"What's he being invited to?" Kingsley asked politely.

"The World Cup of course!" Sirius cried out in excitement. "It's about time! I was hoping that they were going to get Harry out of there."

Remus smiled. He had been looking forward to listening about the Cup almost as much as Sirius had been. He, of course, would've loved to have gone himself, but the tickets all cost an arm and a leg. So he had no choice but to miss out. But hearing about it might be just as good.

**By the time Harry arrived in the kitchen, the three Dursleys were already seated around the table. None of them looked up as he entered or sat down. Uncle Vernon's large red face was hidden behind the morning's Daily Mail, and Aunt Petunia was cutting a grapefruit into quarters, her lips pursed over her horse-like teeth.**

Sirius smirked at the idea of his plan of turning her into a horse… or better yet—a donkey! Honestly, he was sure that no one would notice and this just proved it.

**Dudley looked furious and sulky, and somehow seemed to be taking up even more space than usual. **

"Oh, great, him again!" Sirius yelled out sarcastically. "Why do we have to hear about _him_?"

"Better him than Voldemort," Bill reminded him.

Sirius snorted again. "Just barely!"

"Didn't Harry say in the last chapter that he is on a diet?" Tonks demanded in frustration. She wanted to read how miserable he was…

"Yeah, so why would he be taking up more space than usual?" Sirius asked thoughtfully.

"I guess that the diet isn't helping much," Arthur said logically.

**This was saying something, as he always took up an entire side of the square table by himself. **

"Oh, that is just disgusting!" Tonks cried out as Molly looked horrified.

"How any parent could let their child get so big?" she demanded. "Just letting them get like that… that is no way to care for your children!"

"Good thing he is on a diet then," Kingsley said, shocked at how big Dudley has gotten over the course of the books. "Imagine what would happen if he wasn't."

"I don't see how he could possibly get any bigger," Sirius muttered.

**When Aunt Petunia put a quarter of unsweetened grapefruit onto Dudley's plate with a tremulous "There you are, Diddy darling," Dudley glowered at her. **

They all burst into laughter at the ridiculous nickname—some even feeling sorry for Dudley—though it was only a little.

"Diddy darling?!" Sirius repeated mockingly.

"His names just keep getting better and better don't they?" Tonks giggled enthusiastically.

**His life had taken a most unpleasant turn since he had come home for the summer with his end-of-year report.**

"Good," Tonks huffed firmly. "Maybe now he'll see that the world doesn't revolve around him."

"Oh, what a shame," Sirius stated in mock sympathy and rolled his eyes. "It's his own fault. Whatever it is, I sure he deserved it."

"I think that some _unpleasant turns_ would do him some good," Mad-Eye added gruffly.

"Besides," Tonks finished off as she held the book up in front of her face. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's nowhere near as bad as Harry, Ron, and Hermione go through."

"Here, here," Sirius agreed.

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had managed to find excuses for his bad marks as usual: Aunt Petunia always insisted that Dudley was a very gifted boy whose teachers didn't understand him, **

"Of course she would," Molly said furiously.

Bill shook his head in amazement. He knew that if _he_ ever got bad marks, his mother would've given him a stern talking to. She would never try to make excuses for him. Besides, he WANTED to do well in school which was why he worked so hard at it. And from what he heard so far, he wasn't betting that Dudley cared much for working hard.

**while Uncle Vernon maintained that "he didn't want some swotty little nancy boy for a son anyway." **

"Oh well, glad to hear that, because that's not gonna happen," Sirius drawled, folding his arms. "_Diddy darling_ doesn't have a brain thanks to his parents. So no need to worry there."

"You think that he would want a smart son," Tonks said shaking her head. "I have never been happier that I didn't have people like _them_ for parents."

"You and everyone else," Sirius approved.

**They also skated over the accusations of bullying in the report - "He's a boisterous little boy, but he wouldn't hurt a fly!" **

"Little!" they all exclaimed. Arthur and Molly especially, having seen the boy before and he was anything but little.

"_Little_, Petunia? He has multiple chins and you think that's _little_? Unless you're blind, I can't see how anyone could think that," Remus muttered.

"And a bully at that," Molly muttered. It has to be some kind of miracle that Harry hadn't turned out like his cousin. Something that she was deeply grateful for.

**Aunt Petunia had said tearfully. However, at the bottom of the report there were a few well-chosen comments from the school nurse that not even Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia could explain away. **

"Ooooooo, what is it?!" Sirius asked eagerly.

**No matter how much Aunt Petunia wailed that Dudley was big-boned, and that his poundage was really puppy fat, and that he was a growing boy who needed plenty of food, **

"He takes up an entire side of the table and you consider him to be _big-boned_ and have _puppy fat_?" Bill called out incredulously.

Molly just looked disgusted again at the thought of someone feeding their child so much food. She worked hard to feed her kids, but they also worked hard as well. Dudley just laid around and didn't bother to do anything as he kept getting fatter and fatter. That is not healthy.

**the fact remained that the school outfitters didn't stock knickerbockers big enough for him anymore. **

"Wow," Tonks said impressed and disgusted t the same time. "Seriously? I didn't know that could happen."

"Just when I thought my opinion of him couldn't get any lower," Mad-Eye commented lightly as he yawned from boredom.

"How could anyone get so big that there are no clothes that will fit them anymore?" said Bill, clearly appalled.

"I'm more disgusted that his parents haven't noticed a thing," said Remus.

"I'm starting to think that they're doing more damage to him than they did to Harry," Arthur stated sadly.

"I guess that's true…" Molly admitted, but she still angry. "But they are no parents! No real parent would've ever treated either one of those boys like that! One was spoiled rotten, and the other was neglected! I can't tell who had more damage done to them!"

**The school nurse had seen what Aunt Petunia's eyes - so sharp when it came to spotting fingerprints on her gleaming walls, and in observing the comings and goings of the neighbors - simply refused to see: that far from needing extra nourishment, Dudley had reached roughly the size and weight of a young killer whale.**

Everyone in the room was shocked at how big Dudley has gotten—and several of them looked a little sick.

"I like this school nurse," commented Mad-Eye. "About time someone stood up to them and slapped them awake!"

"Well, at least the Dursleys are finally doing something about it," Sirius put in dryly. "His parents are stuck up gits with their heads too far up their own ass to see otherwise."

"Yes, and they'd better act fast," Tonks added sarcastically as Molly shot Sirius a dark look for his colorful language.

**So - after many tantrums, after arguments that shook Harry's bedroom floor, and many tears from Aunt Petunia - the new regime had begun. **

"You shouldn't let your parents do all the fighting for you," Mad-Eye barked. "That boy is going to be having a lot of problems in the future."

"I say he has a lot of problems now," Tonks retorted.

**The diet sheet that had been sent by the Smeltings school nurse had been taped to the fridge, which had been emptied of all Dudley's favorite things - fizzy drinks and cakes, chocolate bars and burgers and filled instead with fruit and vegetables and the sorts of things that Uncle Vernon called "rabbit food." **

"No, they are what he should've been having all along!" Molly corrected coldly.

"And from what we've read, it sounds like you need a diet as well, Vernon!" cried out Tonks. "So I shouldn't be talking if I was you. And I thank my lucky stars I'm not!"

"I'm just surprised that they were able to say no to their brat's tantrums," Sirius spat and waved his hand at her in annoyance.

**To make Dudley feel better about it all, Aunt Petunia had insisted that the whole family follow the diet too. **

"What?" they all cried out in outrage.

"Harry needs anything _but_ a diet," Sirius cried out incensed. It never failed to shock him how terrible they treated his godson. "They just keep getting worse with every book don't they? He's thin enough already! It's those Dursleys that have the problem!"

"Harry doesn't need to lose weight; if anything he needs to gain some," Molly agreed angrily. "I cannot believe this. He's their _nephew_, for Merlin's sake!"

"Apparently, someone forgot to mention that to them," Mad-Eye grunted.

**She now passed a grapefruit quarter to Harry. He noticed that it was a lot smaller than Dudley's. **

"Should it worry me that I'm not surprised?" grumbled Sirius dismally, "Oh, I hope that Dudley at least chokes on his grapefruit!"

**Aunt Petunia seemed to feel that the best way to keep up Dudley's morale was to make sure that he did, at least, get more to eat than Harry.**

Sirius narrowed his eyes and began to growl under his breath.

"How is that fair?" Bill spoke up furiously. He had thought that they were exaggerating when they told him how bad Harry was treated.

"It isn't," Mad-Eye answered obviously.

"He needs all the food he can get," Molly said anxiously. "No wonder he's so thin. It's a wonder he isn't already skin and bones!"

"It's going to be ok!" said Arthur in comfort. "Once we pick him up, you'll take care of it all."

Sirius was just plain angry that his godson was being starved. Well, once he got Harry away from that house he was going to make sure that he ate whatever he wanted.

**But Aunt Petunia didn't know what was hidden under the loose floorboard upstairs. She had no idea that Harry was not following the diet at all. **

"Brilliant," Sirius grinned; he knew that Harry would fight back! "That's my boy! Good for you, Harry!"

**The moment he had got wind of the fact that he was expected to survive the summer on carrot sticks, Harry had sent Hedwig to his friends with pleas for help, and they had risen to the occasion magnificently. **

"Not surprising, look at how close they are," Remus chortled.

"I forgot all about that," Molly said as her memories came back. "I remember now… he sent us a letter asking for food…"

"And you weren't suspicious?" Sirius growled at her and she suddenly became angry.

"What about you?" she demanded, "Weren't you at all suspicious?" That shut him up.

**Hedwig had returned from Hermione's house with a large box stuffed full of sugar-free snacks. (Hermione's parents were dentists.) **

"I guess that's better than nothing," Sirius said offhanded.

"What's a dentist?" asked Arthur interested and Kingsley looked at him warmly.

"They're… I guess they're like Healers for your teeth," he answered with a smile. "They help to keep them healthy and straighten them. It's a lot slower and more expensive, but they get the job done."

"And they do it all without having to rely on magic?" asked Arthur like a little kid who had been told the secrets of the universe. "Amazing! You know, we really don't give Muggles enough credit."

"Yes, dear," Molly said patiently, far too used to this.

**Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, had obliged with a sack full of his own homemade rock cakes. (Harry hadn't touched these; he had had too much experience of Hagrid's cooking.) **

"He makes a good point," Bill laughed. He remembered how he once pulled out a tuff of fur from his food when he visited back in his school days. He made a note to never eat anything from Hagrid every again.

**Mrs. Weasley, however, had sent the family owl, Errol, with an enormous fruitcake and assorted meat pies. **

"You sure don't disappoint," Tonks laughed.

"He never asks for much," Molly said rather sadly. "I wanted to help him out as much as we could."

Most of them gave the Weasleys kind looks—except for Sirius—who was looking back at the book in Tonks's hands, trying to ignore the feelings of jealously that were filling his heart. While he was grateful that Molly had taken care of Harry when he couldn't… he knew that he should've been doing that from the start.

**Poor Errol, who was elderly and feeble, had needed a full five days to recover from the journey. And then on Harry's birthday (which the Dursleys had completely ignored) **

They all scowled, Sirius was livid with fury—though he wasn't one bit surprised at this piece of information at all. After all, they ignored his godson's birthday for years! Why would they suddenly remember now?

**he had received four superb birthday cakes, one each from Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and Sirius. **

"Where did you get a cake?" Tonks asked him in amazement.

"Oh, I nicked it from a little bakery when no one was looking," he answered carelessly with another wave of the hand. "That… and along with a bag of pastries. I swear that bakery makes the finest strawberry tart I've ever tasted…" his mouth was watering at the memory.

"You're drooling, Padfoot," Remus laughed.

**Harry still had two of them left, and so, looking forward to a real breakfast when he got back upstairs, he ate his grapefruit without complaint.**

They all smiled, relieved that Harry was fighting back and wasn't taking the Dursley's stupid rules anymore.

"But cake is not a proper breakfast," Molly said slowly.

"But I bet that it was better than the grapefruit," Tonks reminded her.

"I'm just glad that he got something to eat," Sirius said under his breath.

"You are starting to sound like Molly," Remus whispered only to him, and everyone looked surprise when Sirius had punched Remus hard in the shoulder.

**Uncle Vernon laid aside his paper with a deep sniff of disapproval and looked down at his own grapefruit quarter.**

**"Is this it?" he said grumpily to Aunt Petunia.**

"I'm sure that it's not going to kill you," Bill muttered annoyed.

**Aunt Petunia gave him a severe look, and then nodded pointedly at Dudley, who had already finished his own grapefruit quarter and was eyeing Harry's with a very sour look in his piggy little eyes.**

"If you even _dare,_ you fat pig…" Sirius began threateningly, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Just try and take it from his father! He doesn't want it anyway!" Tonks offered uncharacteristically sour.

**Uncle Vernon gave a great sigh, which ruffled his large, bushy mustache, and picked up his spoon.**

**The doorbell rang. Uncle Vernon heaved himself out of his chair and set off down the hall. Quick as a flash, while his mother was occupied with the kettle, Dudley stole the rest of Uncle Vernon's grapefruit.**

"What a brat," Sirius sneered. "Now I _really_ hope he chokes on it."

"I just hope Harry doesn't get blamed for that," Molly said worriedly.

**Harry heard talking at the door, and someone laughing, and Uncle Vernon answering curtly. **

**Then the front door closed, and the sound of ripping paper came from the hall.**

"What's going on this time?" Arthur asked curiously.

"I'm getting to it," Tonks answered as she quickly found her place.

**Aunt Petunia set the teapot down on the table and looked curiously around to see where Uncle Vernon had got to. She didn't have to wait long to find out; after about a minute, he was back. He looked livid.**

**"You," he barked at Harry. "In the living room. Now."**

"HARRY!" stormed Sirius, causing them all to jump at his sudden loud voice. Sirius was breathing hard as if he just ran a mile and going red in the face. "He's got a name! His name is HARRY! It's not a hard name to remember! Why don't they use it?!"

"Oh, great," Arthur groaned, as Sirius began breathing through his gritted teeth hard—trying to calm down. "What are they blaming him for this time?"

"But he didn't do anything!" Bill protested.

"Won't matter," Mad-Eye answered simply. "Anything that goes wrong, they point fingers at him."

"Well, that's just rubbish!" Bill spat.

**Bewildered, wondering what on earth he was supposed to have done this time; Harry got up and followed Uncle Vernon out of the kitchen and into the next room. Uncle Vernon closed the door sharply behind both of them.**

**"So," he said, marching over to the fireplace and turning to face Harry as though he were about to pronounce him under arrest. "So."**

"So what?" snapped Sirius. He was going over the lovely images of visiting the Dursleys and introducing himself as Harry's murderous godfather. He was also daydreaming of becoming that murderer when he _did_ meet them.

**Harry would have dearly loved to have said, "So what?" **

"Oh, do it," Bill laughed.

"I don't think that is a wise idea," Remus said, shaking his head, though a small smile was still on his face. That sounded exactly like something that James would've done. Thankfully, Harry wasn't as impulsive as James was.

**but he didn't feel that Uncle Vernon's temper should be tested this early in the morning, especially when it was already under severe strain from lack of food. He therefore settled for looking politely puzzled.**

"Oh, do it Harry," Tonks begged. "It would be worth it to make them angry!"

"Easy for you to say," Sirius said glowering at the book. He knew that they would try to punish Harry for it. But… he grinned, he was sure to change that. All Harry had to do was say his name and that would be enough to get all three Dursleys sweating.

**"This just arrived," said Uncle Vernon. He brandished a piece of purple writing paper at Harry. "A letter. About you."**

"Who would send a letter about Harry the Muggle way?" Kingsley asked and Molly went pink.

"I did," she confessed and everyone but Bill and Arthur looked surprised.

"Why?" Remus asked curiously.

"I thought that this would be a better way to ask," she answered simply. "If I had known though…"

Arthur just held her tightly against him. "If we knew, then we wouldn't have let him stay there," he told her soothingly. "We will do something about this, I promise you that."

**Harry's confusion increased. Who would be writing to Uncle Vernon about him? Who did he know who sent letters by the postman?**

**Uncle Vernon glared at Harry, then looked down at the letter and began to read aloud:**

**_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,_**

"'_You two are pathetic excuses for human beings_,'" Sirius said under his breath and Tonks laughed once at that.

"I think I could've said something more colorful than that, Sirius," she said in disappointment.

"I know," he answered, "I just can't think of anything bad enough to tell them what's going on in my head."

**_We have never been introduced, but I am sure you have heard a great deal from Harry about my son Ron._**

"For some reason, I don't think so," Tonks snorted good-naturedly.

**_As Harry might have told you, _**

"Oh, yes, I'm sure Harry's told them everything," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I didn't know," Molly repeated unhappily. "I would've thought…" she trailed off, unable to finish.

**_the final of the Quidditch World Cup takes place this Monday night, and my husband, Arthur, has just managed to get prime tickets through his connections at the Department of Magical Games and Sports._**

"YES!" Sirius shouted out, making them all jump again at his sudden tone. He was smiling widely. "Harry gets to go to the Cup!" He was bouncing slightly in his excitement, and Remus shook his head fondly.

"These mood swings of yours Sirius are going to be the death of us all," he told him sternly.

**_I do hope you will allow us to take Harry to the match, as this really is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity; _**

Sirius groaned in longing; wishing that he could've gone as well. It must've been something to see.

**_Britain hasn't hosted the cup for thirty years, and tickets are extremely hard to come by. We would of course be glad to have Harry stay for the remainder of the summer holidays, and to see him safely onto the train back to school._**

"Like they'd care," Tonks sneered. "They just left him there alone at the station in his first year!"

"What?" Bill asked startled.

"What did I tell you?" Mad-Eye said through gritted teeth, and Bill muttered an apology and listened. He would have to read those other books, this was driving him crazy, not knowing what was going on.

**_It would be best for Harry to send us your answer as quickly as possible in the normal way, because the Muggle postman has never delivered to our house, and I am not sure he even knows where it is._**

"That's a nice way to end a letter," Kingsley chuckled.

"I thought it's a great way to end a letter," Tonks said happily. "In fact, I'll use that the next time I send one. Should earn a few laughs."

**_Hoping to see Harry soon,_**

"Not soon enough," Sirius muttered darkly under his breath.

**_Yours sincerely,_**

**_Molly Weasley_**

**_P.S. I do hope we've put enough stamps on._**

At those words, Tonks choked out laughter.

"Oh, no," Remus sighed, but was also deeply amused. Judging by Tonks's reaction, Molly must've done something to annoy the Dursleys.

"They won't let him go without a fight," said Mad-Eye. "They know he'll want to go, so that's why they won't want to."

"Well, that's just too bad! He's going whether they like it or not!" snapped Sirius unwaveringly. Harry deserved to go out to games with his friends, he would be damned if the Dursleys would try and stop him this time. "They'll come and get him anyway!"

"That was the plan," Arthur confirmed. "We were coming to get him one way or the other."

That cheered Sirius up. "Good," he said simply.

**Uncle Vernon finished reading, put his hand back into his breast pocket, and drew out something else.**

**"Look at this," he growled.**

**He held up the envelope in which Mrs. Weasley's letter had come, and Harry had to fight down a laugh. Every bit of it was covered in stamps except for a square inch on the front, into which Mrs. Weasley had squeezed the Dursleys' address in minute writing.**

Almost everyone burst out laughing again.

"You obviously didn't take Muggle Studies, Molly," Kingsley chuckled as Molly looked at him in mystification.

"What on earth is so funny?" she asked confused. She knew that you needed to put stamps on the envelope the Muggle way…

"You've never sent a letter the Muggle way before?" Tonks concluded with a laugh. "From what I've heard, you only need to use _one_ stamp."

"Oh," Molly went red.

"Don't worry, you didn't know," Arthur assured her as he wrapped an arm around her. "And it got there in the end didn't it?"

**"She did put enough stamps on, then," said Harry, trying to sound as though Mrs. Weasley's was a mistake anyone could make. **

"Any wizard could make it," agreed Remus. "Any wizard who grew up in the Wizarding world and refused to take Muggle Studies would've done the same."

"Well, at least you tried!" Tonks added cheerfully to Molly. "And that was a nice comeback Harry!"

"But Dursley won't like that," said Mad-Eye, sounding irritated.

**His uncle's eyes flashed.**

**"The postman noticed," he said through gritted teeth. **

"Well, obviously," Remus couldn't help but say, rolling his eyes. "Something like that would be hard to miss."

"Well, he's got a pair of eyes, of course he would've noticed!" Sirius said huffily. "They are so touché over every little thing aren't they?"

**"Very interested to know where this letter came from, he was. That's why he rang the doorbell. Seemed to think it was funny."**

"I thought it was," Sirius offered.

"At least it gave _someone_ a good laugh," Tonks sniggered.

"It's only an envelope with too many stamps on, no one is going to take it seriously and waste their time surveying their house in case anymore showed up," said Kingsley. He suddenly thought of something and shot a quick glance at Mad-Eye, "Well, some of us wouldn't."

"What do you mean by that?" he barked at him. Thankfully, Tonks had already gone on.

**Harry didn't say anything. Other people might not understand why Uncle Vernon was making a fuss about too many stamps, but Harry had lived with the Dursleys too long not to know how touchy they were about anything even slightly out of the ordinary. **

"And so they name their kid Dudley," Sirius remarked frustrated. "I don't want to know what goes on inside their heads!"

**Their worst fear was that someone would find out that they were connected (however distantly) with people like Mrs. Weasley.**

"Well, we don't want to be connected to them so that's fine by me," Bill said coldly.

"Who would want to be recognized with the Dursleys anyway?" Sirius barked indignantly. "I'm amazed that Harry hasn't shriveled up with shame at the thought of having _them_ for relatives."

"There's nothing wrong with the Weasley's," Tonks scowled darkly. "Oh, what I wouldn't give to get my hands on those animals! They're so… so…" she couldn't even think of a word bad enough for them, she was so outraged.

Kingsley then looked too Arthur, Molly, and Bill. "You and your family are all honest people, and hard-working," he said in his deep voice that calmed them all down. "I think anyone would be honored to know you. I know I am."

The three Weasleys blushed a deep red at all those kind words and Arthur could only clear his throat. "T-thank you," he said embarrassed. He tried to silently tell Tonks to keep going, and thankfully, she took the hint.

**Uncle Vernon was still glaring at Harry, who tried to keep his expression neutral. If he didn't do or say anything stupid, he might just be in for the treat of a lifetime. **

"In other words," Tonks added with a glance at Sirius. "Don't do anything that you would've done, eh Sirius?"

He mocked glared at her. "Be nice," he warned. "You're hardly one to talk about not saying or doing anything stupid."

**He waited for Uncle Vernon to say something, but he merely continued to glare.**

**Harry decided to break the silence.**

**"So - can I go then?" he asked.**

"Nice, Harry," Bill said smiling. "Keep it short and to the point."

**A slight spasm crossed Uncle Vernon's large purple face. The mustache bristled. Harry thought he knew what was going on behind the mustache:**

"_'Behind the mustache_,_'_" Sirius repeated skeptically. "In my opinion, that's all he has!"

** a furious battle as two of Uncle Vernon's most fundamental instincts came into conflict. Allowing Harry to go would make Harry happy, something Uncle Vernon had struggled against for thirteen years. **

Sirius glared daggers at the book again; how was it even remotely fair that Harry was forced to have such an awful childhood? He was still having a hard time believing that Harry had to live with such selfish people. Honestly, the way he is, you think that he still grew up with James and Lily. He could only thank whatever lucky stars he had that his godson turned out like this.

"So that's why he tried to stop Harry leaving in second year," Kingsley said to himself.

Bill looked confused at that, but he didn't say anything this time as his mother spoke up.

"I don't get why they're so determined to put him through this," she began harshly. "Why do they try so hard to make him miserable? Is it so much to ask that they do something kind to him once in awhile? Making him miserable just makes things harder for them as well."

"Well, they're idiots," Mad-Eye answered simply and they all nodded in agreement.

**On the other hand, allowing Harry to disappear to the Weasleys' for the rest of the summer would get rid of him two weeks earlier than anyone could have hoped, and Uncle Vernon hated having Harry in the house. **

"Well, you're not much for company, either!" snarled Sirius. Just listening about them was torture. He couldn't stand the thought of having to be stuck in their presence for any period of time.

**To give himself thinking time, it seemed, he looked down at Mrs. Weasley's letter again.**

**"Who is this woman?" he said, staring at the signature with distaste.**

Both Bill and Arthur narrowed their eyes angrily. Arthur just clenched his fists… just daring him to say anything about his family.

**"You've seen her," said Harry. "She's my friend Ron's mother, she was meeting him off the Hog - off the school train at the end of last term."**

**He had almost said "Hogwarts Express," and that was a sure way to get his uncle's temper up. Nobody ever mentioned the name of Harry's school aloud in the Dursley household.**

"It's like the word _'magic'_ is a disgusting word or something," Tonks said offended.

"To them it is," Mad-Eye said.

**Uncle Vernon screwed up his enormous face as though trying to remember something very unpleasant.**

"So every time that he thinks of his wife or son then?" asked Tonks innocently.

Everyone burst out laughing, but when Tonks said the next line, the laughing stopped almost at once.

**"Dumpy sort of woman?" he growled finally. **

Molly went a deep red.

Arthur glared at the book; his anger was steaming up his glasses.

Bill gasped, "Dumpy?" he cried in outrage, now wishing that he could go over there and give him a piece of his mind. It usually took a lot to make him angry—he wasn't usually violent—but these people were really trying his patience. "From what I've heard, what right does he have to call anyone dumpy?"

"She's bloody brilliant," Arthur defended as he pulled her tighter to his side.

"He really can't talk anyway," Sirius snapped. "I'm guessing that he's never looked at his reflection? Though now that I think about it, I'm guessing that there isn't a mirror wide enough for him!"

"And just what does he think of his son?" Tonks commented. "He's about whale size now isn't he?"

Arthur leaned his head against Molly's and said, "Don't you dare listen to one word they say. You're worth ten times than all three of them together."

Molly smiled slightly and buried her face in her husband's shoulder in a silent 'thank you'.

**"Load of children with red hair?"**

"Well, that I can't deny," Arthur said proudly with a glance at Bill, who grinned back.

**Harry frowned. He thought it was a bit rich of Uncle Vernon to call anyone "dumpy," when his own son, Dudley, had finally achieved what he'd been threatening to do since the age of three, and become wider than he was tall. **

"Is that even physically possible?" Tonks gasped. She had to re-read that part twice to make sure she hadn't made a mistake.

"Why not?" Mad-Eye answered.

"Ok, I have to see that for myself," she said as she planned a trip to Privet Drive. She grinned at the thought and Sirius was itching to know what she was thinking of.

**Uncle Vernon was perusing the letter again.**

**"Quidditch," he muttered under his breath. "Quidditch - what is this rubbish?"**

"RUBBISH?" Sirius bellowed offended. "He calls Quidditch—the greatest game to have ever been invented—rubbish?"

Remus nudged Tonks in the side. "Hurry," he whispered to her. "Before he goes into a rant…"

But it was too late, Sirius had gone into a long lecture of what made Quidditch great. It only ended when Mad-Eye slammed his staff down on the floor and Tonks shouted out the next seven words.

**Harry felt a second stab of annoyance.**

"Yeah, tell him off," Sirius cheered.

"Sirius!" Remus said quickly before Mad-Eye could say anything. The old Auror was looking ready to curse him.

**"It's a sport," he said shortly. "Played on broom- "**

**"All right, all right!" said Uncle Vernon loudly. **

"I think that my hearing might be going," Arthur said irritably. "But didn't he just ask him what it was."

"I believe that you heard right, Dad," Bill informed him.

"Then I don't see why he should shout at him in the first place!" Arthur finished firmly.

**Harry saw, with some satisfaction, that his uncle looked vaguely panicky. **

"Oh, I know the feeling," Sirius said with some satisfaction of his own.

**Apparently his nerves couldn't stand the sound of the word "broomsticks" in his living room. He took refuge in perusing the letter again. Harry saw his lips form the words "send us your answer… in the normal way." He scowled.**

**"What does she mean, 'the normal way'?" he spat.**

"Owls you idiot," Tonks groaned. "Oh, my god… this is driving me crazy. I hope that Harry got out of the house quickly. I'm not sure how much more of them I can take."

"You've got more patience than I do," Sirius growled. "I lost patience with them long ago." He then shot Remus an annoyed look. He was still angry that his friend stopped him from going to number 4 and cursing him from the start.

**"Normal for us," said Harry, and before his uncle could stop him, he added, "you know, owl post. That's what's normal for wizards."**

They all braced themselves for what they knew was about to come.

**Uncle Vernon looked as outraged as if Harry had just uttered a disgusting swearword. Shaking with anger, he shot a nervous look through the window, as though expecting to see some of the neighbors with their ears pressed against the glass.**

"Is it possible for him to get any more paranoid?" Tonks asked with a glance at Mad-Eye.

"Why do you always look at me whenever we read about paranoia?" he asked lightly, his eyebrows rose sarcastically.

"No reason," she answered him happily.

**"How many times do I have to tell you not to mention that unnaturalness under my roof?" he hissed, his face now a rich plum color. **

"_Unnaturalness_?" Remus repeated in disgust. They were treating a teenage boy, that never did any harm to them, like he was some terrible disease.

**"You stand there, in the clothes Petunia and I have put on your ungrateful back -"**

"Pray tell, why the hell should he be grateful to you?" Tonks demanded.

"You've given Harry nothing except a miserable childhood!" spat Sirius livid. "Don't you dare try to defend yourselves! They are sick! They haven't given him anything to be grateful for! They are a disgrace to the human race!"

He panted heavily. He didn't care what Remus said. All he needed was just one more excuse. Just one more harm they did to Harry and he would make them pay… they were living on borrowed time.

**"Only after Dudley finished with them," said Harry coldly, and indeed, he was dressed in a sweatshirt so large for him that he had had to roll back the sleeves five times so as to be able to use his hands, and which fell past the knees of his extremely baggy jeans.**

Sirius reached for one of the pillows behind him and had to scream into to prevent himself from leaping up and jinxing everything in sight.

"I can't believe Harry grew up with these horrible people!" Molly said close to tears that such a gentle boy had been forced to grow up with those… she wasn't sure what to call them.

"I'm sure they could've afforded to get him some decent clothes," said Remus angrily. "Look at all the gifts they constantly shower Dudley with! Why would any parents treat kids like this?"

"Easy," Kingsley said bitterly. "They _aren't_ parents."

**"I will not be spoken to like that!" said Uncle Vernon, trembling with rage.**

"Why not?" Tonks retorted, "You don't deserve respect!"

**But Harry wasn't going to stand for this. Gone were the days when he had been forced to take every single one of the Dursleys' stupid rules. He wasn't following Dudley's diet, and he wasn't going to let Uncle Vernon stop him from going to the Quidditch World Cup, not if he could help it. **

"Good for you, Harry," Remus said firmly. After three years of school, it looks like Harry was finally gaining some confidence. That was comforting to hear.

"Finally, he stands up to them. Well, better late than never I suppose," Mad-Eye noted.

"This is going to be _good_," Tonks announced gleefully, rubbing her hands together. "I can't wait to hear what happens."

Sirius, on the other hand, cheered up instantly at those words. "You tell him, Harry! Show them that they're no longer in control here! You show them whose boss!"

**Harry took a deep, steadying breath and then said, "Okay, I can't see the World Cup. Can I go now, then? Only I've got a letter to Sirius I want to finish. You know - my godfather."**

There was a short, surprised silence, before they all burst into laughter.

"He should've just said that from the start," Remus said this time. He was grinning. "Vernon will be so terrified that Sirius'll come and curse him, he'll have no choice but to let him go."

"I'll take him up on that offer as well!" Sirius laughed, eyes shining with delight, glad to be of some help to his godson—even if he was so far away. "I only regret that I couldn't see that idiot's face in person!"

"I wonder if Harry ever told them that his _'convicted murderer'_ godfather is the one and only Black they saw on TV," Kingsley offered thoughtfully.

"Don't think so," Mad-Eye disregarded. "Since Black is still officially on the run, and the house doesn't seem to have bars on all the windows."

Sirius's eyes twitched at the words 'bars on the windows.' Just another thing to make the Dursley pay for. They got away with this for too long, and he was going to enjoy every minute of their suffering. But for now, he was content just hearing how scared they were by just listening to his name.

**He had done it, he had said the magic words. Now he watched the purple recede blotchily from Uncle Vernon's face, making it look like badly mixed black currant ice cream.**

**"You're - you're writing to him, are you?" said Uncle Vernon, in a would-be calm voice - but Harry had seen the pupils of his tiny eyes contract with sudden fear.**

"That's right Dursley!" Sirius cried with an evil glint in his eyes.

"They have every reason to be scared," Remus said wryly, remembering all the times that Sirius had stood up for him. "I don't think that Sirius would be please to hear how you treated his godson, Dursley."

"Serves him right," snarled Molly, viciously.

**"Well - yeah," said Harry, casually. "It's been a while since he heard from me, and, you know, if he doesn't he might start thinking something's wrong."**

"Good thinking," Sirius said as he leaned back and enjoyed the words immensely.

"And I'm sure that they wouldn't want a wizard who is also a convicted murderer to turn up asking where Harry is," Tonks added smirking.

**He stopped there to enjoy the effect of these words. **

Sirius felt a spark of pride for his godson; finally, his Marauder blood was taking hold.

**He could almost see the cogs working under Uncle Vernon's thick, dark, neatly parted hair. If he tried to stop Harry writing to Sirius, Sirius would think Harry was being mistreated. If he told Harry he couldn't go to the Quidditch World Cup, Harry would write and tell Sirius, who would know Harry was being mistreated. **

"And I'd come and turn you all into Flobberworms!" Sirius promised as he smashed one of his fists into the other hand, "And then squash you all!"

**There was only one thing for Uncle Vernon to do. Harry could see the conclusion forming in his uncle's mind as though the great mustached face were transparent. **

"I doubt that he'd see much even if he was transparent," Bill said sarcastically.

**Harry tried not to smile, to keep his own face as blank as possible. And then –**

**"Well, all right then. You can go to this ruddy… this stupid… this World Cup thing. You write and tell these - these Weasleys they're to pick you up, mind. I haven't got time to go dropping you off all over the country. **

"Oh, I bet he would've found time if Dudley wanted to go somewhere instead of Harry," said Molly icily, her eyes narrowed into slits.

**And you can spend the rest of the summer there. And you can tell your - your godfather… tell him… tell him you're going."**

"Oh, I was supremely jealous when I found out," Sirius mock pouted. "But it was nice to hear he would be having a fun time." He had always dreamed of taking Harry to Quidditch games as he grew up and knowing that he wouldn't be able to was like a punch in the gut. But maybe hearing about it… would ease it a little?

**"Okay then," said Harry brightly.**

**He turned and walked toward the living room door, fighting the urge to jump into the air and whoop. He was going… he was going to the Weasleys', he was going to watch the Quidditch World Cup! **

"Sure, rub it in!" Sirius said, but he didn't sound disappointed at all.

**Outside in the hall he nearly ran into Dudley, who had been lurking behind the door, clearly hoping to overhear Harry being told off. He looked shocked to see the broad grin on Harry's face.**

_'I think that it would be odd to see that Harry was smiling,'_ Remus thought to himself. _'They probably don't see that very often,' _he then added. But he didn't dare say that out loud—he was unwilling to wipe the happy expression on Sirius's face.

**"That was an excellent breakfast, wasn't it?" said Harry. "I feel really full, don't you?"**

Sirius burst out laughing. "That sounds like something James would say!"

Remus grinned sincerely. "I can't disagree with you there," he said as he shook his head in exasperation.

**Laughing at the astonished look on Dudley's face, Harry took the stairs three at a time, and hurled himself back into his bedroom.**

**The first thing he saw was that Hedwig was back. She was sitting in her cage, staring at Harry with her enormous amber eyes, and clicking her beak in the way that meant she was annoyed about something. **

"About what?" Molly asked, however Arthur had a pretty good idea what it was about. If it was who he thought it was…

**Exactly what was annoying her became apparent almost at once.**

**"OUCH!" said Harry as what appeared to be a small, gray, feathery tennis ball collided with the side of his head. **

"A tennis ball… I highly doubt. It must be an owl," Kingsley deducted, smiling.

"What's a tennis ball?" Arthur asked inquisitively.

"Oh, just a ball for a Muggle game," Kingsley answered, smiling at Arthur's excited look. "I'll tell you more about it later," he promised.

**Harry massaged the spot furiously, looking up to see what had hit him, and saw a minute owl, small enough to fit into the palm of his hand, whizzing excitedly around the room like a loose firework. Harry then realized that the owl had dropped a letter at his feet. Harry bent down, recognized Ron's handwriting, then tore open the envelope. Inside was a hastily scribbled note.**

"Minute owl?" Sirius asked, lips twitching slightly. "That's the same owl that I gave Ron."

"I should've known that _you_ were the one who gave it to him," Bill said shaking his head.

"Yes, you just had to get him such a loud owl," Molly murmured before she looked at Remus and said, "How do you put up with him after all these years?"

"That is a good question. I often wonder about that myself," he responded, sardonically

"What's wrong with the owl?" Kingsley asked, feeling that he was missing something.

"That owl is completely mental," Bill said rolling his eyes. "It never shuts up!"

"Sounds like Padfoot in owl form," Remus said and laughed as Sirius hit him in the shoulder.

**_Harry - DAD GOT THE TICKETS - Ireland versus Bulgaria, Monday night. Mum's writing to the Muggles to ask you to stay._**

"That's right! It was Ireland versus Bulgaria!" Sirius groaned longingly, and then grinned. "Wish I could've been there!"

**_They might already have the letter, I don't know how fast Muggle post is. Thought I'd send this with Pig anyway._**

"Pig… he named it Pig?" Mad-Eye scoffed.

"No," Bill laughed. "It was Ginny who did."

"I thought that she named him Pigwidgeon?" Tonks said looking up from the book.

"Yeah, that's so much better," Sirius snorted. "Well… if she ever has children, for the kids' sakes, she better let her husband name them."

**Harry stared at the word "Pig," then looked up at the tiny owl now zooming around the light fixture on the ceiling. He had never seen anything that looked less like a pig. **

"Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks so," Sirius said. "Of all the names out there… Pigwidgeon?"

"I think it's cute," Tonks said firmly.

"You would," Sirius said with his eyes flying to Remus. "You find the strangest things cute."

**Maybe he couldn't read Ron's writing. He went back to the letter:**

**_We're coming for you whether the Muggles like it or not, _**

"I like this plan so far," Sirius said appreciatively.

**_you can't miss the World Cup, only Mum and Dad reckon it's better if we pretend to ask their permission first. If they say yes, send Pig back with your answer pronto, and we'll come and get you at five o'clock on Sunday. If they say no, send Pig back pronto and we'll come and get you at five o'clock on Sunday anyway._**

Sirius laughed and clapped his hands together once. "Great plan! Can't see anything wrong there!"

**_Hermione's arriving this afternoon. Percy's started work - the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Don't mention anything about Abroad while you're here unless you want the pants bored off you._**

Bill had been wondering when his brother was going to come up. He looked to his parents to see the sad look in their eyes. The same sadness that came whenever his brother's name was brought up… He reached over and clapped his father on the shoulder. He remembered how Percy didn't bother to come and visit him when he was in the hospital.

Bill knew that his dad wouldn't admit to it, but he was sure that Percy acting like he didn't care really hurt him. He hoped his younger brother would snap back to his senses soon and apologize. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand to see his family divided like this.

**_See you soon –_**

**_Ron_**

**"Calm down!" Harry said as the small owl flew low over his head, twittering madly with what Harry could only assume was pride at having delivered the letter to the right person. **

Tonks couldn't help herself as she giggled at those words. It just sounded so funny and cute.

**"Come here, I need you to take my answer back!"**

**The owl fluttered down on top of Hedwig's cage. Hedwig looked coldly up at it, as though daring it to try and come any closer.**

Tonks laughed quietly. "I love that owl. She's more than just a pretty face."

_'Just like you,'_ Remus thought as he looked at her face. He then blinked, horrified at what he thought. He felt the need to slap himself awake. He had to stay away from her… but no matter what he did, his feelings for her just seemed to keep increasing… he then heard her voice calling out to him as if from the end of a dark tunnel—and her voice was the bright light—

He snapped out of it and came back to reality.

**Harry seized his eagle-feather quill once more, grabbed a fresh piece of parchment, and wrote:**

**_Ron, it's all okay, the Muggles say I can come. See you five o'clock tomorrow. Can't wait._**

**_Harry_**

"Notice how he refers to them as _'the muggles'_," Sirius said, a little colder than before and making quotation marks with his fingers.

"Well, can you blame him?" Tonks reasoned with a shrug. "I thought that we had a bad family!"

**He folded this note up very small, and with immense difficulty, tied it to the tiny owl's leg as it hopped on the spot with excitement. **

"Ok, I can see that would get annoying real quick," Tonks nodded.

**The moment the note was secure, the owl was off again; it zoomed out of the window and out of sight.**

**Harry turned to Hedwig.**

**"Feeling up to a long journey?" he asked her.**

**Hedwig hooted in a dignified sort of a way.**

Remus laughed quietly. "She must want to prove that she's a real post owl to him."

"You know they say that our pets often have our personalities," Tonks said suddenly and they all looked at her. "Pig may be hyper and willing to do what he can to help… but that does sound a lot like Ron too. He's up for anything, and isn't afraid to take chances."

"So you're saying that Harry's an owl to?" Sirius asked.

"Look at it this way," Kingsley suddenly said. "Hedwig is very loyal, such as Harry is. She sometimes fell out with him but they always make up with each other before long. She is very dignified and has pride… and she also hates being locked in a cage for too long. Sound like anyone you know?"

Sirius thought that over—never realizing that before. "You know? I never thought of it like that before."

"You can learn a lot about someone from their pets," Tonks said evenly and she turned the page without once looking up at him.

**"Can you take this to Sirius for me?" he said, picking up his letter. "Hang on… I just want to finish it."**

**He unfolded the parchment and hastily added a postscript.**

**_If you want to contact me, I'll be at my friend Ron Weasley's for the rest of the summer. His dad's got us tickets for the Quidditch World Cup!_**

"That was a cheerful way to end a letter," Sirius added a little exasperated. "_'My scar had been hurting and the last time it did, Voldemort was near me. By the way, I'm going to the World Cup!' _Yeah, that was great."

**The letter finished, he tied it to Hedwig's leg; she kept unusually still, as though determined to show him how a real post owl should behave.**

"That doesn't surprise me," Remus smiled.

**"I'll be at Ron's when you get back, all right?" Harry told her.**

"But she never did show up," Molly said at once "She must've just gone straight to Hogwarts."

"Well, it's not like it was going to take an afternoon to reach me," Sirius reasoned. "By the time she arrived, the World Cup was already over."

**She nipped his finger affectionately, then, with a soft swooshing noise, spread her enormous wings and soared out of the open window. Harry watched her out of sight, then crawled under his bed, wrenched up the loose floorboard, and pulled out a large chunk of birthday cake. He sat there on the floor eating it, savoring the happiness that was flooding through him. **

Sirius sighed happily, taking comfort at the fact that his godson was happy for once in his life.

"That would be useful," Tonks said to herself. "Why didn't I ever think of a loose floorboard when I was little?"

"What did you have to hide?" Bill laughed.

"Wouldn't YOU like to know?" she shot back as if she was still a little kid. "We're almost done here. Just a couple more sentences." She then read:

**He had cake, and Dudley had nothing but grapefruit; it was a bright summer's day, he would be leaving Privet Drive tomorrow, his scar felt perfectly normal again, and he was going to watch the Quidditch World Cup. It was hard, just now, to feel worried about anything - even Lord Voldemort.**

"He shouldn't let his guard down," Mad-Eye said quietly, frowning.

"Well, he deserves to have a little fun," Remus offered.

"Well, I can understand that. Though I never seem to _stop_ worrying about him," Molly sighed.

"You and the rest of us," Sirius mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "Wouldn't be so bad if he didn't go looking for trouble."

"But he doesn't go looking for trouble, Sirius," Tonks reminded him in such a good imitation of McGonagall, that several of them looked to the door expecting to see the Transfiguration teacher standing there.

"Trouble," Tonks went on in Minerva's voice, and even changing her hair and face to look like her. "Finds him."

All of them, yes even Mad-Eye, couldn't help but laugh themselves sick at that. That went on for several long minutes before Tonks was able to get a hold of herself and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Ok," she said, glad that she got to read such an upbeat chapter for once. "That's it for chapter 3." She then looked to Mad-Eye and—as if he read her mind—he glowered at her.

"No," he said firmly. "I rather keep my self-respect than read out loud to you lot."

"Come on, Mad-Eye!" Tonks whined.

"Could I read now?" Kingsley asked, before it became an argument.

"What?" Tonks asked distracted. "Oh, sure." And she passed it over to him. But when she noticed the sour look on Mad-Eye's face she added, "We'll stop when Harry meets the rest of the family." She then looked apologetically at Bill he could only shrug.

"I did say that we would stop when I entered the book," he agreed. "Maybe another two or three chapters?"

"Sounds good," Sirius said at last as he stretched his sore arms. "But only if _I_ get to read about the World Cup!"

"We'll save that chapter especially for you," Arthur promised him gently.

Kingsley opened the book and read, "**Chapter 4: Back to the Burrow**."

**(Yay! You know something? I always did love Hedwig. And since I've been doing a story from Dumbledore's POV, I've been thinking of doing one for Hedwig as well. Please tell me what you think. Hope you all enjoyed this story!)**


	6. Back to the Burrow

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 4: Back to the Burrow**

Kingsley opened the book and read, "**Chapter 4: Back to the Burrow**."

"Good," Sirius said in a self-satisfied tone. The less he heard about those Dursleys the happier he'll be. "Away from the Dursleys! And not a moment too soon."

**By twelve o'clock the next day, Harry's school trunk was packed with his school things and all his most prized possessions - the Invisibility Cloak he had inherited from his father, the broomstick he had gotten from Sirius, the enchanted map of Hogwarts he had been given by Fred and George Weasley last year.**

"Yeah, those are definitely some important possessions," Sirius nodded, grinning. "Invisibility cloak, Firebolt, and the Marauders Map… All of which are irreplaceable."

"Where did Harry get a…?" Bill began, but shut up immediately when he saw the dark look Mad-Eye was giving him. "Never mind."

Tonks then leaned in and whispered, "Don't worry about him. His bark is a lot worse than his bite. Really, he's got a big heart underneath that mess that he calls a face."

"What are you both whispering about?!" Mad-Eye barked at them.

"Hmm?" Tonks asked as she looked up. "Nothing…"

"That's right, keep your mouth shut for once, Tonks," he said gruffly.

Tonks looked back to Bill and whispered beamingly, "You see what I mean?"

**He had emptied his hiding place under the loose floorboard of all food, double-checked every nook and cranny of his bedroom for forgotten spell books or quills, and taken down the chart on the wall counting down the days to September the first, on which he liked to cross off the days remaining until his return to Hogwarts.**

"Ah, brings back so many memories of when I used to do that," Sirius said smiling. "But like I said, I hung it outside my door and wrote down, _'counting down the days until I could leave this hellhole'_."

"And you wonder why your parents hated you," Tonks told him as she shook her head in amusement.

"Oh, I didn't wonder," Sirius replied cheerfully. "I hated them, and they hated me. Simple as that."

"That's sad," Bill said to himself as he looked to his parents. How can you hate your own parents? And them hate you? He briefly wondered if Percy truly did hate them as he claimed… or did he secretly miss them?

**The atmosphere inside number four, Privet Drive was extremely tense. **

Remus chuckled slightly as Kingsley read out that sentence. He had been looking forward to seeing how the Dursleys would react when the Weasleys arrived.

"That's what I like to hear!" said Sirius excitedly. "They'll be absolutely terrified that a clan of wizards is coming over. I hope you scared them to within an inch of their lives…"

"Now," Arthur said quickly, "I didn't do that… well, at least I don't think I did," he added in a afterthought as he remembered what happened.

"What are you talking about?" Kingsley asked inquisitively.

"Ah…" Arthur began uncomfortably.

"What did happen?" Tonks asked in excitement as Sirius looked as if Christmas had come early. Arthur simply blushed.

"Ah… moving right along…" he said, a glance at Kingsley—who was now curious went on.

**The imminent arrival at their house of an assortment of wizards was making the Dursleys uptight and irritable. Uncle Vernon had looked downright alarmed when Harry informed him that the Weasleys would be arriving at five o'clock the very next day.**

"I hope they were sweating like pigs," Sirius added cruelly. "Which is appropriate because they are."

"Something tells me that you won't be disappointed, Black," Mad-Eye said calmly.

**"I hope you told them to dress properly, these people," he snarled at once. "I've seen the sort of stuff your lot wear. They'd better have the decency to put on normal clothes, that's all."**

"But we do wear normal clothes?" said Arthur confused.

"I think that they mean Muggle clothes," Kingsley explained plainly. "Robes and cloaks aren't what Muggles consider to be normal clothing."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I think you should come in full robes and freak them out."

Arthur just shrugged. But inside he was grinning—for that was what he did.

**Harry felt a slight sense of foreboding. He had rarely seen Mr. or Mrs. Weasley wearing anything that the Dursleys would call "normal." **

**Their children might don Muggle clothing during the holidays, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley usually wore long robes in varying states of shabbiness. **

Molly and Arthur both sighed, and Arthur tugged uncomfortably at the sleeve of his robe—which was frayed and shabby—almost as bad as Remus's clothes.

Bill suddenly felt as though someone had slapped him awake. He had a good paying job working at Gringotts… he was making more than enough money… why didn't he ever think more about his parents and everyone else? Dad must've guessed what he was thinking because he said, "Don't you worry yourself over anything."

"But…" Bill began, but his father just raised his eyebrows and gave him a kind smile that didn't quite get rid of the sadness in his eyes.

"We can talk about this later," he promised. "We are supposed to stop soon anyway. We can talk when we get home."

Bill still felt guilty, but he nodded and fell silent. He didn't care what his father was going to tell him. He was making more money than he ever dreamt of. He should've been thinking about the rest of his family.

**Harry wasn't bothered about what the neighbors would think, but he was anxious about how rude the Dursleys might be to the Weasleys if they turned up looking like their worst idea of wizards.**

"Probably about as rude as they are to any other decent human on Earth," Mad-Eye spoke up dryly.

"They weren't rude where they?" Molly asked Arthur suddenly.

"Ah…" Arthur said comfortably. "Well… I say that they were more rude to Harry than to me…" he remembered how they were going to let their nephew leave without so much as a goodbye… why didn't he realize something was wrong then and there? But he had just assumed that they were angry about how he had destroyed half their living room… and then when Vernon lost himself completely and started throwing things at him… but then Fred had let those sweets out…

"What do you mean?" Sirius demanded coldly.

"Nothing," Arthur said quickly. "They hardly said anything to be honest."

"Well, I think that they should be grateful that it isn't Dumbledore coming," Tonks added suddenly. "He looks more wizard than anyone."

That caused another round of laughter from most of the room. They were all aware of how 'eccentric' Dumbledore dressed.

**Uncle Vernon had put on his best suit. To some people, this might have looked like a gesture of welcome, but Harry knew it was because Uncle Vernon wanted to look impressive and intimidating.**

"They're not going to care about what you're wearing," Remus sighed. They should be grateful that they had nice clothes… they shouldn't waste them trying to intimidate others.

"Not that it'll work anyway," Sirius reminded them all. "There is no way that lowlife idiots like the Dursleys could ever be impressive or intimidating."

"Especially when they're sitting in a room with a trained wizard!" Tonks added gleefully.

**Dudley, on the other hand, looked somehow diminished. **

"He's the side of a whale, how is that even possible?" asked Tonks in mock surprise.

**This was not because the diet was at last taking effect, but due to fright. **

Sirius sniggered, "Looks like they finally found a diet that works! Just ask a few wizards over!"

"Well, maybe it would help them realize just the kind of damage they've done to that boy!" snarled Molly. She was still having it hard to believe that any parent would allow their child to become like this.

**Dudley had emerged from his last encounter with a fully grown wizard with a curly pig's tail poking out of the seat of his trousers, **

"That was one part of the story that I will cherish," Sirius roared with laughter as he remembered—as if from another life—when they read the first book.

"What are you talking about?" Bill couldn't help but ask—completely bewildered to what had happened.

"When Hagrid went to get Harry back in his first year," Remus explained quickly before Mad-Eye could snap at him. "He was so angry at the Dursleys' he tried to turn Dudley into a pig, but instead, all he was able to do was give him a pig's tail."

"Hagrid wasn't ever good at Transfiguration," said Kingsley coolly. "And that umbrella of his… he really should consider getting a new wand."

"But you gotta love Hagrid," Sirius said fondly, conveniently forgetting how much trouble that the giant always seemed to be causing Harry and the others.

**and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had had to pay for its removal at a private hospital in London. It wasn't altogether surprising, therefore, that Dudley kept running his hand nervously over his backside, and walking sideways from room to room, so as not to present the same target to the enemy.**

"Great idea," Sirius said to himself eagerly. "If we're lucky, he'll be cursed somewhere else next time!"

"He sure seems to be scared to death of Hagrid," giggled Tonks, not at all feeling sorry for Dudley.

"I sure hope so," Sirius said, pleased at the thought.

"You are starting to scare me with the way you talk, Sirius," Bill said unnerved.

"If you read the last few books you'd feel the same way," he retorted firmly.

**Lunch was an almost silent meal. Dudley didn't even protest at the food (cottage cheese and grated celery). **

"How could anyone eat that?" Sirius gasped in horror. "That sounds terrible!"

"We'll fix that soon enough," Arthur promised as he tightened his grip on Molly's hand.

**Aunt Petunia wasn't, eating anything at all. Her arms were folded, her lips were pursed, and she seemed to be chewing her tongue, as though biting back the furious diatribe she longed to throw at Harry.**

"Oh, just leave him alone!" Tonks yelled out. Really, just how could these people be so horrible?

**"They'll be driving, of course?" Uncle Vernon barked across the table.**

"Not exactly," Arthur laughed, "Especially since my old car at this point is running wild in the Forbidden Forest."

"The Forest?" Bill choked out. "At Hogwarts?"

"Your brother and Harry thought that it would be a good idea to fly that car to school in their second year," Molly said through tight lips. "They were lucky that they weren't expelled! Don't you remember when we told you that?"

Bill thought that over and said with a laugh. "Oh, yeah! I think you did say something about that at Christmas when you came to visit me. So that's what happened to it."

**"Er," said Harry.**

**He hadn't thought of that. How were the Weasleys going to pick him up? **

"Yes, how did you?" Sirius asked grinning.

"I'm sure it's in there," Arthur said brightly. He was suddenly looking forward to hearing about him again, and was wondering how everyone was going to react when they found out.

**They didn't have a car anymore; the old Ford Anglia they had once owned was currently running wild in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. **

"That just sounds so funny when he puts it like that," Bill laughed.

"I still wonder what exactly you did to that car, Arthur," Molly said firmly.

"That's what I want to know," Arthur said as he scratched his head. "I did add a lot of new abilities to it… including making it fly and such… but I honestly have no idea how it came to life."

"Came to…?" Bill began…

"Later!" Mad-Eye barked.

**But Mr. Weasley had borrowed a Ministry of Magic car last year; possibly he would do the same today?**

**"I think so," said Harry.**

**Uncle Vernon snorted into his moustache. Normally, Uncle Vernon would have asked what car Mr. Weasley drove; he tended to judge other men by how big and expensive their cars were. But Harry doubted whether Uncle Vernon would have taken to Mr. Weasley even if he drove a Ferrari.**

"What is a Ferrari?" Arthur asked inquiringly.

"A very expensive and fast car," Kingsley explained plainly, he was enjoying explaining Muggle items to Arthur. As an Auror, you have to be able to know and blend in anywhere.

"Sounds nice," Sirius said brightly. "Though, I prefer motorcycles myself."

"This is tough…" Tonks said to herself, obviously not listening to their conversation.

"What's tough?" Remus asked her.

"Oh, I'm just trying to decide who I hate more," she explained. "It's between the Dursleys or the Malfoys. I mean, they act so much like each other… the only difference is magic…"

"I see your problem," Sirius agreed with a grimace. "I hate them both."

**Harry spent most of the afternoon in his bedroom; **

"He always does though," Sirius spoke up. That's what he would've done if he was in Harry's place. Why torture yourself by being with relatives you hated?

**he couldn't stand watching Aunt Petunia peer out through the net curtains every few seconds, as though there had been a warning about an escaped rhinoceros. **

"That would be a sight to see," Arthur laughed.

"The rhino or Petunia scared?" Tonks asked.

Arthur thought it over—"Both," he guessed.

**Finally, at a quarter to five, Harry went back downstairs and into the living room.**

**Aunt Petunia was compulsively straightening cushions. Uncle Vernon was pretending to read the paper, but his tiny eyes were not moving, **

"Good observation," Mad-Eye nodded. "It's the tiniest details that give us the most clues to what's going on."

"We all know Mad-Eye," Tonks said, deciding to humor him. "That's one of the first things you taught us Trainee Aurors. Second only to _'Constant Vilgiance!'_ that is."

"You could do with remembering those rules!" he snapped back at her irritated.

**and Harry was sure he was really listening with all his might for the sound of an approaching car. Dudley was crammed into an armchair, his porky hands beneath him, clamped firmly around his bottom. Harry couldn't take the tension; he left the room and went and sat on the stairs in the hall, his eyes on his watch and his heart pumping fast from excitement and nerves.**

"There's no need to worry," Arthur said soothingly. "We were going to get him no matter what."

"But what was taking you all so long?" Sirius demanded—more anxious than ever for someone to get his godson out of that house.

"We were waiting for dad to get home," Bill answered. "He was stuck at the office."

"Long story," Arthur explained. "I was having a little trouble with a co-worker and I had to sort it all out first." In truth, it took longer than he thought for his friend at the Floo Regulation Panel to get the Dursley's fireplace connected with the Floo Network.

He didn't want to spoil the surprise for Sirius or the others, but Sirius seemed satisfied with the answer and went back to listening to Kingsley.

**But five o'clock came and then went. **

**Uncle Vernon, perspiring slightly in his suit, opened the front door, peered up and down the street, then withdrew his head quickly.**

**"They're late!" he snarled at Harry.**

"Hey! It's not his fault!" snapped Sirius angrily. He sincerely hoped that they picked Harry up soon… he was getting worried that the Dursleys would do something… that and the fact that if he had to listen about these scum's of the earth any longer he was going to snap.

**"I know," said Harry. "Maybe - er - the traffic's bad, or something."**

"Not that it would matter for Magical cars," Arthur said.

"So you _did_ go by car?" Tonks asked, feeling a bit of a letdown.

"Nope," Arthur retorted brightly. "Just wait for it. I'm curious to see your expressions."

"Now I really can't wait for you guys to get there," Sirius said, a grin slowly coming back to him.

**Ten past five… then a quarter past five… Harry was starting to feel anxious himself now. **

"I'm sorry about that," Arthur said.

"Its fine dear," Molly said kindly. "Like Bill said, it took you awhile to get back."

**At half past, he heard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia conversing in terse mutters in the living room.**

**"No consideration at all."**

**"We might've had an engagement."**

"Don't kid yourselves," Tonks said scathingly. "Only someone without a life of their own would possibly want to spend time with you."

Sirius snorted. "True that. Just listening about them is bad enough. No one in their right mind would want to be in their company any longer than they have to. At least Harry has the sense to stay in his room away from them."

**"Maybe they think they'll get invited to dinner if they're late."**

Bill suddenly laughed ungraciously. When they looked at him he said, "Why the bloody hell would we want that?" Honestly, from what he heard, he rather go hungry than eat anything that Petunia cooked up.

"Another good point!" Sirius cried out happily. "

**"Well, they most certainly won't be," said Uncle Vernon, and Harry heard him stand up and start pacing the living room. "They'll take the boy and go, there'll be no hanging around. **

"For crying out— IT'S HARRY!" Sirius bellowed out that last name. He cried this out so dramatically, that several of them actually looked to the door—thinking that Harry was there—but Sirius went on. "How can they not know his name after all this? It's five letters for god's sake! Thirteen years he was forced to live with them and they still don't know someone's name…?"

He would've gone on in a long, angry rant, but Remus grabbed his shoulder and muttered calming words into his hear. Sirius was hardly paying attention to those words, but just hearing that calm tone in his friend's voice was slowly causing his own outrage to dribble away—for the moment that is.

Once his breathing had returned to its normal rate, Kingsley read in his deep voice that only helped to relax them all…

**That's if they're coming at all. Probably mistaken the day. I daresay their kind don't set much store by punctuality. Either that or they drive some tin-pot car that's broken d- AAAAAAARRRRRGH!"**

It was very strange to hear Kingsley let out that long cry of surprise and fear. But he did so with a smile; which in turn caused them all to start laughing again.

"I'm guessing that you just arrived?" Remus asked with his warm chuckle.

"Why yes, I'm guessing so," Arthur said, looking excited.

"I know _how_ you got there. But just what did you do?" Molly asked slowly as Arthur grinned sheepishly.

"What happened? Did you apparate right on top of them?" asked Sirius hopefully. When it became clear that Arthur wasn't going to answer, they looked back at the book and Kingsley said.

**Harry jumped up. From the other side of the living room door came the sounds of the three Dursleys scrambling, panic-stricken, across the room. Next moment Dudley came flying into the hall, looking terrified.**

"What's going on?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"Stop interrupting for 5 seconds and we'll see!" Mad-Eye barked at him irritated. "You all are driving me nuts with all the constant dialogue!"

"But it's the best part!" Tonks said with a pout, sticking her lower lip out at him. Mad-Eye groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"If this is the best we have against Voldemort, then we're all dead," he muttered to himself.

**"What happened?" said Harry. "What's the matter?"**

**But Dudley didn't seem able to speak. Hands still clamped over his buttocks, he waddled as fast as he could into the kitchen.**

Slight chuckles broke out around the room at that—Sirius wishing that he could've seen that for real—before reminding himself he will once he got his name cleared and went over to… ah… visit.

**Harry hurried into the living room. Loud banging's and scrapings were coming from behind the Dursleys' boarded-up fireplace, which had a fake coal fire plugged in front of it.**

"I never did get a chance to properly exam that fireplace!" Arthur said, sounding both disappointed and very interested. "I would've loved that…"

"The Floo?!" Sirius asked with a roar of hilarity. He slapped his own knee as he laughed. If there was one thing you had to love about Sirius Black it was his laugh. Not his insane and humorless laugh… but true laughter. Probably from years of pulling jokes and pranks, Sirius's laugh just seemed to fill up the room and make everything brighter. "You went though the fireplace?" he gasped for breath. "Oh, that is brilliant! I would kill to have seen the looks on their faces!"

"How did it work out?" Remus asked with an amused smile as Sirius fought to control himself.

"It seemed like the best option at the time," Arthur said—smiling widely as well. "If we had known that it was boarded up… we might have…"

"Boarded up?" Sirius asked, finally stopped laughing, but still grinning from ear to ear. "And how did you get out?" he asked shrewdly.

"It says here," Kingsley said as he read a little ahead. He went back to where he left off and said:

**"What is it?" gasped Aunt Petunia, who had backed into the wall and was staring, terrified, toward the fire. "What is it, Vernon?"**

"Geez," Tonks said in mock confusion. "You would think they never traveled by fire before?"

**But they were left in doubt barely a second longer. Voices could be heard from inside the blocked fireplace.**

**"Ouch! Fred, no - go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake – tell George not to - OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron-"**

"How many of your sons came along for the ride?" Kingsley asked, sounding amused.

"A few," Arthur said. "Me, the twins… and Ron. They all wanted to come you see…"

"And freak the Dursleys out," Sirius whispered under his tone, ecstatically. So far—he was enjoying this book much more than any of the others. He was going to savor the Dursleys fear in this chapter. Hopefully that will be enough to keep him happy for the rest of the book… though he highly doubted it when they were sure to get to the darker parts. He was afraid how much longer the light-hearted parts were going to last.

He shivered horribly at the thought and had to work very hard to push those thoughts out of his mind.

**"Maybe Harry can hear us, Dad - maybe he'll be able to let us out-"**

**There was a loud hammering of fists on the boards behind the electric fire.**

**"Harry? Harry, can you hear us?"**

**The Dursleys rounded on Harry like a pair of angry wolverines.**

"They better not try anything," Sirius warned, his grin fading slightly. He meant what he said before. Just one more… one more wrong they did to Harry and he was going over there and cursing them all so badly that no one will ever recognize them. He shook his head hard—not wanting to let go of these happy feelings just yet…

**"What is this?" growled Uncle Vernon. "What's going on?"**

**"They - they've tried to get here by Floo powder," said Harry, fighting a mad desire to laugh. **

Sirius, Bill, and Tonks on the other hand had no such restraint and burst out laughing again. Even Arthur and Remus were grinning broadly at the thought. Molly and Kingsley were looking calm, but there was also some impish twinkling in their eyes that gave them away. Mad-Eye looked the same as he always did—though his magical eye was dancing around—a sign that he was deeply amused.

**"They can travel by fire - only you've blocked the fireplace – hang on -"**

**He approached the fireplace and called through the boards.**

**"Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me?"**

**The hammering stopped. Somebody inside the chimney piece said, "Shh!"**

"That was me I think," Arthur said—straining his memory to think back—but this book was in such details that it was all coming back to him quickly.

**"Mr. Weasley, it's Harry… the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there."**

**"Damn!" said Mr. Weasley's voice. **

"Don't swear in front of the children," Molly said scolding to her husband.

"Well," he said smiling, "It was hard not to when you're trapped in a fireplace, Molly."

**"What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"**

**"They've got an electric fire," Harry explained.**

**"Really?" said Mr. Weasley's voice excitedly. "Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that… Let's think… ouch, Ron!"**

Everyone was laughing again at Arthur enthusiasm. Even when he was trapped in a fireplace, all he could think about was looking at Muggle inventions. This time even Mad-Eye let out once bark of humor at how childlike and innocent he sounded like.

"That does sound just like you, Arthur," Remus said kindly.

"I was excited," he said defensively, his ears turning red.

"They mean it in a good way, Dad," Bill said with a pat on his shoulder.

**Ron's voice now joined the others'.**

**"What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?"**

"Really?" Tonks asked sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed."

Sirius felt a pain in his side from laughing so hard. He was glad that his little cousin was here—she just seemed to lighten everything. He looked towards Remus who was also enjoying himself. Now if only his thick-headed, stubborn friend would see that.

**"Oh no, Ron," came Fred's voice, very sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."**

"I love those twins," Sirius chuckled.

**"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," said George, whose voice sounded muffled, as though he was squashed against the wall.**

Even Molly was chortling now. Sometimes those two reminded her so much of her brothers, Gideon and Fabian, she could almost swear that it was them reincarnated. To be honest, it was painful sometimes…

**"I was at the bottom," Arthur said shaking his head.**

**"Boys, boys…" said Mr. Weasley vaguely. "I'm trying to think what to do… Yes… only way… Stand back, Harry."**

**Harry retreated to the sofa. Uncle Vernon, however, moved forward.**

"Stupid," Tonks said smiling excitedly. "He's gonna regret that!"

"Yes," Mad-Eye spoke up in agreement, understanding just what was about to happen.

"This is gonna be good," Sirius smirked vindictively. The Weasleys were certainly going to make an _explosive_ entrance.

**"Wait a moment!" he bellowed at the fire. "What exactly are you going to -"**

**BANG.**

"Arthur, you are something else," Sirius laughed and clapped approvingly. "I'll have to remember that when I visit them."

Remus nodded, though he was hoping that Sirius would have the patience to wait until _after_ Harry was out of that house once and for all before he tried something like that.

**The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded-up fireplace burst outward, expelling Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron in a cloud of rubble and loose chippings. Aunt Petunia shrieked and fell backward over the coffee table; Uncle Vernon caught her before she hit the floor, and gaped, speechless, at the Weasleys, all of whom had bright red hair, including Fred and George, who were identical to the last freckle.**

"Well, that should shut them up for a while," Mad-Eye said conversationally.

"Strange," Molly said half laughing/half suspicious as she looked at Arthur. "You seem to have missed out on that little detail when you told me what happened."

"Well," Arthur said, carefully not looking at her. "It's not important. And I repaired the fireplace in the end so there was no lasting harm done.

"I hope that you at least left the mess," Tonks said seriously. "Ah, now there's a piece of Karma right there, folks! A huge mess in their once spotless living room. And now their _slave_," she spat out that last part as if it was venom. "Is about to leave."

"I hope it took hours to clean…" Sirius said longingly.

Arthur didn't think it would be a good idea to tell Sirius that he had, not only repaired the fireplace, but also cleaned up all the rumble and dust… he had thought that it would be the right thing to do. But after this—especially the second book—he was wishing that he just left after he shrunk Dudley's tongue.

**"That's better," panted Mr. Weasley, brushing dust from his long green robes and straightening his glasses. "Ah - you must be Harry's aunt and uncle!"**

"I didn't know how they treated him," said Arthur rather darkly and clenched his fists tightly.

"None of us did," Remus said sadly. "Harry doesn't know how to open to people…"

"Nah," Mad-Eye said dismissively. "I think it's more about the kid doesn't want us to pity him. Or doesn't want to make anyone else worry."

They all looked up at him in surprise. Was that it? Did Harry really feel that he didn't want anyone else to worry or care about him? Did he really want to deal with this on his own? Everyone else felt as though there was a shard of glass in their hearts… or in Sirius's case… a large butcher's knife.

"What?" Mad-Eye barked as they continued to look at him. "You have to be able to get inside anyone's head and guess what you're thinking. Even if it is a kid; you have to be prepared."

"You are something else, Alastor," Kingsley repeated the words that Sirius had said to Arthur a moment ago.

Mad-Eye scoffed at him as he leaned back comfortably. Though there was something smug in his normal eye as his magical one spun around like a top, making anyone who looked at it dizzy.

**Tall, thin, and balding, he moved toward Uncle Vernon, his hand outstretched, but Uncle Vernon backed away several paces, dragging Aunt Petunia. **

"He's not going to hurt you," Molly muttered in outrage. "They're treating you like _you're_ a Death Eater!"

Arthur shrugged. "The important thing here, Molly, is that I'm not."

**Words utterly failed Uncle Vernon. His best suit was covered in white dust, which had settled in his hair and mustache and made him look as though he had just aged  
thirty years.**

"Good," grunted Sirius.

**"Er - yes - sorry about that," said Mr. Weasley, lowering his hand and looking over his shoulder at the blasted fireplace. **

"Don't be sorry!" Sirius cried out to Arthur who shrugged.

"Just being polite," he muttered back. "What else could I say?"

"Oh, I've got a few words…" Sirius began, but Molly cut in.

"Ok, Kingsley, let's keep going," she said determinedly.

**"It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see - just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking – **

"That's because there is no reason for them to be connected unless it is an emergency," Mad-Eye said as if it was obvious.

**but I've got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. **

"Arthur?" Sirius asked with another snort of absurdity. "Did you really think they had any idea what you were about?"

"How much does anyone want to bet that they couldn't understand a word you said?" commented Tonks, who decided to change her hair to a royal purple just for the heck of it.

"Just trying to make some small talk," Arthur said, his ears turning red again. "I did just blow up their living room after all… had to say something…"

**I can put it right in a jiffy, though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send the boys back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I Disapparate."**

**Harry was ready to bet that the Dursleys hadn't understood a single word of this. **

"No one would be foolish enough to bet against that," Bill stated—learning more about these people than he ever wanted to.

**They were still gaping at Mr. Weasley, thunderstruck. Aunt Petunia staggered upright again and hid behind Uncle Vernon.**

"Cowards," Mad-Eye said evenly. "Not even that walrus can hide you."

**"Hello, Harry!" said Mr. Weasley brightly. "Got your trunk ready?"**

**"It's upstairs," said Harry, grinning back.**

**"We'll get it," said Fred at once. Winking at Harry, he and George left the room.**

"Why do I think that they're up to something?" Bill said thoughtfully.

"Because they always are," Molly said, her eye twitching horribly. All three Weasleys knew what was about to happen—and knew who it was who was responsible.

**They knew where Harry's bedroom was, having once rescued him from it in the dead of night. Harry suspected that Fred and George were hoping for a glimpse of Dudley; they had heard a lot about him from Harry.**

"Let's hope so," Tonks grinned, anticipating the worse the twins had to pull.

Sirius was rubbing his hands together in excitement, a wicked grin played about his face—dying to know what was going to happen.

**"Well," said Mr. Weasley, swinging his arms slightly, while he tried to find words to break the very nasty silence. "Very - erm - very nice place you've got here." As the usually spotless living room was now covered in dust and bits of brick, this remark didn't go down too well with the Dursleys. **

"I didn't think it would," Remus commented smiling.

"Why did you even try being nice? They are a disgrace to the human race after all," Tonks said to Arthur.

"I keep telling you all," Arthur sighed, tired of repeating himself over and over. "I was just being polite and at the time I didn't know how terrible they were."

"At least you tried to be gracious," Kingsley muttered as if it ended the argument.

**Uncle Vernon's face purpled once more, and Aunt Petunia started chewing her tongue again. However, they seemed too scared to actually say anything.**

"Well, there's a bonus," Sirius stated dryly. "They finally get the hint that no one wants to hear them talk. Really, they have nothing important to say."

**Mr. Weasley was looking around. He loved everything to do with Muggles. Harry could see him itching to go and examine the television and the video recorder.**

**"They run off eckeltricity, do they?" he said knowledgeably. **

"Oh, Arthur," Molly laughed, shaking her head.

"It's _electricity_, Arthur," Kingsley corrected softly.

"Well, there are so many fascinating things in the Muggle world to pay attention to," Arthur said eagerly. "It's hard to remember everything."

**"Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs," he added to Uncle Vernon. "And batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I'm mad, but there you are."**

"You are…" Molly said patting her husband's arm. "But… in a good way."

**Uncle Vernon clearly thought Mr. Weasley was mad too. He moved ever so slightly to the right, screening Aunt Petunia from view, as though he thought Mr. Weasley might suddenly run at them and attack. **

"I would love to have seen you punch Vernon the same way you punch Lucius," Sirius grinned.

"That was different," Arthur said strongly. "As a Ministry official, I have to at least try to set an example. Attacking a Muggle wouldn't have been one of those."

**Dudley suddenly reappeared in the room. Harry could hear the clunk of his trunk on the stairs, and knew that the sounds had scared Dudley out of the kitchen. Dudley edged along the wall, gazing at Mr. Weasley with terrified eyes, and attempted to conceal himself behind his mother and father. **

"Why bother?" demanded Sirius snidely. "Nothing could hide that great, useless lump unless it was another whale!"

"I still want to know how someone could become wider than tall," Tonks said to herself.

**Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon's bulk, while sufficient to hide bony Aunt Petunia, was nowhere near enough to conceal Dudley.**

"What did I tell you?" Sirius cried out dramatically. "Get a whale if you want to hide him!"

"We get it, Sirius," Remus said patiently; fully away that Sirius wouldn't let go of this until Harry was out of that house.

**"Ah, this is your cousin, is it, Harry?" said Mr. Weasley, taking another brave stab at making conversation.**

**"Yep," said Harry, "that's Dudley."**

**He and Ron exchanged glances and then quickly looked away from each other; the temptation to burst out laughing was almost overwhelming. **

"Then laugh!" Sirius cried out as if it was the easiest thing in the world. "You should never pass a chance like that up!"

**Dudley was still clutching his bottom as though afraid it might fall off. Mr. Weasley, however, seemed genuinely concerned at Dudley's peculiar behavior. **

"It was very strange," Arthur confirmed. "I wasn't sure what was wrong with him."

"I wish they told you why," Tonks threw a smirk at him. "Would've been hilarious to hear!"

**Indeed, from the tone of his voice when he next spoke, Harry was quite sure that Mr. Weasley thought Dudley was quite as mad as the Dursleys thought he was, except that Mr. Weasley felt sympathy rather than fear.**

"He knows me well," Arthur nodded.

"He knows everyone well," Bill said in amazement. "He's only known us for a few years, but he knows more about all of us, than we do of him."

_'At least before these books anyway,'_ Sirius thought to himself grimly; wishing that Harry trusted him enough to come out and tell him all this himself.

**"Having a good holiday, Dudley?" he said kindly.**

**Dudley whimpered. Harry saw his hands tighten still harder over his massive backside.**

"Just when I thought that he couldn't get any more pathetic," Tonks shook her head disappointed. "I'm proven wrong!"

**Fred and George came back into the room carrying Harry's school trunk. They glanced around as they entered and spotted Dudley. Their faces cracked into identical evil grins.**

Sirius was leaning over so far in his seat he was in danger of falling off. He couldn't wait to see what the next generation of Marauders had up their sleeves.

**"Ah, right," said Mr. Weasley. "Better get cracking then."**

**He pushed up the sleeves of his robes and took out his wand. Harry saw the Dursleys draw back against the wall as one.**

"They must've thought that you were going to curse them," Tonks said brightly.

"Which _I_ will only be too happy to do," Sirius mumbled under his breath.

**"Incendio!" said Mr. Weasley, pointing his wand at the hole in the wall behind him.**

**Flames rose at once in the fireplace, crackling merrily as though they had been burning for hours. Mr. Weasley took a small drawstring bag from his pocket, untied it, took a pinch of the powder inside, and threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green and roared higher than ever.**

"Wonder what they were thinking of when they saw that?" Bill wondered out loud.

**"Off you go then, Fred," said Mr. Weasley.**

**"Coming," said Fred. "Oh no - hang on -"**

**A bag of sweets had spilled out of Fred's pocket and the contents were now rolling in every direction - big, fat toffees in brightly colored wrappers.**

"Oh… is that what I think it is?" Molly said disapprovingly to her husband who nodded—fighting a smile as he also recognized what that particular 'sweet' was.

Sirius, who heard from the twins what their sweets could do, was silently praying to whatever god that was out there that fat lump Dudley would eat it.

**Fred scrambled around, cramming them back into his pocket, then gave the Dursleys a cheery wave, stepped forward, and walked right into the fire, saying "the Burrow!" Aunt Petunia gave a little shuddering gasp. There was a whooshing sound, and Fred vanished.**

"Bet they never saw that coming," Mad-Eye said calmly.

"Why don't they have pictures?" Sirius whined. "I want to see the looks on their faces."

**"Right then, George," said Mr. Weasley, "you and the trunk."**

**Harry helped George carry the trunk forward into the flames and turn it onto its end so that he could hold it better. Then, with a second whoosh, George had cried "the Burrow!" and vanished too.**

**"Ron, you next," said Mr. Weasley.**

**"See you," said Ron brightly to the Dursleys. **

"That's right. Freak them out…" Sirius cheered on.

**He grinned broadly at Harry, then stepped into the fire, shouted "the Burrow!" and disappeared. Now Harry and Mr. Weasley alone remained.**

**"Well… bye then," Harry said to the Dursleys.**

**They didn't say anything at all. **

"Did he expect them to?" Remus asked softly, feeling anger boiling in his stomach. Heaven forbid that they show any signs of kindness towards their own nephew.

**Harry moved toward the fire, but just as he reached the edge of the hearth, Mr. Weasley put out a hand and held him back. He was looking at the Dursleys in amazement.**

"Why?" Sirius asked. "There's nothing amazing about them."

"I was wondering why they didn't even care enough to say goodbye to their only nephew," Arthur said in a bitter tone.

"Yes, it's hard to believe that Harry's related to that lot," said Molly scathingly, hating how they treated him.

**"Harry said good-bye to you," he said. "Didn't you hear him?"**

**"It doesn't matter," Harry muttered to Mr. Weasley. "Honestly, I don't care."**

Sirius let out a breath of sadness. If Harry was anything like him, then he knew that he _did_ care, but there wasn't anything that could be done.

**Mr. Weasley did not remove his hand from Harry's shoulder.**

**"You aren't going to see your nephew till next summer," he said to Uncle Vernon in mild indignation. "Surely you're going to say good-bye?"**

"Not willingly," Tonks declared forcefully.

**Uncle Vernon's face worked furiously. The idea of being taught consideration by a man who had just blasted away half his living room wall seemed to be causing him intense suffering. But Mr. Weasley's wand was still in his hand, and Uncle Vernon's tiny eyes darted to it once, before he said, very resentfully, "Good-bye, then."**

"He thought I was going to curse him if he didn't say good-bye?" Arthur asked shocked.

"You would never have done that," Molly said gently. "Even if they did deserve it, you wouldn't do anything like that."

Sirius on the other hand seemed to be cheering up at that last line. "Wow, Arthur," he said. "You just blew up their living room and are now teaching them about manners."

"Who cares what happened?" Bill asked disdainfully. "It's not as if Dad's not going to be able to fix it. "At least he apologized. If anyone needs to be taught consideration it's _that_ family."

"Well, said," Sirius remarked approvingly.

**"See you," said Harry, putting one foot forward into the green flames, which felt pleasantly like warm breath. At that moment, however, a horrible gagging sound erupted behind him, and Aunt Petunia started to scream. **

"What's happened?" Sirius asked eagerly, clapping his hands together like a child at Christmas.

**Harry wheeled around. Dudley was no longer standing behind his parents. He was kneeling beside the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was protruding from his mouth.**

**One bewildered second later, Harry realized that the foot-long thing was Dudley's tongue - and that a brightly colored toffee wrapper lay on the floor before him.**

There was a silence for a few stunned seconds.

"Brilliant…" Remus breathed, looking as though he was struggling desperately to hold in his laughter. Sirius on the other hand hadn't bothered. He fell to his knees and was banging his fists on the floor in as he tried desperately to get air to breathe from his hysteric laughter.

"His tongue!" Sirius choked when he was finally able to gasp for air. "That is genius! Of course someone as greedy and stupid as Dudley Dursley would eat it! Fred and George… you are living up to the proud prankster legacy!"

He was obviously enjoying himself so much that no one had the heart to stop him. They all waited patiently as he slowly got control and forced himself back to his seat; while they also laughed at the mental image of Dudley with an enlarged tongue.

Once Sirius got his breath back, he gestured silently to Kingsley that he could go on—which he did.

**Aunt Petunia hurled herself onto the ground beside Dudley, seized the end of his swollen tongue, and attempted to wrench it out of his mouth; **

"I'm sure that he appreciated that," Kingsley said, breaking off himself as he shook his head incredulously.

"Well, that's gonna fix everything, huh?" said Tonks as she rolled her crystal-blue eyes.

"Oh, it would be too perfect! Please, pull his tongue out!" Sirius was cheering.

**unsurprisingly, Dudley yelled and sputtered worse than ever, trying to fight her off. Uncle Vernon was bellowing and waving his arms around, and Mr. Weasley had to shout to make himself heard.**

**"Not to worry, I can sort him out!" he yelled, advancing on Dudley with his wand outstretched, but Aunt Petunia screamed worse than ever and threw herself on top of Dudley, shielding him from Mr. Weasley.**

"Yes," Tonks said mockingly. "Stop the one person who could fix everything! That'll solve the problem!"

**"No, really!" said Mr. Weasley desperately. "It's a simple process it was the toffee - my son Fred - real practical joker - but it's only an Engorgement Charm - at least, I think it is - please, I can correct it -"**

"I don't think they find that reassuring, surprisingly," Remus stated, sounding very amused.

**But far from being reassured, the Dursleys became more panic- stricken; Aunt Petunia was sobbing hysterically, tugging Dudley's tongue as though determined to rip it out; Dudley appeared to be suffocating under the combined pressure of his mother and his tongue; and Uncle Vernon, who had lost control completely, **

"This family is pathetic," Sirius shook his head. "How on earth could Lily be related to that horse? There has to be some kind of mistake. Maybe Lily was switched at birth or something? That would explain it!"

"That would explain a lot," Remus nodded in agreement. "However, unfortunately, I don't think that's the case, Padfoot."

"Sure, ruin my good mood," Sirius told him off.

**seized a china figure from on top of the sideboard and threw it very hard at Mr. Weasley, who ducked, causing the ornament to shatter in the blasted fireplace.**

"What?! For goodness sake he's just trying to help!" Molly exclaimed, furious that they were attacking her husband.

"If anything you throw hits my godson, Dursley I'll have you," growled Sirius threateningly.

"And they think that the Weasleys don't have any manners?" asked Remus in disbelief.

"That's… that's…" Bill didn't know what to say. How could someone so polite and kind come from… from… this? A house with people like this? Well, that was just one more thing to admire about his youngest brother's best friend.

**"Now really!" said Mr. Weasley angrily, brandishing his wand. "I'm trying to help!"**

"We know that, and you know that," Tonks said to Arthur, "But they don't want to believe that."

**Bellowing like a wounded hippo, Uncle Vernon snatched up another ornament.**

"Appropriate, 'cause I'm sure he looks like one," Mad-Eye said quietly to himself, so not to interrupt.

**"Harry, go! Just go!" Mr. Weasley shouted, his wand on Uncle Vernon. "I'll sort this out!"**

"Good," Molly said firmly. "Just get out of there Harry. Leave this to Arthur."

**Harry didn't want to miss the fun, but Uncle Vernon's second ornament narrowly missed his left ear, and on balance he thought it best to leave the situation to Mr. Weasley. **

"There are Lily's genes," Remus sighed fondly. "James would've wanted to stay back and watch what happened no matter what anyone said or did."

"He would've," Sirius said as he became lost in warm memories for a moment.

**He stepped into the fire, looking over his shoulder as he said "the Burrow!" His last fleeting glimpse of the living room was of Mr. Weasley blasting a third ornament out of Uncle Vernon's hand with his wand, Aunt Petunia screaming and lying on top of Dudley, and Dudley's tongue lolling around like a great slimy python. But next moment Harry had begun to spin very fast, and the Dursleys' living room was whipped out of sight in a rush of emerald-green flames.**

"Well… that was fun," Tonks laughed.

"And that was the end of the best chapter yet," Kingsley said and shut the book.

"What a fantastic way to leave!" Sirius said beaming. "Wish I thought of something like that when I left home. Like… make sure mother dearest lost her voice… that would've done everyone a favor."

Mad-Eye on the other hand asked Arthur a different question. "Just what did you have to do in order to placate the Dursleys?"

"It wasn't easy," he admitted. "If we don't find out in the next chapter though," he added with a yawn and stretched out his shoulders, "I'll tell you."

"Well, it's my turn to read anyway," Sirius said excitedly. He snatched the book away from Kingsley and read out happily, "**Chapter 5: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes**."

**(Another chapter done. They'll read one more and they will take a short break for Bill to catch up. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. And hopefully the next one will be up before my spring break is over. So far, it's been pretty boring. Oh, well. Please R & R if you liked it! And thanks again.)**


	7. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 5: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes**

"Well, it's my turn to read anyway," Sirius said excitedly. He snatched the book away from Kingsley and read out happily, "**Chapter 5: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes**."

Molly groaned at that and Sirius was smirking broadly. Fred and George had told him all about their plans to open up their own joke shop… it sounded amazing.

"Why do I have a feeling that Fred and George are about to get in more trouble?" asked Bill smiling.

"Because they always are!" Molly said exasperated. "Again with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes…"

"Well, I think it's brilliant!" Sirius said stubbornly. "I mean, look at what their toffee did for Dudley!"

"That's my point!" Molly cried out. "Most of the things they've invented are dangerous!"

**Harry spun faster and faster, elbows tucked tightly to his sides, blurred fireplaces flashing past him, until he started to feel sick and closed his eyes. **

"Hopefully this will be a better trip than the first time he used the floo," Remus said, smiling at the memory.

"And what on earth happened?" Bill began, but Mad-Eye glared at him with his magical eye. "It's bad enough having to listen to it once," he growled. "But I don't like talking about it when we are so close to finishing story time. For the last time, READ ON YOUR OWN TIME!"

"Mad-Eye," Arthur said warningly.

**Then, when at last he felt himself slowing down, he threw out his hands and came to a halt in time to prevent himself from falling face forward out of the Weasleys' kitchen fire.**

**"Did he eat it?" said Fred excitedly, holding out a hand to pull Harry to his feet.**

Bill snorted, not at all disappointed or surprised that his little brothers would ask that.

Tonks and Sirius exchanged grins and Tonks sniggered, "You better believe it! He took it hook, line, and sinker!"

"Yep," Sirius added gleefully. "The fat lump couldn't help himself!"

**"Yeah," said Harry, straightening up. "What was it?"**

**"Ton-Tongue Toffee," said Fred brightly. "George and I invented them, **

"Invented them?" Tonks repeated in shock, shaking her head slowly. "I know that they have made all kinds of useful things, but they INVENTED those toffees?"

"These two really do give me hope for the noble gift of pranking," Sirius stated earnestly, "And now they are helping to create whole new generations of pranksters!"

Molly was the only one who didn't look amused.

**and we've been looking for someone to test them on all summer…"**

"And so they test it out on someone without any ideas of what will happen to them," Molly said shaking her head.

"It is Dudley though," Sirius replied coldly.

"I'm not saying that boy doesn't deserve to have a few rude awakenings," Molly snapped back. "But what if something went wrong? They could've done a lot more harm than making his tongue grow! They could've gotten in serious trouble for that!"

"You are such a spoil sport," Sirius said.

"Actually," Kingsley disagreed slightly. "She makes a good point. If the boys weren't careful, they might've done a lot of damage… maybe permanent."

Sirius glared at them all. "Ok, but nothing bad happened alright? Dursley's fine and the twins aren't in trouble with the law! I'm sure that they knew what they were doing."

"Still," Kingsley said thoughtfully. "If they have to trick others into testing out their joke supplies for them, then that could lead to some serious problems. Then again… this was about a year ago… hopefully they realized their mistakes."

**The tiny kitchen exploded with laughter; Harry looked around and saw that Ron and George were sitting at the scrubbed wooden table with two red-haired people Harry had never seen before, though he knew immediately who they must be: Bill and Charlie, the two eldest Weasley brothers.**

"So you both finally make an appearance!" Tonks cried out, slapping Bill on the back.

"Good," Mad-Eye grunted, "Which means we can stop after this chapter."

Bill leaned forward, looking eager to hear about himself from Harry's point of view.

**"How're you doing, Harry?" said the nearer of the two, grinning at him and holding out a large hand, which Harry shook, feeling calluses and blisters under his fingers. This had to be Charlie, who worked with dragons in Romania. Charlie was built like the twins, shorter and stockier than Percy and Ron, who were both long and lanky. He had a broad, good-natured face, which was weather-beaten and so freckly that he looked almost tanned; his arms were muscular, and one of them had a large, shiny burn on it.**

"Charlie is definitely someone you want to stay on the good side of," Arthur nodded as he thought of his second son with pride. "He may be good-natured, but he is a force to be reckoned with when angered."

"He must be," Bill added. "He works with dragons on a daily basis. But even more impressive is that Fred and George respect him."

Everyone, even Molly and Mad-Eye chortled at that commit.

"That is actually a decent description for once," Tonks nodded as she remembered how most descriptions about others in the books were usually insulting or funny.

"Oh, I love Harry's descriptions! They are so spot on," Sirius laughed.

"You didn't feel that way when Harry was describing you in the last book," Mad-Eye reminded him.

Sirius gave him an annoyed glare and said, "Well, you're supposed to appear in this book too pal. I can't wait to hear about you!"

**Bill got to his feet, smiling, and also shook Harry's hand. Bill came as something of a surprise. Harry knew that he worked for the wizarding bank, Gringotts, and that Bill had been Head Boy at Hogwarts; Harry had always imagined Bill to be an older version of Percy: fussy about rule-breaking and fond of bossing everyone around.**

"What?" Bill demanded, insulted.

"Why are you surprised?" Tonks asked him. "Harry never met you before and only knew that you were Head Boy and worked for a bank."

"Well," Bill answered unwillingly, "I never went out of my way to make trouble, but I sure wasn't fussy about rules either."

**However, Bill was - there was no other word for it - cool. **

Bill blushed crimson as Sirius asked, "Well, at least your description sounded better than mine. It said that I looked like a vampire."

**He was tall, with long hair that he had tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing an earring with what looked like a fang dangling from it. **

Molly gave him an unyielding look and Bill smiled back cheerfully, knowing that his earring was almost the bane of his mother's existence. Second only to his long hair…

**Bill's clothes would not have looked out of place at a rock concert, except that Harry recognized his boots to be made, not of leather, but of dragon hide.**

"Wow," Sirius said simply, looking up at Bill. "How does he notice every little detail?"

"Keen eye for observation," Mad-Eye muttered, sounding impressed.

"What's a rock concert?" Arthur asked confused. Why would you want to go to a concert for rocks?

"Rock music," Kingsley explained calmly. "Is what Muggles call very loud music. A rock concert is where people gather to hear a rock band perform."

"Sounds like my kind of place," Tonks said happily as she thought to her favorite band—the _Weird Sisters… _she would kill to hear them perform in person…

**Before any of them could say anything else, there was a faint popping noise, and Mr. Weasley appeared out of thin air at George's shoulder. He was looking angrier than Harry had ever seen him.**

"How bad was it?" Sirius asked Arthur and Bill excitedly. He had hardly ever seen Arthur angry—Arthur was just one of those people who just can't stay angry for long. He was looking forward to hearing this.

"Dad does have a temper in there somewhere," Bill joked as he looked at his father. "But it is very rare when he shows it."

Arthur shrugged. He never really saw much point in yelling at your children unless they did something terrible. Look at Harry… he was yelled at for nothing for most of his childhood by those Dursleys and he saw how much damage had been done there.

"Just curious, Arthur," Remus asked slowly as he tilted his head slightly. "How long was Dudley's tongue before you shrank it?"

"Remus I'm surprised at you," Tonks asked with a grin.

"I told you before," Sirius said as he nudged Remus playfully in the ribs. "Professor Moony here is a Marauder as well! He helped plan many a wonderful prank with me and James… that's got to leave an impression."

Remus went even redder than before as Tonks gave him a shrewd smile. "Professor Moony…" she grinned. "You hound…"

Remus thought that his head was going to burst right into flames right there and then from the amount of heat that he was emitting. He cleared his throat and said, "Moving right along…"

Sirius only continued reading to prevent his friend from running off and hiding.

**"That wasn't funny Fred!" he shouted. "What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?"**

**"I didn't give him anything," said Fred, with another evil grin. "I just dropped it… It was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to."**

"He has a point," Mad-Eye said nonchalantly. "Never eat anything from an enemy!"

"Well the pig is so used to getting what he wants he doesn't think like that," Sirius spoke up. "Serves him right," he added in an undertone. While he was slowly growing some sympathy for the kid—it wasn't his fault that his parents were failures after all—but his insides still burned with anger at the thought of how miserable that Dudley made his godson for all these years.

**"You dropped it on purpose!" roared Mr. Weasley. "You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet -"**

**"How big did his tongue get?" George asked eagerly.**

"He's got some guts saying that to you, Dad," Bill muttered to himself, remembering fondly how his mother was going to take the news.

**"It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!"**

They all burst out laughing at that—though Molly shot them a disapproving look, but there was a tiny hint of a smile twitching her lips.

"There's your answer Remus!" Sirius choked out once he was finally able to gasp for air. "These twins are amazing!"

"Why did you tell them that?" Molly demanded her husband. "That'll only encourage them to make more… who-knows-what?"

"I was angry," Arthur shrugged. "Wasn't thinking."

**Harry and the Weasleys roared with laughter again.**

**"It isn't funny!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-Muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons-"**

Tonks' eyes widened, "So _that's _why you were so mad! You thought that they gave it to him because he was a Muggle."

"They didn't do it because he was a Muggle," Sirius pointed out angrily. "It was because of the way he treated Harry in the past! They did it because he a fat bully!"

"Well," Arthur said defensively. "What was I supposed to think otherwise?"

"Besides," Sirius added. "Could've been a _lot_ worse than making his tongue grow. Look at all the sick stuff that used to be in this room for example." He waved a dismissive hand around the dark, gloomy room. "Trust me. That would probably be nothing compared to some of the other things that had been in here."

**"We didn't give it to him because he's a Muggle!" said Fred indignantly.**

**"No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git," said George. "Isn't he, Harry?"**

"Truer words never spoken!" cheered on Sirius.

**"Yeah, he is, Mr. Weasley," said Harry earnestly.**

Many of them looked angry at that, but Sirius went on too quickly for anyone to say anything.

**"That's not the point!" raged Mr. Weasley. "You wait until I tell your mother -"**

**"Tell me what?" said a voice behind them.**

"Uh oh," everyone but Molly groaned, shaking their heads and Tonks began humming a grim funeral march. Molly ignored them, but had turned a slightly pink color.

**Mrs. Weasley had just entered the kitchen. She was a short, plump woman with a very kind face, though her eyes were presently narrowed with suspicion.**

"Of course I was suspicious," she said defensively. "When are they never _not_ up to something?"

_'Pranksters after my own heart,'_ Sirius grinned to himself.

**"Oh hello, Harry, dear," she said, spotting him and smiling. Then her eyes snapped back to her husband. "Tell me what, Arthur?"**

**Mr. Weasley hesitated. Harry could tell that, however angry he was with Fred and George, he hadn't really intended to tell Mrs. Weasley what had happened. **

"Arthur, did you really think that you could've hid something like that to me," Molly asked him sternly.

"He just doesn't want to sit back and watch his sons get killed," Sirius whispered into Remus's ears. Remus had to fight back his smile, as he nodded.

**There was a silence, while Mr. Weasley eyed his wife nervously. Then two girls appeared in the kitchen doorway behind Mrs. Weasley. One, with very bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth, was Harry's and Ron's friend, Hermione Granger. **

"This book truly does have the most interesting descriptions," Kingsley stated causally, shaking his head with a smile.

"But her teeth aren't so big anymore," Bill remembered how the next time he saw Hermione after that summer, her teeth were all straight and normal sized.

"Must've gotten them fixed," Tonks shrugged indifferently.

**The other, who was small and red-haired, was Ron's younger sister, Ginny. **

**Both of them smiled at Harry, who grinned back, which made Ginny go scarlet - she had been very taken with Harry ever since his first visit to the Burrow.**

"Awww, Ginny's still has a crush on my godson," cooed Sirius playfully.

"And what do you mean by that?" Bill asked coldly as the three red-headed Weasleys turned sharp looks at him.

"Nothing," he added quickly, wishing that he didn't say anything. "I just thought that it's cute. Kids and their first crushes and everything…"

They let it drop, but the tiny smile on Molly's mouth seemed to widen.

**"Tell me what, Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley repeated, in a dangerous sort of voice.**

**"It's nothing, Molly," mumbled Mr. Weasley, "Fred and George just - but I've had words with them -"**

"They might want to run while they can," Mad-Eye said to himself. Kingsley, who was sitting closest to him, chuckled warmly.

**"What have they done this time?" said Mrs. Weasley. "If it's got anything to do with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes -"**

**"Why don't you show Harry where he's sleeping, Ron?" said Hermione from the doorway.**

"Good idea Hermione, slip away before the war starts," Tonks said approvingly. "You might want to leave before you become witnesses to a murder."

**"He knows where he's sleeping," said Ron, "in my room, he slept there last -"**

"Oh, Ron…" Remus sighed as he shook his head in amusement as Sirius was looking horrified that someone can't see a perfect excuse to leave. "This could be your only chance to get out of the room before the shouting begins…"

"Hurry and take a hint, Ron," Tonks laughed, shaking her head exasperated. "Don't be thick! Can't you recognize an escape route when you see one?"

**"We can all go," said Hermione pointedly.**

**"Oh," said Ron, cottoning on. "Right."**

**"Yeah, we'll come too," said George.**

"I can't believe they expected that to work," Molly said with a raised eyebrow.

"Got to give them credit for trying," Sirius added helpfully.

**"You stay where you are!" snarled Mrs. Weasley.**

**Harry and Ron edged out of the kitchen, and they, Hermione, and Ginny set off along the narrow hallway and up the rickety staircase that zigzagged through the house to the upper ****stories.**

**"What are Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" Harry asked as they climbed.**

"Nothing good," Molly muttered to herself as she remembered all the times that she had picked up one of their fake wands around the house.

**Ron and Ginny both laughed, although Hermione didn't.**

"Of course she didn't," Bill laughed.

"Heaven forbid that she laugh at a joke product!" Sirius said sarcastically.

**"Mum found this stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George's room," said Ron quietly. "Great long price lists for stuff they've invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wands and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they'd been inventing all that…"**

"We don't know if we even want to know what _'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes'_ do," Bill couldn't help but say. "I know that we shouldn't trust anything from Fred and George—not even wands. But I wonder if anyone's told the bad guys?"

"So, why aren't Fred and George being sent owls for breaking the_ Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery_ or other such nonsense?" Tonks asked curiously.

"Most likely the department just gave up on them… after too many owls dropped dead from exhaustion," Sirius said fondly.

**"We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually making things," said Ginny. "We thought they just liked the noise."**

"Oh, I'm sure they do," Sirius said wisely. "Explosions are music to the ears… but never underestimate explosions—especially if a couple of prankster's are behind it."

"And you would know this because…?" Kingsley asked slyly. Sirius just grinned back.

"Did Ginny just say more than two lines in front of Harry?" Tonks asked brightly. "'Bout time. I was wondering when she finally starting stringing words together."

"Oh, be nice," Molly said affectionately.

**"Only, most of the stuff - well, all of it, really - was a bit dangerous," said Ron, **

"Don't you think that you might all be over-exaggerating a little?" Sirius asked Molly.

"No," she said firmly. "Did you forget about those toffees already? Who knows what their products can do?!"

**"and, you know, they were planning to sell it at Hogwarts to make some money, and Mum went mad at them. Told them they weren't allowed to make any more of it, and burned all the order forms… She's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many O.W.L.s as she expected."**

"At least they turned up for the exams," Sirius murmured contentedly.

"They only got three O.W.L.s each!" Molly said hotly. "And because of that, they have only been able to take three classes for these last two years."

"I can't see why that wouldn't get more O.W.L.s," Tonks said thoughtfully. "They obvious have enough talent to have gotten better grades."

"I think that they focused more on the classes that they would need for their joke shop," Remus whispered to Sirius, knowing about the twins' little ambition of running their own shop someday and Sirius was smirking back.

**O.W.L.s were Ordinary Wizarding Levels, the examinations Hogwarts students took at the age of fifteen.**

**"And then there was this big row," Ginny said, "because Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad, and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop."**

"Who wants to work at the bloody Ministry anyway?" Sirius demanded frostily. "Just about everyone there are pompous, arrogant idiots who rather see the world sink into hell than admit that they're wrong!"

"There are some important jobs in there too," Arthur said a little dejectedly. "And not everyone there is like that."

"I'm sorry," Sirius went on. "I should've said the ones who work for Fudge are pompous, arrogant idiots who rather see the world sink into hell than admit that they're wrong!"

"With how corrupted the ministry is, are you still keen on them to join?" Kingsley asked Molly, who sighed.

"No," she admitted. "But this was before I realized just _how_ tarnished it was."

"Well, you should let them do what they want," Sirius said determinedly. "Can you really imagine the two of them sitting behind a desk doing paperwork all day?"

"And what if it doesn't work out?" Molly asked quickly. "What if their joke shop idea doesn't happen? What do they have to fall back on?"

She felt Arthur gently take her hand. "Sometimes…" he whispered into her ear—for her and her alone. "Sometimes you just have to take a chance and let them decide what they want."

"But they don't have any idea how difficult life is," Molly whispered back anxiously.

"Yes, but how can they learn if we don't learn to let go?" he asked and she looked a little teary-eyed. "We can't always be there to hold their hands and help them," he went on. "I know that you just want the best for them, but we can't run their lives forever…"

Molly didn't get a chance to answer to that because Sirius, who hadn't heard, had turned the page and went on.

**Just then a door on the second landing opened, and a face poked out wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a very annoyed expression.**

_'Three guesses who that is?'_ Sirius thought bitterly.

**"Hi, Percy," said Harry.**

Bill saw his parent's tense up at the mention of Percy's name—he himself felt his heart ache at the thought of one of his brothers not wanting anything to do with them… as well as anger.

**"Oh hello, Harry," said Percy. "I was wondering who was making all the noise. I'm trying to work in here, you know I've got a report to finish for the office – and it's rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs."**

_'What do you want them to do?'_ Mad-Eye thought. _'Tip-toe every time they go past your door?'_

"They were just talking while walking up the stairs!" said Tonks heatedly.

Bill shook his head, knowing his little brother long enough to know that Percy just wanted to show off.

**"We're not thundering, "said Ron irritably. "We're walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top-secret workings of the Ministry of Magic."**

**"What are you working on?" said Harry.**

Sirius and Tonks groaned simultaneously at that line.

"Who cares?" asked Sirius grumpily. "Harry, did you really have to ask him? He just wants to talk about how amazing working at the Ministry is."

"Has it occurred to you that Harry might just be being polite?" asked Molly harshly. Even though Percy was no longer speaking to them, she still felt as if she was being torn apart at thinking about him.

"Nope," Sirius said, making a little popping sound at the p.

**"A report for the Department of International Magical Cooperation," said Percy smugly. "We're trying to standardize cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin - leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year -"**

Sirius felt as if he was beating his head against a wall listening to this. Honestly, who wants to read a report on cauldron bottoms? You want a good cauldron? Just don't let your potions melt them!

**"That'll change the world, that report will," said Ron. "Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks."**

"Good one, Ron," Sirius grinned approvingly. At least someone got it.

**Percy went slightly pink.**

**"You might sneer, Ron," he said heatedly, "but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow bottomed products that seriously endanger -"**

Sirius had actually yawned at that line. Whether for real, or effect, no one knew.

_'Percy is so impressionable, or rather gullible,'_ Mad-Eye thought to himself idly. _'Is that how he ended up with that rat for a pet?'_

**"Yeah, yeah, all right," said Ron, and he started off upstairs again. Percy slammed his bedroom door shut. **

"Thank you, Ron!" Sirius cried out sarcastically. "I don't know how much more I could've listened to that."

"Percy never could take criticism well," sighed Bill. It was one of his worse flaws. His pride…

**As Harry, Hermione, and Ginny followed Ron up three more flights of stairs, shouts from the kitchen below echoed up to them. It sounded as though Mr. Weasley had told Mrs. Weasley about the toffees. **

"Why do I get the feeling that you weren't happy about that?" Tonks asked in mock surprised.

"Oh, I wasn't," she said grimly.

**The room at the top of the house where Ron slept looked much as it had the last time that Harry had come to stay: the same posters of Ron's favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, **

Tonks, Bill, and Sirius started laughing wildly and even Remus began chuckling at their reactions.

"All right, what's so funny?" Mad-Eye snapped.

"He supports the Chudley Cannons!" gasped out Sirius. "The _Chudley Cannons_?"

"And I should care because…?" Mad-Eye grunted.

"You shouldn't!" Sirius exclaimed, shaking his head incredulously. "They have got to be the worst team in Quidditch history!"

"That is true," Remus nodded. "I don't believe that team has ever won a game."

"Oh," Mad-Eye said, sounding irritated. "Who cares!?"

**were whirling and waving on the walls and sloping ceiling, and the fish tank on the windowsill, which had previously held frog spawn, now contained one extremely large frog. Ron's old rat, Scabbers, was here no more, **

"Course not," snarled Sirius furiously. "That rat wouldn't stick around after what happened."

The atmosphere in the room became much tenser at the mention of Peter, and Sirius's fingers were gripping the book edges so tightly that his knuckles were white. He seemed to be fighting the impulse to tear it in half.

Bill looked bewildered. He was dying to ask what was going on, but he really didn't want to be told off by Mad-Eye again and so kept silent.

**but instead there was the tiny gray owl that had delivered Ron's letter to Harry in Privet Drive. It was hopping up and down in a small cage and twittering madly.**

**"Shut up, Pig," said Ron, edging his way between two of the four beds that had been squeezed into the room. "Fred and George are in here with us, because Bill and Charlie are in their room," he told Harry. "Percy gets to keep his room all to himself because he's got to work."**

Sirius snorted, "I still can't believe that's the owl's name!"

"And I thought _'Sirius'_ was a bad enough name," Remus offered and Sirius slapped his shoulder comically.

**"Er - why are you calling that owl Pig?" Harry asked Ron.**

**"Because he's being stupid," said Ginny, "Its proper name is Pigwidgeon."**

"What and that's _not_ stupid?" asked Sirius sarcastically.

"Well, _I_ think it's cute," said Tonks resolutely.

**"Yeah, and that's not a stupid name at all," said Ron sarcastically. **

"I agree with Ron!" cried out Sirius again.

"We get it," Mad-Eye snapped. "You hate the name. Now just move on!"

**"Ginny named him," he explained to Harry. "She reckons it's sweet. **

"It is," the two women said at the same time. Sirius just shook his head.

**And I tried to change it, but it was too late, he won't answer to anything else. So now he's Pig. I've got to keep him up here because he annoys Errol and Hermes. He annoys me too, come to that."**

"Don't listen to him," Tonks smirked. "I know that he would probably cry if anything happened to him."

"Speaking of which… how _did_ he explain the arrival of Pigwidgeon to the rest of you, anyway?" Remus asked and glanced up at Arthur, Bill, and Molly. "I mean, aside from those three, only Dumbledore knew that Sirius was innocent…"

"He told us that a friend got it for him after Scabbers was killed," Molly said quickly.

"Apparently he left out a few details like _who_ gave it to him," Arthur muttered raising his eyebrows at Sirius, who was looking back innocently.

**Pigwidgeon zoomed happily around his cage, hooting shrilly. Harry knew Ron too well to take him seriously. He had moaned continually about his old rat, Scabbers, but had been most upset when Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, appeared to have eaten him.**

"Wish he did," Sirius couldn't help but mutter to himself, but said it so quietly that only Remus heard him. He sighed as he then turned the next page and went on.

**"Where's Crookshanks?" Harry asked Hermione now.**

**"Out in the garden, I expect," she said. "He likes chasing gnomes. He's never seen any before."**

**"Percy's enjoying work, then?" said Harry, sitting down on one of the beds and watching the Chudley Cannons zooming in and out of the posters on the ceiling.**

"The _Cannons_?" Sirius added in disbelief.

Kingsley chuckled, "Just keep going, Sirius."

**"Enjoying it?" said Ron darkly. "I don't reckon he'd come home if Dad didn't make him. He's obsessed. Just don't get him onto the subject of his boss. _According to Mr. Crouch… as I was saying to Mr. Crouch… Mr. Crouch is of the opinion… Mr. Crouch was telling me…_ They'll be announcing their engagement any day now."**

Sirius's expression had turned even darker if it had been possible. Remus, understanding, reached out and took his shoulder. "Sirius? It's going to be ok…"

"What are you…?" Arthur began before he realized whose name had just been mentioned.

"Crouch," Mad-Eye spat the name out in disgust.

Sirius was fighting the almost uncontrollable urge to rip the book in half and then burn it in the fireplace. His hatred for that man ran so deep—even Bellatrix got a trial! But thanks that that man, Sirius never had a chance to prove his innocence.

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to read.

**"Have you had a good summer, Harry?" said Hermione. "Did you get our food parcels and everything?"**

**"Yeah, thanks a lot," said Harry. "They saved my life, those cakes."**

_'Thank god for that,'_ Molly thought._ 'He probably would've been nothing but skin and bones by the time we picked him up.'_

**"And have you heard from -?" Ron began, but at a look from Hermione he fell silent. **

**Harry knew Ron had been about to ask about Sirius. Ron and Hermione had been so deeply involved in helping Sirius escape from the Ministry of Magic that they were almost as concerned about Harry's godfather as he was. **

"Aww," said Sirius gratefully, a hand over his heart. "I am so touched. By why didn't he finish asking about me?"

"Because Ginny's there," Kingsley reminded him. "Up until last summer, she thought you were a murderer."

"Right," Sirius said, he had forgotten that.

**However, discussing him in front of Ginny was a bad idea. Nobody but themselves and Professor Dumbledore knew about how Sirius had escaped, or believed in his innocence.**

"Just my luck," Sirius said bluntly.

"Ok, now I really want to read about what happened," Bill said in amazement.

**"I think they've stopped arguing," said Hermione, to cover the awkward moment, because Ginny was looking curiously from Ron to Harry. "Shall we go down and help your mum with dinner?"**

**"Yeah, all right," said Ron. The four of them left Ron's room and went back downstairs to find Mrs. Weasley alone in the kitchen, looking extremely bad-tempered.**

Arthur nodded in remembrance. The fight that followed had to be one of the worst ones they had for a long time… at least it had been until Percy… he shook his head, trying hard not to remember that terrible day.

**"We're eating out in the garden," she said when they came in. "There's just not room for eleven people in here. Could you take the plates outside, girls? Bill and Charlie are setting up the tables. Knives and forks, please, you two," she said to Ron and Harry, pointing her wand a little more vigorously than she had intended at a pile of potatoes in the sink, which shot out of their skins so fast that they ricocheted off the walls and ceiling.**

"Something tells me that you were angry?" Tonks asked in mock curiosity.

"I think you know the answer to that, Tonks," Molly said wearily.

**"Oh for heaven's sake," she snapped, now directing her wand at a dustpan, which hopped off the sideboard and started skating across the floor, scooping up the potatoes. "Those two!" she burst out savagely, now pulling pots and pans out of a cupboard, and Harry knew she meant Fred and George. **

"Really?" Sirius asked sarcastically. "No, the twins? Why on earth would you be angry with them?"

"Would you be quiet?" Molly shot at him.

**"I don't know what's going to happen to them, I really don't. No ambition, unless you count making as much trouble as they possibly can…"**

"I thought that opening up a joke shop of their own is a great ambition," said Remus. "Not many people would set a goal like that and stick to it."

"Yes, but if it fails, they have nothing to fall back on," retorted Molly.

"Something tells me that they wouldn't fail when it comes to joke-making," Sirius confessed. "That's a good ambition in my opinion. Just think of it as… _bringing more joy to the world_."

**Mrs. Weasley slammed a large copper saucepan down on the kitchen table and began to wave her wand around inside it. A creamy sauce poured from the wand tip as she stirred.**

**"It's not as though they haven't got brains," she continued irritably, taking the saucepan over to the stove and lighting it with a further poke of her wand, "but they're wasting them, and unless they pull themselves together soon, they'll be in real trouble. I've had more owls from Hogwarts about them than the rest put together. If they carry on the way they're going, they'll end up in front of the Improper Use of Magic Office."**

"Do you really think it's that bad?" asked Tonks curiously. "I mean, I don't see why it would be a problem—it's bound to be a good success. Just so long as they don't lie about the products or if they're dangerous then I don't see why they would ever been in trouble!"

"I know, I know," Molly sighed. "I was just so stressed that day and their pranks were driving me to the edge of sanity."

**Mrs. Weasley jabbed her wand at the cutlery drawer, which shot open. Harry and Ron both jumped out of the way as several knives soared out of it, flew across the kitchen, and began chopping the potatoes, which had just been tipped back into the sink by the dustpan.**

**"I don't know where we went wrong with them," said Mrs. Weasley, putting down her wand and starting to pull out still more saucepans. **

_'Went wrong_?' Bill thought in surprise.

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong with them, they just don't want to do what you want them to," said Sirius angrily. "You can't choose their future for them, you know. If they want to open a joke shop then I say let them!"

"Look at it my point of view as well," she responded darkly. "For years, they hardly spent any time on their schoolwork. They spent endless hours coming up with jokes and pranks to pull on others, I've had more letters from school complaining about the trouble they've been in than the rest put together. They hardly ever took anything seriously and now they suddenly have this ambition to open up a joke shop of their own? How are they supposed to do it? We couldn't help support them! And they need gold to get started! What was I supposed to think?"

No one could say a word to that. Sirius, still grumpy, just chose to ignore her and went back to the book, hoping to drive that out of his thoughts.

**"It's been the same for years, one thing after another, and they won't listen to - OH NOT AGAIN!"**

**She had picked up her wand from the table, and it had emitted a loud squeak and turned into a giant rubber mouse. "One of their fake wands again!" she shouted. "How many times have I told them not to leave them lying around?"**

"I think that's probably why they leave them around in the first place," Sirius whispered to Remus who nodded.

"That is so cool," Tonks laughed. "Fake wands… Ton-Tongue Toffees… what won't they think of next?"

**She grabbed her real wand and turned around to find that the sauce on the stove was smoking.**

"If you don't pay attention, Molly," Kingsley said gently, "The the kitchen might burn down one day."

Molly blushed an even deeper shade of pink as the others laughed.

**"C'mon," Ron said hurriedly to Harry, seizing a handful of cutlery from the open drawer, "let's go and help Bill and Charlie."**

**They left Mrs. Weasley and headed out the back door into the yard.**

**They had only gone a few paces when Hermione's bandy-legged ginger cat, Crookshanks, came pelting out of the garden, bottle-brush tail held high in the air, chasing what looked like a muddy potato on legs. **

"Gnomes," Tonks laughed. "Ugly little buggers aren't they?"

**Harry recognized it instantly as a gnome. Barely ten inches high, its horny little feet pattered very fast as it sprinted across the yard and dived headlong into one of the Wellington boots that lay scattered around the door. Harry could hear the gnome giggling madly as Crookshanks inserted a paw into the boot, trying to reach it. Meanwhile, a very loud crashing noise was coming from the other side of the house. **

"Now what are you boys doing?" Molly asked Bill who shrugged and grinned.

"Nothing dangerous," he confessed lightly. "Just a little fun with my baby brother."

**The source of the commotion was revealed as they entered the garden, and saw that Bill and Charlie both had their wands out, and were making two battered old tables fly high above the lawn, smashing into each other, each attempting to knock the other's out of the air. **

Sirius roared with laughter and reached over to shake Bill's hand. "Brilliant! Table-fighting! Sounds like a real riot!"

Bill laughed loudly too as he shook Sirius's offered hand. Arthur chuckled and whispered foundly under his breath, "Kids…"

**Fred and George were cheering, Ginny was laughing, and Hermione was hovering near the hedge, apparently torn between amusement and anxiety. Bill's table caught Charlie's with a huge bang and knocked one of its legs off. There was a clatter from overhead, and they all looked up to see Percy's head poking out of a window on the second floor.**

"He is not going to like that," Kingsley spoke up warningly…

**"Will you keep it down?" he bellowed.**

"Or else what?" Sirius asked, rolling his eyes.

**"Sorry, Perce," said Bill, grinning. "How're the cauldron bottoms coming on?"**

"You know, I think that you are probably the only person that would be able to get away with saying something like that to Percy," Tonks said.

"You were always something of a role-model to all your siblings," Arthur told Bill softly. Bill smiled back, feeling strong warmth inside fill him up. Hearing those words meant a lot to him, but guilt over not being able to do more… not being able to see just how much his family needed him even after he left school. He promised himself to do more for them all.

**"Very badly," said Percy peevishly, and he slammed the window shut. Chuckling, Bill and Charlie directed the tables safely onto the grass, end to end, and then, with a flick of his wand, Bill reattached the table leg and conjured tablecloths from nowhere.**

**By seven o'clock, the two tables were groaning under dishes and dishes of Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking, and the nine Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione were settling themselves down to eat beneath a clear, deep-blue sky. To somebody who had been living on meals of increasingly stale cake all summer, this was paradise, and at first, Harry listened rather than talked as he helped himself to chicken and ham pie, boiled potatoes, and salad.**

Sirius groaned and grabbed his stomach in pain.

Remus laughed as he clapped Sirius on the shoulder. "We'll eat soon, Sirius."

Sirius grinned up at him, but he was longing to be able to eat again in the open air. Outside under that clear, deep-blue sky in the warmth and the light…

**At the far end of the table, Percy was telling his father all about his report on cauldron bottoms.**

"That must've been a fascinating conversation," Tonks groaned at Arthur.

"How could you stand it?" Sirius gasped.

"He really enjoyed his work," Arthur sighed miserably. "I thought it was dull myself, but it meant so much to Percy…" he was unable to go on, but no one needed him to. They understood just how painful it was for the entire Weasley family.

**"I've told Mr. Crouch that I'll have it ready by Tuesday," Percy was saying pompously. "That's a bit sooner than he expected it, but I like to keep on top of things. I think he'll be grateful I've done it in good time, I mean, it's extremely busy in our department just now, what with all the arrangements for the World Cup. We're just not getting the support we need from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ludo Bagman -"**

"Whatever happened to him?" Tonks asked.

"In hiding I think," Bill muttered bitterly. "He was in some serious debt to some goblins and they never did get their gold."

"Idiot," Mad-Eye muttered in disgust. "Never make a deal with a goblin."

**"I like Ludo," said Mr. Weasley mildly. "He was the one who got us such good tickets for the Cup. **

"How good of tickets are we talking?" Tonks asked enviously.

"The best," Arthur answered simply and she groaned in longing. "Right at the top box."

**I did him a bit of a favor: His brother, Otto, got into a spot of trouble - a lawnmower with unnatural powers - I smoothed the whole thing over."**

**"Oh Bagman's likable enough, of course," said Percy dismissively, "but how he ever got to be Head of Department… **

"I often wondered about that too," Mad-Eye muttered. How that idiot ever became in charge of a Department… that was something that plagued him for years.

**when I compare him to Mr. Crouch! I can't see Mr. Crouch losing a member of our department and not trying to find out what's happened to them. You realize Bertha Jorkins has been missing for over a month now? Went on holiday to Albania and never came back?"**

Everyone froze at the mention of Bertha, and all exchanged dark and worried looks. Yes, they all know who's had been hiding in Albania until last year. Even though Harry has forgotten that Bertha was the woman Voldemort killed in his dream, they haven't.

"And she never will come back," Mad-Eye muttered.

"And Bagman hadn't bothered to look for her?" Remus said quietly, furrowing his brow in resentment. "So no one had ever found out what happened to her?"

"As far as the Ministry is concerned," Kingsley said an uncharacteristically angry look on his face. "She is just another missing person."

"That's terrible!" Tonks cried out in fury. "To write off a young woman like that like she never existed or doesn't matter?! How do they sleep at night?"

"Her family must've been heart-broken from never finding out what happened," Molly said tearfully.

"Actually, I know that Dumbledore had spoken to them about what happened to her," Mad-Eye spoke up solemnly.

"He did?" Tonks asked surprised.

"And?" Bill asked slowly.

"They were _heart-broken_ at the news," he answered grimly. "But at least they know the truth now… they were forced to wait _months_ before the Ministry did anything at all. At least knowing the worse is better than not knowing at all."

"So they believe that Voldemort's back?" Arthur asked quietly.

"They didn't want to," Mad-Eye shrugged. "But they believed Dumbledore over the Ministry. They won't forget how they hadn't bothered looking for her for so long."

"And I don't blame them," Molly said angrily.

**"Yes, I was asking Ludo about that," said Mr. Weasley, frowning. "He says Bertha's gotten lost plenty of times before now - though must say, if it was someone in my department, I'd be worried…"**

"He should've been worried," Bill said folding his arms.

**"Oh Bertha's hopeless, all right," said Percy. **

"PERCY!" Molly shouted. While she knew that Percy didn't know that Bertha was dead, it was difficult to hear how he insulted that poor woman… especially since her son can't hear her now…

**"I hear she's been shunted from department to department for years, much more trouble than she's worth… but all the same, Bagman ought to be trying to find her. Mr. Crouch has been taking a personal interest, she worked in our department at one time, you know, and I think Mr. Crouch was quite fond of her - but Bagman just keeps laughing and saying she probably misread the map and ended up in Australia instead of Albania. However"**

Mad-Eye frowned. That seems like more than just concern about an employee. Is that a Percy interpretation or is this relationship more than just business? If it were a positive relationship, it would seem that Mr. Crouch would have had been on the case, with or without Bagman. So what's wrong with this picture?

"Doesn't sound like that gossip that we know," said Sirius to Remus. "We went to school with her, and the Bertha that I remember was anything but forgetful!"

"Well, her memory was permanently ruined thanks to Crouch," Remus reminded him.

"Right," Mad-Eye said gruffly. He had forgotten that Crouch had damaged Bertha's memory. Just one more thing to hate about him.

**- Percy heaved an impressive sigh and took a deep swig of elderflower wine - "we've got quite enough on our plates at the Department of International Magical Cooperation without trying to find members of other departments too. As you know, we've got another big event to organize right after the World Cup."**

Sirius's eye twitched horribly again at the reminder of what _other big event_ that Percy was talking about. That was, without a doubt, bound to be even more painful to hear than anything else they've read.

**Percy cleared his throat significantly and looked down toward the end of the table where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting. "You know the one I'm talking about, Father." He raised his voice slightly. "_The top-secret one_."**

"So he wants them to ask him what he's talking about. He could at least make it less obvious," muttered Tonks sarcastically. She looked up at Bill and whispered to him, "Has he always been like this?"

Bill sighed. "He mostly had been like this his whole life. Wanting to seem impressive and for everyone to look up to him and ask him questions so that he could answer. Although when he was much younger, before he went to Hogwarts, he was more laid back."

**Ron rolled his eyes and muttered to Harry and Hermione, "He's been trying to get us to ask what that event is ever since he started work. Probably an exhibition of thick-bottomed cauldrons."**

Arthur sighed. "If only that was it…"

**In the middle of the table, Mrs. Weasley was arguing with Bill about his earring, which seemed to be a recent acquisition.**

**"… with a horrible great fang on it. Really, Bill, what do they say at the bank?"**

"Mum," Bill scoffed. "We've been through this. Goblins don't care what you look like; all they care about is the gold you get them. So long as I bring back treasure, then I could go to work in my pajamas for all they care."

**"Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn how I dress as long as I bring home plenty of treasure," said Bill patiently.**

**"And your hair's getting silly, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, fingering her wand lovingly." I wish you'd let me give it a trim…"**

"I like it, Mum," Bill said.

"But it is getting a bit too long dear," Molly said fingering her wand again. "If it gets any longer, people will start to think that you're a girl."

"Oh, I think that it's you, Bill," Tonks poked fun at him.

"At least someone does," he said happily to her before looking back to his mother. "Besides, you don't bug Kingsley about _his_ earring."

Kingsley laughed and began to absentmindedly play with his earring.

"Well, I'm not his mother," Molly said with a nod towards Kingsley who only chuckled more. "It's not like I can tell him what to do."

Sirius snorted again and went on:

**"I like it," said Ginny, who was sitting beside Bill. "You're so old-fashioned, Mum. Anyway, it's nowhere near as long as Professor Dumbledore's…" **

"I don't think anyone's hair can be as long Dumbledore's," Sirius laughed. That was when they all heard a loud snort coming from somewhere. Blinking in surprise, they looked around him.

"What was that?" Molly asked worriedly.

Mad-Eye's eye swirled around and settled on the closed door for a moment and he said, "No one there…"

"Must be one of the portraits," Sirius waved his hand dismissively.

Mad-Eye didn't answer, he just said, "Just keep going. I'm bored with this chapter already."

Most still looked concerned, but after several more minutes, and nothing happened, Sirius went back to reading.

**Next to Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, and Charlie were all talking spiritedly about the World Cup.**

"Now this is more like it," said Sirius excitedly. "This is my kind of conversation! Something interesting!"

**"It's got to be Ireland," said Charlie thickly, through a mouthful of potato. "They flattened Peru in the semifinals."**

**"Bulgaria has got Viktor Krum, though," said Fred.**

**"Krum's one decent player, Ireland has got seven," said Charlie shortly. "I wish England had got through. That was embarrassing, that was."**

"What happened?" Sirius asked quickly.

"Why ask us?" Mad-Eye grunted. "_You_ have the book." That, and the fact that Mad-Eye didn't bother to much with Quidditch anyway.

**"What happened?" said Harry eagerly, regretting more than ever his isolation from the wizarding world when he was stuck on Privet Drive.**

**"Went down to Transylvania, three hundred and ninety to ten," said Charlie gloomily. **

Silence for a brief minute. Sirius stared opened mouth at the words before he repeated to himself in a loud whisper, "THREE HUNDRED AND NINETY TO TEN? What happened? Did their Keeper fall asleep or something?"

"Are you kidding me?" Tonks also asked in disbelief. "How is it possible that England could be THAT bad?"

"Makes me ashamed to be English," Sirius said, shaking his head in disappointment at the England team.

**"Shocking performance. And Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland was slaughtered by Luxembourg."**

**Harry had been on the Gryffindor House Quidditch team ever since his first year at ****Hogwarts and owned one of the best racing brooms in the world, a Firebolt. **

Remus laughed, "I cannot say that I am surprised that you would buy a kid such an extravagant gift!"

Sirius just grinned and said, "Well, it was the least I could do. I've missed out on twelve years of my godson's life…"

He felt another pang of guilt rack his body, "And besides, his old broom had been destroyed… … I just wanted to do something special."

"Well, you sure don't disappoint," Remus nodded.

**Flying came more naturally to Harry than anything else in the magical world, and he played in the position of Seeker on the Gryffindor House team.**

"And he's bloody brilliant at it too," Sirius said proudly.

**Mr. Weasley conjured up candles to light the darkening garden before they had their homemade strawberry ice cream, and by the time they had finished, moths were fluttering low over the table, and the warm air was perfumed with the smells of grass and honeysuckle. **

"That sounds heavenly!" Tonks sighed and Sirius let out a groan of longing. What he wouldn't give for a chance to escape this place… being trapped here was like a constant stomachache…

**Harry was feeling extremely well fed and at peace with the world as he watched several gnomes sprinting through the rosebushes, laughing madly and closely pursued by Crookshanks.**

**Ron looked carefully up the table to check that the rest of the family were all busy talking, then he said very quietly to Harry, "So - have you heard from Sirius lately?"**

"Well, it's nice to know they _do_ care what happens to me," Sirius smiled.

**Hermione looked around, listening closely.**

_'Smart move, Granger. Make sure no one is listening,'_ Mad-Eye thought to himself.

**"Yeah," said Harry softly, "twice. He sounds okay. I wrote to him yesterday. He might write back while I'm here."**

**He suddenly remembered the reason he had written to Sirius, and for a moment was on the verge of telling Ron and Hermione about his scar hurting again, and about the dream that had awoken him… but he really didn't want to worry them just now, not when he himself was feeling so happy and peaceful.**

"Well, at least he's enjoying himself for a change," Sirius said smiling. It truly was good to hear that his godson having fun and able to act like a normal kid for a change. If only he could give Harry more chances to do so…

**"Look at the time," Mrs. Weasley said suddenly, checking her wristwatch. "You really should be in bed, the whole lot of you you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup. Harry, if you leave your school list out, I'll get your things for you tomorrow in Diagon Alley. I'm getting everyone else's. There might not be time after the World Cup, the match ****went on for five days last time."**

"That sounds like it would've been one heck of a good time!" Sirius cried out eagerly. "Oh, I _wish_ that I could've gone to that!" though he felt a small pang in his chest, because he should have been the one to have taken Harry to his first ever professional game.

**"Wow - hope it does this time!" said Harry enthusiastically.**

**"Well, I certainly don't," said Percy sanctimoniously. "I shudder to think what the state of ****my in-tray would be if I was away from work for five days."**

"What a surprise," muttered Sirius mockingly, but quietly.

"What is with him? Is he afraid that he'll have fun for once?" asked Tonks scathingly in an undertone so that the Weasleys didn't hear her.

**"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce?" said Fred.**

**"That was a sample of fertilizer from Norway!" said Percy, going very red in the face. "It was nothing personal!"**

"Sure it was," said Sirius and Remus in unison before looking at each other in surprise.

"Guess some things won't ever change," Sirius grinned at his old friend.

"Well, if it was from who I think it was…" Remus began just as Sirius read out with his bark of a laugh.

**"It was," Fred whispered to Harry as they got up from the table. "We sent it."**

They all burst out laughing.

"Why would they do that?" asked Molly shaking her head.

"Who cares?!" said Sirius, roaring with laughter again. "It's hilarious! Some people just need to learn to get a sense of humor. Well, that's the end of this chapter." And he flung the book back onto the table.

"Good," Mad-Eye grunted and he stood up almost at once. "That's the end for today. And as for you…" he pointed a finger at Bill. "Catch up. Once you have, call me back when something interesting happens. And no sooner!"

He limped through the doorway without looking back.

"Such a nice, well-mannered guy," Tonks said affectionately at Mad-Eye's departure and everyone laughed loudly at that.

"I wouldn't mind a chance to stop reading for awhile also," Remus spoke up grimly—and for some reason—he suddenly looked exhausted. But the only people who noticed were Sirius… and Tonks.

"Is something wrong, Remus?" Tonks asked him worriedly. But if Remus heard her, he didn't answer as he miserably got to his feet and left the room. He headed upstairs, while everyone else went down to the kitchen for some lunch before they would leave.

"Remus?" Tonks called after him, but Sirius put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "The full moon is tomorrow night," he explained quietly so that not even their friendly resident werewolf could hear them. "He usually spends the day resting. But this is a really good chance to talk to him later if you want."

Tonks looked at him in surprise, but she smiled in understanding. She decided that she would wait until everyone else left before she would talk to him.

**(That it! Hope you liked this next chapter. Oh, and tonight is my last night for Spring Break. I'm going back to school tomorrow… (groans) Oh, and I would greatly appreciate it if you would all stop writing to me about how terrible Molly is. I happen to like Molly, and I am not happy about getting some of your rude reviews about her. You have your own opinions about her… and I respect that. But _please_ don't tell me that I should just write and kill her off—as I know that some of you have been asking me for. I'm just trying to write things from her point of view as well as everyone else's. well, this might be the last chapter for while… I'll have the next one up as soon as I can. Until then, please enjoy, and thank you.)**


	8. Bittersweet Kiss

**(Once again, I own nothing! Copyright is J.K. Rowlings!)**

**Chapter 6: Bittersweet Kiss**

Bill sat in an uncomfortable silence with everyone else during lunch—he hardly said a word as he poked his fork around his plate of food. Arthur gave him a concerned look, before sharing an anxious one with Molly, who was looking uneasy. If just hearing how badly their clothes were in this book, neither of them was looking forward to when he went and read the second book…

Half-way through their meal, Arthur asked Sirius for the first book and promised to bring it back once they were done with it. Before he left, Mad-Eye made it clear that they shouldn't take out too many of the books at once. It would be too much of a risk that one would get lost or stolen.

Sirius had fished the first book—that he hadn't looked at since he locked it in the trunk—and he handed it to Arthur, and promised that he would wait until they were done and would join them.

"I want to stop while everything seems to be going good for a little longer," he confessed. "I'm in no hurry to get to the bad stuff."

"I'll bring it back as soon as I'm done," Bill promised him as he stared at the cover. "And I promise that I won't show anyone else…"

"Yeah, well. Good," Sirius finished lamely as he took his usual seat at the table. "It's bad enough that so many people know that these books exist. I'm worried at how Harry will feel when he finds out."

"You gonna tell him?" Bill asked as he tucked the book inside his bag and his parents got their cloaks from the hallway.

Sirius looked uncomfortable as he poured himself some Firewhiskey. "Well, we're gonna have to…" but he sounded like he rather be doing anything else than confess to his godson about what they were up to.

"But we're gonna have to wait until I see him again," Sirius said sounding slightly more positive at that. "Which will be this summer… I'm making sure that he comes straight here. He's not going to the Dursleys ever again. You might want to do yourself a favor and just skip the first few chapters of that book though."

"Is it that bad?" Bill asked as he looked down at his bag apprehensively.

"Just listening to it made me want to kill all three of those Dursleys," he hissed furiously. "They aren't fit to look after children."

Bill gulped at the coldness in Sirius's voice. "Well," he said trying to sound more upbeat, "It's already April. You'll see him in about three months?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, looking a little more hopeful. He then ran his hand through his hair tiredly and sighed before he left to take a long bath.

The three Weasleys left after that, silently apperating directly to the Burrow. They all landed in the backyard—the warm sun was slowly starting to sink in the west—but the day seemed usually cold. Bill didn't look at his parents as he led the way back to the house.

Molly and Arthur both gave each other worried looks before they too followed him; wondering what they were going to say. They had expected to see Bill sitting in the kitchen waiting for them, but it was empty aside from Errol sleeping on his perch. When they looked into the den, Bill was sitting on the couch near the empty fireplace and had already pulled out the book and was staring at it.

Arthur gave Molly one last look and she nodded encouragingly. He stepped forward, "Bill?" he began.

Bill didn't look up; he didn't react at all which caused them only to worry more.

"Bill?" Arthur began again as he walked over to where his oldest son sat. He took the couch directly opposite of him. "We've been through this before. You have nothing to feel guilty about."

Bill finally looked up at his parents, his eyes looking a little red. He didn't know what to think. He had a good paying job working at Gringotts… he was making more than enough money for himself… why didn't he ever think more about his parents and everyone else? Dad must've guessed what he was thinking because he said, "Don't you worry yourself over anything. It's not your job to take care of us."

"But…" Bill began, but his father just raised his eyebrows and gave him a kind smile that didn't quite get rid of the sadness in his eyes. Bill couldn't help but feel guilty, but he nodded and fell silent. He didn't care what his father was going to tell him. He was making more money than he ever dreamt of. He should've been thinking about sending at least a few extra galleons home once in awhile. When he first started school himself, they had money to buy things… but of course by that time, he was the only one who needed those expensive supplies.

"I make more than enough for myself! I should've thought to have at least sent a few coins to you guys once in awhile so that you could buy some school supplies for the others. I'm the eldest! It's my job to help look after my little brothers and sister. And what have I been doing? In Egypt living out the job of my dreams while you were all here struggling to get by!"

"You have earned every knut you've made son," Arthur said proudly. "We're your parents. You shouldn't have to be the one to look after us. It's our job to take care of all of you. And you've always been there helping us every step of the way."

"But it wasn't enough!" Bill came close to shouting and had stood up so that he was looking his father in the face. "I should've thought more about what you guys were going through! But I never got a letter asking for help… so I never…!"

"Because we have no right to take your hard-earned money, son," Arthur said as Molly ran forward to hug her eldest. "It's only money…"

"Money that should've been used for some new robes and books for the others!" Bill said firmly. "I remember that Ron had to get stuck with Charlie's old wand because we couldn't afford a new one for him at the time!"

"We've fallen on some hard times," Arthur said firmly as he gripped his shoulder tightly. "And to be honest, I _did _think of writing to you about some money… but when I told your siblings that idea they refused."

Bill looked astonished and stared at him.

"This is more than a matter of pride, William," Arthur said, using Bills full name. "Your sister and brothers didn't want to have to ask for you for help; though I know that it was tempting for some of them. They all look up to you and admire you… even those who have only met you can't help but admire you. You've read about your first introduction in the book…?"

Bill blushed, trying not to look too pleased with himself.

"You are something unique, Bill," Arthur said as Molly finally let go of him. "Someone who I am proud to call my son… just as I am proud of all my children. Even if some of us… don't feel the same way…"

Bill knew that he was talking about Percy and he felt his heart hurt at how their family was torn apart at the moment.

Bill sighed softly as he sat back down. "I know that, Dad. And I just… can't stand it. I know I haven't been there for you guys. I can't help but feel responsible."

Arthur sat down beside his son and grasped his shoulder again. "Bill, we've both made mistakes in the past, and no doubt we'll continue to do so, but we cannot let them take over our lives. We learn from them and move on."

Bill nodded grimly as Molly looked relieved.

"Now," he said, "Why don't we start reading again? The sooner we get done here, the sooner we can return and finish book four. I don't know about you both, but I'll feel better once we're done."

Bill nodded as he grabbed the book and opened it, "**Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived…**"

_*Meanwhile at Grimmauld Place*_

After the Weasleys and Kingsley had left, Tonks was waiting downstairs, wondering when she should go up and talk to Remus. Just thinking about him caused her to sigh in confusion. What was she supposed to do?

If she had to be honest with herself, she had to admit that she had fancied him for a while—for a long time—they first met when she had only been a small child… but out of all the Marauders, he was her favorite because he was always so nice to her. But after Sirius was sent to Azkaban, they lost contact with each other. She hadn't seen him again until Mad-Eye first brought her here to join the Order. It had been so good to see him again… and her feelings had started off with a small crush.

Remus Lupin, one of Sirius's infamous Marauder friends who seemed almost too quiet to be one. Still, she found him to be nothing but a gentleman, much quieter and mature than her cousin or anyone else she ever met. She liked how distinguished he was though from all of his friends, and found herself wanting to get to know more about him. And the more she learnt, the more she got to know him, the more she liked.

The question was… how was she supposed to get through to him? She knew that there was no way that he would ever make the first move. Right, so it was up to her. She wanted him to look at her… _really_ look at her.

"Glad to see that you're still here," said a voice. She jumped and looked up to see Sirius coming back into the kitchen, a towel over his shoulder—his hair still wet from the bath.

"Why wouldn't I still be here?" she asked him coolly. "What? You tired of having me here?"

"Oh, I don't know," Sirius answered lightly as he took the seat next to her. "Maybe you'll be able to talk to our lonely resident werewolf?"

Her eyebrows, which became thick and bushy, rose and asked, "Lonely?"

Sirius shrugged. "I've known him since our first day at school. And in all that time, he never once had a relationship. He's almost forty years old, he's single, living with a convicted murderer in a hellish house… and to top it all off; he's considered a monster by most of the wizard population. Call me crazy, but I think that might cause someone to be lonely."

"We're here for him now though," she said stubbornly.

Sirius shook his head. "You know what I mean…" Sirius let out a bark of laugher. "Really, I want you two to get together… it would be good for you both."

"You really think so?" she asked hopefully.

"Hey, you two are almost direct opposites!" Sirius said as he dried his hair. "Come on, you two were made for each other. But I'm here to warn you that he's been set on being a bachelor since we were kids. Good luck."

"Don't worry; I've got… a plan…" she hesitated to tell him, but she had to tell him something. "I just… need to figure out when the best time to talk to him is?"

"Well, if you want to try now, I think that it would be a good time. He's always so much more—uncomplicated when the full moon comes up. He's in his room. It's the one down the hall from mine," he said with a smirk and left her alone in the kitchen.

Tonks waited another ten minutes, mustering up her courage to try and talk to him. Then, with determination, she got up from the table and headed straight for the hallway. Going much slower than she would normally, being careful not to trip over anything as she headed up to Remus's door.

She stood there in front of the door for about a minute before she took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in," croaked out Remus's hoarse voice. She pushed open the door to see that he was sitting on a comfortable-looking single-person couch, with a dusty old book propped up in front of his face.

By the fading light coming in from his window, Tonks could almost see a new side to him. Despite his years, he looked younger and more like himself. Not so world-weary or sad-looking that she had gotten so used to. And whatever he says to the contrary, he was more handsome here and nothing could have stopped her heart from stirring as she pushed back some strands of hair away from her face.

"Hey, Remus," she said as she came in.

_*Remus POV*_

Remus had run off as soon as he got the chance. He had been afraid to spend too much time alone with Tonks… afraid of another conflict with her.

He grabbed some random book from the shelf and sat down on the dusty couch, hoping to get out of his own head—to forget. He was struggling within himself to decide what to do. He was afraid, he wasn't ashamed to admit that much. But not just of what his condition might mean down the road, but how it might hurt Tonks if he ever lost control. He was afraid to feel this way again. Afraid to know what pleasure felt like, what joy felt like… he was afraid to be happy because he knew he was sure to lose that happiness like every other happiness he ever had?

He closed his eyes, ran a hand through his hair in exhaustion. He knew that he couldn't avoid Tonks forever and would have to talk to her. But truthfully, he didn't have the slightest idea what to say to her. He wanted to be with her so badly. But he couldn't. If she ever got hurt because of him, then he'd never be able to live with it. What if he ever forgot to take the potion someday? What if he made a mistake? This was just something he had to bow out from.

He groaned as he put his book down. He was just considering going to check if Sirius had finished with his bath so that he could take on when a knock sounded on his door. He swallowed and knew at once it had to be her. He tried to politely tell her to go away, but it came out completely wrong.

"Come in," he said softly.

Tonks's head stuck her head in. Her face was how it normally looked, her hair back to its bright pink as she smiled at him. He gulped.

"Hey, Remus," she said as she came in.

"Hello," he said, his voice feeling strangled. He glanced quickly at the curtains on the window, randomly thinking that if he could set them on fire and could make a dramatic escape in the confusion.

"I was just-" she began nervously as she shut the door behind her and walked to stand in front of him. "You just left so suddenly and didn't bother coming to lunch that I…"

"Tonks…" he cut in. "I-I'm sorry. It's just that… well, the full moon is tomorrow, and I usually just rest for most of the day. It's a lot less harder on me when… you know…?"

"I know," she answered lamely as she walked over and sat next to him on the couch.

"Tonks?" he asked, feeling his hands sweating. "Dora…"

"If it were anyone else, other than my parents, I would've cursed them for calling me that," Tonks said cheerfully, trying to make a joke.

"Dora, you know we… we can't be together," Remus went on as if he hadn't heard her.

"And why not?" she asked politely, but seemed to be readying herself for a fight.

"Dora, you don't know what it's like for me," Remus stated at last. "I've shut that part of myself out for so long that I'm just… numb. And over the years I just convinced myself that I was just meant to be alone. That I wasn't supposed to ever feel this way…"

"What way?"

"Happy," moaned Remus miserably. "Happy and whole…"

Tonks fidgeted in her seat. "So you… you—you really haven't—with anyone—else?"

"Being cursed isn't what most girls look for in a man," said Remus firmly, looking at her. "Well… it's wouldn't be right for me to try and ruin someone else's life…"

She laughed bitterly, "You sound like you're convinced that you deserve this."

"Dora," said Remus exasperated. "My curse… me being a werewolf… there is no cure! It's a part of me! No matter how much I wish for it—long for it—I can't change it. You heard about the monster that full moon from the last book! I almost killed three innocent children that night! When I transform I'm not myself anymore. I'm unable to hold back… I'm dangerous."

"You make it sound like I don't already know," Tonks spoke up. "I know that you have no control those nights. But the thing that went after everyone that night wasn't you. It was the wolf. It's not that creature that I care so much for, it's the one who's trapped in that form," said Tonks softly. "Dammit, Remus. What is it going to take for me to get through to you? I like you because of who you are."

"Please, don't say that," he begged, this was only making his heart break.

"What are you afraid of?" Tonks asked getting angry. "That you might be happy for five minutes? I don't care what you become once a month. I think you're wonderful no matter what, I want to be with you… at least to give it a chance. What is wrong with that? I'm not a silly little schoolgirl who doesn't know what she wants. I'm an adult. I know what I want, and I want to be with you."

"Why do you want me?" he asked desperately.

"It's not about your condition!" said Tonks standing up and walking to the door. "I like you for you! You're kind, patient, smart, and just a wonderful man. I don't care if you're a werewolf! I'm an Auror. I can take care of myself! You can't protect me from everything!"

"I CAN protect you from me!" said Remus, getting up as well. "Even though it's hurting me, I don't stand the thought that I might cause you pain."

She stared at him for a moment, her eyes stricken and furious.

Tonks snorted out a laugh. "Sounds to me like you were trying to save face. That's what it comes to, does it?" she asked slowly. "It's all about you… you and your condition. You and your desperate need to push people away. Bugger them and how they might feel. So long as you're miserable nothing else matters!"

"That's totally unfair!" Remus retorted.

"No, you just think you know everything," Tonks snapped. "You stand there and tell me you're doing this because it's _'what's best for me.' _But the truth is that you're too afraid to be with me. It's not about protecting me; it's about protecting you from you isn't it? You're too scared of what might happen, or what you might feel. But I'm standing here and I'm not afraid of what you are. Why are you afraid of me?"

"Please, Tonks, you don't understand what this is for me-"

"No, I _do_ understand, Remus," said Tonks, sounding close to tears. "I understand that you can't handle the idea that someone might care about you the way I do. I understand that you've taught yourself for some sick reason that you don't deserve to be happy. If you ask me you are such a…"

But she never had a chance to finish speaking. For at that moment, not knowing why he did it, he crossed over to her and before he could stop himself, he leaned down and his lips had met hers in a bittersweet, desperate kiss.

_*Tonks POV*_

Tonks's brain had hardly had time to process what he was doing before his lips were pressed onto hers, his arms folded around her body so closely it was hard to say whether he ever intended to let go.

This couldn't be happening—it was too amazing, too incredible, too wonderful… every sensation was vivid and powerful: she was painfully aware of her heart hammering against her ribcage, and every point their bodies touched seemed to blister and burn…

Remus cupped her face in his large hands, it began as a desperate press on hers, before it became softer—gentler… and then they were kissing properly, but slowly.

It was her first kiss, she felt childish to admit that. She didn't tell Remus that little fact because she knew that he would only try to push her even farther away. This kiss… it felt… it made her feel… whole…

Like she had been waiting all her life just for this moment. This felt like she was complete—that she had been out on a long and hard journey and that she was now, finally, coming home. And from how he was kissing back, she could tell that he loved this as much as she did.

She thought that he tasted of sweet chocolate and strong tea… her eyes closed as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and pulled him closer. She was his; he was finally letting himself give in, to live. This was _her _kiss, _his_ kiss… their _first_ kiss. This one moment was worth all the waiting…

Time hung suspended for just the two of them. In fact, she wouldn't have been surprised if every clock on earth had stopped ticking for them. If you asked her how long they remained this way, she wouldn't have been able to tell you. It was impossible to say how long it lasted, but slowly, very slowly, they broke apart—gasping for air. Tonks opened her eyes and half expected to find herself alone, having imagined the whole thing. But the werewolf's face was inches from her own.

Her eyes locked with his for what seemed like hours yet were only seconds.

Remus stared at her, now completely at a loss for words. Tonks wanted him to throw caution to the winds and kiss her again, but judging from his own stunned expression that wasn't going to happen. She sighed as she knew what had to be done. She stood on her toes and pressed her lips against his for just another brief second before she turned her back on him.

"Tonks?" he whispered. "I… I'm sorry… I—I don't know what came over me."

"Don't say anything," she said, her hands behind her back, not looking at him. "You'll just ruin the moment. As much as I would love for you to say 'Yes, let's get together' or something like that… I know that you aren't ready for that yet. But… for now, that was enough." Both of their faces blushed crimson at the thought. "So… until you are…" she finished in a whimsical voice. "I think I can wait it out."

She then looked back at him with a beaming smile.

"I really do like you, Remus," she said as she walked to the door, for once not stumbling on her own feet. "And because of that, I'm not going to give up. And while I don't know for sure what you think… I definitely felt more than just a spark. Good night," she said firmly. She opened the door, walked through it, and closed it firmly behind her… but she was smiling… her heart feeling like it was going to explode with happiness.

_*Two days later*_

Remus remained locked in his room for the next couple of days. Every second he seemed to be thinking about that kiss. He admitted that he had never kissed a girl before… when he was young, he had long since decided that he could never be in a relationship. It had been something that he had been able to uphold until now. But that kiss…

He screamed into his pillow. He was recovering from the full moon last night… he felt tired and weak… but he was unable to get any sleep.

He had been trying so hard to control himself… kept telling himself that he wasn't good enough for her. But that kiss… for the first time in his life, he felt whole again. He licked his lips—he could still feel her warm lips on his own. She tasted warm and sweet… like bubble-gum and hot chocolate mixed together.

The feeling of coming home to a place where he knew that he belonged in… how could something so wrong feel so right?

At that moment, he heard a knock at the door, and before he could say 'go away' Sirius came bounding in. "Well, well, well," he grinned as he gazed at him lying in bed. He strolled over and sat next to him. "What happened here?"

"You know what happened, Sirius," he groaned. Sirius had come in here last night and stayed with him while he transformed. Like the old days… "You were here yesterday and…"

"Not that!" Sirius said as he waved his hand at the news that Remus had been a wolf less than a few hours ago. "Why is Tonks looking so happy?"

Remus blushed and hid his face in his pillow again.

"What happened?" Sirius asked eagerly. "She's downstairs. She left right after she came to talk to you the other day and only got back now! But boy, did she look happy…"

"Nothing happened!" Remus snapped. He fought to keep his temper down, but apparently it backfired, because his face started turning red.

"Well, what do you know?" Sirius asked, sounding delighted. "You're actually blushing!"

"I am NOT blushing!" Remus said hotly as he tried to force himself to sit up.

"Then why is your face so red?"

"I'm trying to stop myself from killing you!" he said loudly.

"Now now," Sirius grinned and waved his hand at him. "Even I know that you're weaker than a newborn after a full moon. But tell me, what did you two talk about?"

"What happened the other night shouldn't matter to you!" Remus said coldly.

"AHA! So something did happen?" Sirius grinned triumphantly. "It's about time."

Knowing that Sirius wasn't going to let this go, Remus finally yelled out, "It was a kiss alright?! I don't know what made me do it… I wasn't thinking! I just walked right up to her and kissed her ok?"

"What?" Sirius asked, clearly disappointed. "You mean to tell me that you only kissed? That's a disappointment. Oh well, at least it's a start…"

"What did you think happened?" Remus demanded. "No, never mind. I rather not know what was going through your head."

They were both quiet for a moment. "Sooo…" Sirius began again. "Was it nice?"

Remus responded by throwing his pillow at him, but his arm was so weak that it hit Sirius almost lazily before it fell with a plop to the floor. "I'm just asking if you liked it," Sirius laughed again happily.

"I'm not even going to answer that," Remus said firmly.

Sirius's grin only got bigger. "Looks like you enjoyed it a lot."

"Go!" Remus finally yelled. "You're the last person that I need to talk to about dating advice."

"Alright!" he said holding up his hands in surrender, but was still smirking. "I'm just trying to make sure that my friend was actually feeling something for once."

He then left, leaving Remus alone, but Remus could hear that he was roaring with laughter in the hallway.

_*A few more days later*_

After several more days… the three Weasleys appeared about a week later. The only times that Bill had showed up was to pick up the next book. It had only taken him a day and a half to read the Sorcerer's Stone—and when he returned for the next one, he looked very shaken…

But that was still better than when he finished the second one. It had taken him almost two days for him to complete that one. When he came to return it, he was so white that Remus thought for sure that he was going to faint. He knew that it wouldn't have been easy for him to read about his little sister in danger like that.

"I can't believe he risk his life like that!" Bill said in awe that day when he came for the third book. "Most people would be running scared if they were standing in front of a teenage murderer. And that was besides the fact that there was a Basilisk! When I see Harry, remind me to shake his hand because he is lucky! Next time I'm playing cards, I'm definitely taking him…"

It was the weekend when he had returned with the third book. And when he did, he looked very green—as if fighting hard not to be sick. Bill was staring at Sirius as if he never saw him before…

"You broke my little brother's leg?" he asked slowly.

Sirius flinched horribly at the reminder. "You all just love bringing that up!"

"And you escaped on the back of a stolen Hippogriff?" he went on in a rant that sounded more like his mother than himself. "Our family rat was the Death Eater who betrayed Harry's parents all these years? My baby sister was almost killed in her first year?! How much more don't I know?!"

"That's how I feel," Sirius nodded in understanding. "Sometimes I feel like I would love nothing more than to go to that school, barge in, grab Harry and drag him home by the ear so that I can keep him in my sights at all time."

"How?" Bill repeated disbelievingly, as if he hadn't been listening. "How had he…" he shook his head, unable to finish. It was remarkable… this one boy had accomplished the impossible several times but he never once mentioned it. It was unbelievable and somehow so endearing. Remus couldn't help but chuckle at Bill's disbelief before his smile was wiped off his face.

Tonks had just arrived, her hair red and spiky today, and was smiling at them all. She threw a glowing smile at Remus, who turned red and looked away; which caused Sirius to smirk and nudged him in the ribs. "Not bad, Moony."

"Oh, shut up," he hissed back as Arthur talked to Tonks, telling her that they were ready to finish the fourth book. And so, they contacted Kingsley and Mad-Eye before heading upstairs. About fifteen minutes later, they both showed up.

Apparently they were finishing talking about an interesting new theory of Mad-Eye's.

"Dudley Dursley is a Death Eater who has been placed at Privet Drive to keep tabs on Harry?" Sirius snorted with laughter when. "Come on. That idiot a Death Eater? He's a Muggle! Voldemort hates Muggles! How on earth can you expect to support that theory?"

"Simple!" Mad-Eye said with a yawn. "I have a whole pocketful of evidence to support it! First of all, how do we identify Death Eaters?"

"They're all dim-witted and heartless?" Tonks piped up.

"Well, yes, but also by the Dark Mark on the forearm. We all know the Dark Mark can be cast into the sky as a sign or beacon. Several clues tie Dudley to that mark. In the first book, we have the reptile house… The book clearly states and I quote, _'Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the whole place.' _Snakes are the symbol of Slytherin and form a significant part of the Dark Mark. Interesting that Dudley is so interested in large, dangerous snakes. And the most telling connection to the Dark Marks is when he eats the ton tongue toffees. _'His tongue lolled like a great, slimy python.' _A snake coming out of a mouth—remind you of anything?"

They all stared at him—half exasperated, half amused…

"Next, look at the Death eater behavior clues. Dudley has a penchant for violence from explosive video games to bullying. How many times has he beaten up Potter? He also was the first to notice that Potter had a letter from Hogwarts, and he alerts his father. Interesting that Dudley is the first to interfere with Potter going to school. He knocks down Figg on his new racing bike even though he hated exercise. He goes out of his way to attack her, and we know that Figg is watching over Potter. Is it a coincidence that Dudley runs over Potter's only guardian in the neighborhood?"

"So in other words he's the Muggle verison of a Death Eater," Sirius summed up for him, his anger at Dudley growing. He couldn't stand the thought of Harry being anywhere near someone like that.

"You really are mad, Mad-Eye," Tonks said in awe. "But I feel the need to point out that even though those are all good points, I really doubt that Voldemort would ever have a Muggle for a servant."

"Well, even if it's not true," Kingsley said cheerfully. "It's good to know that you see things that no one else does."

"I may be retired, but I'm not dead," Mad-Eye said stubbornly. He looked over at Bill and barked, "Did you finish yet?"

Bill nodded at once. "Finished the third book last night."

"Good," Mad-Eye answered as he pulled out his flask again. "Maybe now we don't have to explain everything every few seconds."

"Ok, Alastor," Kingsley said gently as he picked up the forth book and held it out. "So, who wants to read now?"

"I didn't get to last time," Molly said quickly. And so he handed the book over to her. She took it and opened it up to the next chapter to see the picture of a moldy looking boot amongst some grass, and against a star-filled sky. She was confused for a moment until she read the chapter name. "**Chapter 6: The Portkey**."

**(I don't know about you, but I was getting tired of Tonks and Remus pussyfooting around each other. Now that Tonks had a taste of it… she was afraid that she would lose him, so she decided to back off for now, but made it clear that she wasn't going anywhere. Now we move back to the story! Hope you all liked it. I'd love to know what you all think of!) **


	9. The Portkey

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 7: The Portkey**

"I didn't get to last time," Molly said quickly. And so he handed the book over to her. She took it and opened it up to the next chapter to see the picture of a moldy looking boot amongst some grass, and against a star-filled sky. She was confused for a moment until she read the chapter name. "**Chapter 6: The Portkey**."

"That's it?" Tonks asked derisively. "_The Portkey_? What's so special about a Portkey? I expected something a little more exciting than that."

"That's how we got to the Cup," Arthur explained, feeling as if he was digging up a part of his past life as he remembered that day. "It must be talking about our arrival to the grounds."

Sirius grinned excitedly and was rubbing his hands together. "I've been looking forward to hearing about this all week! Ahhh, I just can't wait for the good stuff!"

"I hate Portkeys," Mad-Eye grunted to himself.

"You hate everything," Tonks said, rolling her now deep, brown eyes at him. "Stop being so negative all the time, Mad-Eye. Lighten up for a change!"

**Harry felt as though he had barely lain down to sleep in Ron's room when he was being shaken awake by Mrs. Weasley.**

**"Time to go, Harry, dear," she whispered, moving away to wake Ron.**

"So why bother whispering?" asked Bill his mother in amusement. "I mean, if you were just going to wake the others up…?"

"I didn't want to wake the ghoul," she muttered shuddering. "You know how he gets when _we_ wake _him_ up."

Bill thought that over. "Fair point. He would've woken the entire house up. Wouldn't have enjoyed that. Thanks…"

**Harry felt around for his glasses, put them on, and sat up. It was still dark outside. **

"That's too early," Sirius moaned but then he brightened up, "But hey, it's for a good cause. What's a few hours without sleep when you're going to the WORLD CUP?!"

Arthur leaned his head towards Kingsley's and whispered, as he gazed at Sirius's ecstatic face, "I think we found his happy place."

Kingsley chuckled but whispered seriously, "Try not to ruin it. This is good for him—better than drinking himself drunk every night. Remus told me that he's barely touched Firewhiskey all week because he was looking forward to hearing about the World Cup. It's doing him a world of good and I don't want to see that end before it has to. If there's one thing we can count on, these books don't remain happy and cheerful for long."

Arthur looked back towards Sirius's beaming face and nodded in silent agreement. "That's true… I guess we should enjoy it while it lasts." And then the memory of seeing the Dark Mark in the sky that very night and shivered. "Something tells me that it won't take long at all," he whispered back.

**Ron muttered indistinctly as his mother roused him. At the foot of Harry's mattress he saw two large, disheveled shapes emerging from tangles of blankets.**

**"'S' time already?" said Fred groggily.**

"Sounds like it's really early," Tonks exclaimed. "What time did you get up?"

"Almost 5," Arthur answered brightly.

"Ahhhh," Sirius groaned. "That sounds terrible! I can't imagine that. Don't know why you couldn't take them by side-along Apparation. Would've been easier."

"But more dangerous," Arthur reminded him. "There have been serious problems about side-along Apparation… the younger the person is the harder it is on them. I didn't want to risk anything happening to one of them. Besides, the Portkey wasn't too far away."

Everyone nodded at that logic, but Mad-Eye wasn't listening. He was thinking about the twins and how odd it was where they were sleeping…

_'Strange…'_ he thought with an amused grin. _'The twins were asleep at the foot of a mattress instead of their cots—sounds like they were up to something the night before and fell asleep before they could get to bed. What were they up to last night… maybe some candy stuffing?'_

**They dressed in silence, too sleepy to talk, then, yawning and stretching, the four of them headed downstairs into the kitchen.**

"What's the matter with them?" cried Sirius exasperated. "They had the chance of a lifetime to see the Quidditch World Cup! I don't think that I would've been able to sleep!"

"Yes," replied Remus lightly, knowing that if it were _them_, Sirius and James would've kept him and everyone else up all night.

**Mrs. Weasley was stirring the contents of a large pot on the stove, while Mr. Weasley was sitting at the table, checking a sheaf of large parchment tickets. He looked up as the boys entered and spread his arms so that they could see his clothes more clearly. **

"Going as Muggles?" Sirius guessed.

"Good, it makes everything less suspicious," Mad-Eye said approvingly. "But then again, you always get the ones who don't care about the security measures and just do whatever they like."

Tonks began to smirk, "Well, on the brighter side, it's always funny to watch a pure-blood wizard try to dress like a Muggle for the first time."

**He was wearing what appeared to be a golfing sweater and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt.**

"That is easily passable for a Muggle," Kingsley said and Arthur beamed delightedly. "Very believable. I can see that you've done your research."

**"What d'you think?" he asked anxiously. "We're supposed to go incognito - do I look like a Muggle, Harry?"**

**"Yeah," said Harry, smiling, "very good."**

"That was good to hear," Arthur said proudly.

"Yes, yes dear," Molly said patiently, knowing how much that would've meant to her husband.

**"Where're Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" said George, failing to stifle a huge yawn.**

**"Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs. Weasley, heaving the large pot over to the table and starting to ladle porridge into bowls. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."**

"Well, that's not fair," Sirius exclaimed. "I'm sure that the ones who had to walk took that news well."

"But it would be easier for everyone don't you think?" Molly asked lightly.

**Harry knew that Apparating meant disappearing from one place and reappearing almost instantly in another, but had never known any Hogwarts student to do it, and understood that it was very difficult.**

"At first it is," confessed Arthur.

"Yeah," Tonks also agreed with a grin, and as if to prove a point, she stood up and disapparated from where she stood and across the room. "But once you get the basics down, it's easy."

"It also helps if the destination is short," Mad-Eye reminded her as she apparated back to her seat. "The farther away you have to go, the harder it is. Another reason why you shouldn't take a kid with side-along Apparation unless you have no choice."

**"So they're still in bed?" said Fred grumpily, pulling his bowl of porridge toward him. "Why ****can't we Apparate too?"**

**"Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "And where have those girls got to?"**

"None of them are morning people I guess," Remus chuckled.

"Oh, like you're one to talk, Moony," Sirius smirked. "Getting you out of bed was impossible at school."

"I only started getting up early because you and James always spent hours in the bathroom and used up all the good water," Remus answered dryly.

"Do you have any idea how hard I had to work to maintain my perfect face?" Sirius asked with a hand over his heart as if he had just been deeply offended. "Such perfection wasn't an easy thing at the time…"

"Please," Remus rolled his eyes. "You spent at least an hour staring at yourself in the mirror before you left."

"I can't help but admire a work of art," Sirius grinned, and the others snorted with laughter. But Sirius couldn't help but run his hand over his ruined face at the same time. He shook himself out of that right away though, he didn't want to stop these wonderful feelings just yet.

**She bustled out of the kitchen and they heard her climbing the stairs.**

**"You have to pass a test to Apparate?" Harry asked.**

"I keep forgetting how much he doesn't know," Tonks said slowly—she never gave it much thought before but… "I know that it's not easy for someone who was raised by Muggles, but you think they would try to find out more about the Wizarding world by now."

"Kids," Mad-Eye said gruffly and his magical eye began to roll around.

**"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley, tucking the tickets safely into the back pocket of his jeans. "The Department of Magical Transportation had to fine a couple of people the other day for Apparating without a license. It's not easy, Apparition, and when it's not done property it can lead to nasty complications. This pair I'm talking about went and splinched themselves."**

"Oooo," said Tonks, wincing at the thought. "I hate to be them."

Most of the others were thinking the same thing… except for…

"That'll hurt," Mad-Eye stated relaxed. "That should teach them a lesson they won't soon forget."

"That's harsh, Mad-Eye," Tonks told him as she gave him a shrewd look.

"Where they alright?" Remus asked Arthur. "They weren't…?"

"Oh, yes they were fine," Arthur confirmed. "Just fine. Shaken up of course, and had to spend a little time in St. Mungo's—but no lasting harm done. They were given a large fine, but nothing worse than that."

**Everyone around the table except Harry winced.**

**"Er - splinched?" said Harry.**

**"They left half of themselves behind," said Mr. Weasley, now spooning large amounts of treacle onto his porridge. **

"Wonder what parts they were," Mad-Eye said curiously.

"You really need to get out more, Mad-Eye," Tonks informed him cheerfully. "I'm starting to think that there might be something _wrong_ with you."

"Who asked you?" he barked back.

**"So, of course, they were stuck. Couldn't move either way. Had to wait for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to sort them out. Meant a fair old bit of paperwork, I can tell you, what with the Muggles who spotted the body parts they'd left behind…"**

**Harry had a sudden vision of a pair of legs and an eyeball lying abandoned on the pavement ****of Privet Drive.**

Snickers echoed around the room. "He makes it sound comical, but it's anything but…" Molly mumbled, to herself. She had heard of how much damage had been done when someone wasn't careful enough with Apparation.

"Harry, you have quite an imagination," Remus laughed, his eyes sparkling. Tonks was the only one who noticed that, and smiled at how bright they were whenever he smiled. She wished they were like that more often.

"And that's something," Sirius grumbled, looking sour for a moment. "After all, the Dursleys _'don't approve of imagination!'_" he said in a high-pitched, slow voice as if he were Vernon. While it did earn a few chuckles, there was anger flashing in each of their eyes.

**"Were they okay?" he asked, startled.**

**"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley matter-of-factly. "But they got a heavy fine, and I don't think they'll be trying it again in a hurry. You don't mess around with Apparition. There are plenty of adult wizards who don't bother with it. Prefer brooms - slower, but safer."**

"Not to mention it's more exciting!" exclaimed Sirius. He then began in a dreamy voice, "When you're flying…"

"We get it, you're a Quidditch nut," Mad-Eye barked at him. Jeez, at this rate they were never gonna finish. Why did he come back again when he _knew_ that they were about to read about the World Cup?

**"But Bill and Charlie and Percy can all do it?"**

**"Charlie had to take the test twice," said Fred, grinning. "He failed the first time. Apparated five miles south of where he meant to, right on top of some poor old dear doing her shopping, remember?"**

They all burst out laughing at the thought. It went on for a few minutes until Remus, gasping for air, turned to the Weasleys and asked, "He did that?!"

"What happened?" Sirius inquired, dying to know more.

"He nearly caused the poor woman's heart to stop, from what I've heard," Bill sniggered and thought warmly of his little brother. "Charlie was only _supposed_ to apparate to the other end of the room, but at the last second he thought of a shop that sold some of the best sweets you could think of. And then… there he was."

"If I recall correctly, that woman clobbered him for it," Arthur remembered fondly. "Luckily, when she calmed down and he explained what happened, she was a little more understanding."

"That's sort of what happened to you Sirius when you took the test, remember?" asked Remus, grinning at Sirius who was blushing slightly.

"What happened?" Tonks couldn't help but ask eagerly, looking from them both—knowing that this was bound to be good.

"Well," Remus answered as Sirius just grinned at the memory, "The examiner told Sirius to Apparate to where he was…"

"Yeah, so?" Bill asked, wondering what on earth Sirius did this time. "What happened?"

"He Apparated to where he _was_," Remus smiled as they slowly realized what he was talking about. "Right on top of him if I recall correctly… he had to take the test a second time…"

"I still think I should've passed that first time," Sirius smiled.

"You nearly crushed that guy!" Remus reminded him as laughter was sung about the room.

"Let me remind you I did what he told me," Sirius chortled happily. "He said to Apparate to where he _was_… and I did."

"Call me crazy," Remus wiped his eyes from his tears of mirth. "But I really don't think he meant for you to take it so literally."

They went on laughing for a little while, and then Molly calmed down long enough to start reading again, but she didn't count on getting to far.

**"Yes, well, he passed the second time," said Mrs. Weasley, marching back into the kitchen amid hearty sniggers.**

**"Percy only passed two weeks ago," said George. "He's been Apparating downstairs every ****morning since, just to prove he can." **

_'I really don't like him,'_ thought Sirius to himself.

Remus, guessing what Sirius was thinking of, had to fight hard not to roll his eyes. He knew that Sirius had done the same thing after he turned seventeen and could use magic. Good, lord they hadn't had a moment's peace for weeks. Molly on the other hand was looking cross.

"Like they didn't do the same thing," Molly said thinking about last summer. "In fact, I think they were worse, they pulled out their wands every two seconds and were Apparating every few feet. It was enough to drive me crazy."

"Don't worry," Arthur chuckled and put his hand on her wrist. "They were just celebrating the joy of being allowed to use magic outside of school for the first time."

"I can understand that," she said firmly. "But that usually lasts a few days, a week at most. They were like that all summer!"

"It'll die down," Arthur consoled. "I'm sure that once they finish school, it'll be alright."

"We can all pray so," she muttered as she turned the page.

**There were footsteps down the passageway and Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen, both looking pale and drowsy.**

**"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny said, rubbing her eyes and sitting down at the table.**

**"We've got a bit of a walk," said Mr. Weasley.**

**"Walk?" said Harry. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"**

"Nah, you're taking a Portkey!" Sirius stated firmly, now wishing that they would hurry up and leave. "Oh, I can't wait to see what happens. I would've killed to have had a chance to go…"

**"No, no, that's miles away," said Mr. Weasley, smiling. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup…"**

**"George!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, and they all jumped.**

**"What?" said George, in an innocent tone that deceived nobody.**

"Uh oh," said Sirius and Tonks together, figuring out what was about to happen.

Remus was shaking his head, knowing that _'innocent tone'_ all too well. "I'm guessing that they are in trouble for something again?" he asked Molly, who was looking irritated.

"They hadn't even blown anything up yet and you're already telling them off," Tonks laughed. "Jeez, Molly, I'm starting to think that you don't trust them?"

"They are always up to something," she muttered. "They are always getting into trouble for something. How am I supposed to believe them when they say that they didn't do anything?"

"Like that Muggle story about that boy who cried wolf," Tonks muttered thinking back to the story her father liked to tell her when she was little.

"What was that?" Remus asked curiously.

"Nothing," she smiled serenely at him and he turned red at her glowing look. She always did like that story, but she liked the wolf here with her so much more…

**"What is that in your pocket?"**

**"Nothing!"**

"Nothing…" Sirius repeated with a disappointed shake of the head. "I'm surprised boys. I thought that master pranksters like yourselves would've been able to think up a better excuse than that."

"Oh, we've heard plenty of very interesting stories they've come up with," Arthur chuckled at the memories. "Don't worry about that."

**"Don't you lie to me!"**

**Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at George's pocket and said, "Accio!"**

**Several small, brightly colored objects zoomed out of George's pocket; he made a grab for them but missed, and they sped right into Mrs. Weasley's outstretched hand.**

"They should've thought of better hiding places than that," Mad-Eye sighed, shaking his head. "Night before, hide them somewhere outside and then pick it up in the morning when you leave and out of sight of the house. Don't try to sneak it out right underneath someone's nose like that unless you're sure that no one would see it."

"I hope that you didn't give my boys any ideas," Molly said coldly.

He shrugged. "Just stating things the way that I see them."

"But why are you so bothered about them?" asked Sirius rolling his eyes. "If they want to go into business for themselves, why try to stop them?"

"There was always a chance that they could try them out on someone while they were at the Cup," she said firmly.

"Now, Mum," Bill said slowly. "As much as Fred and George love a good prank, I don't think they would do that…"

"They did to a Muggle," she reminded them. "They could've been testing them out on other people to see how well or how long they work. I really don't think that there's anything funny about that." She then held the book up to her face so that she couldn't see them and went on quickly.

**"We told you to destroy them!" said Mrs. Weasley furiously, holding up what were unmistakably more Ton-Tongue Toffees. "We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your ****pockets, go on, both of you!"**

"They went through all that trouble to make those things for their shop and you actually thought that they would just throw them away because you told them too?" Sirius asked crossly. "And here I thought that you knew your own boys."

"Oh, I knew that they hadn't," Molly answered grimly. "Why else would I have known that they were hiding all those toffees?"

**It was an unpleasant scene; the twins had evidently been trying to smuggle as many toffees out of the house as possible, and it was only by using her Summoning Charm that Mrs. Weasley managed to find them all.**

**"Accio! Accio! Accio!" she shouted, and toffees zoomed from all sorts of unlikely places, ****including the lining of George's jacket and the turn-ups of Fred's jeans.**

"Well, they came up with some creative for hiding places," Remus commented.

Sirius shrugged. "Nah, I've seen better. I once was able to hide an entire bag of Dungbombs right in my…"

"OK!" Remus said loudly. "I think we all rather not know where you used to hide things."

**"We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted at his mother as she threw the toffees away.**

**"Oh a fine way to spend six months!" she shrieked. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s!"**

_'Six months of work down the drain,'_ Mad-Eye thought.

"But they put so much effort into those!" Tonks protested, staring at Molly. "So they only got a few O.W.L.s! It's not the end of the world. I mean, if they only messed around with pulling jokes and not doing anything else then that would get me angry too. But they're actually inventing things and working planning things out like anyone else would. I think that they have a pretty good chance at this.

Molly turned red. "I wanted their hard work to go into their school work, not focusing only on their jokes."

"But that is also some very advanced, Molly," Remus reasoned with her softly. "This is all every impressive magic that they are making into something funny."

Molly sighed. She didn't know what to do. She knew that the twins were gifted, but she kept going over all sorts of terrible thoughts in her mind if their joke shop failed? What if it didn't work out and they wouldn't be able to have anything to fall back on…

"Molly, don't you think that we have enough people at the ministry?" Sirius asked dourly. "And so what if they don't? I mean, Look at Bill and Charlie." He nodded to Bill. "I mean, you two went abroad to places like Egypt and Romania—you don't have anything to do with the Ministry. As far as I'm concerned, as long as they don't sell anything life-threatening or illegal then I don't see what the problem is."

Remus then spoke up in a kind voice, "And if they are willing to go to this much effort into creating these products, then I think that they are willing to go through with it. They must've thought this through carefully, and I can see that they have great potential to make their shop successful."

"I know," Molly sighed miserably. "But how can we help them? They need gold for their shop and everything else. Where are they going to get it?"

Bill suddenly remembered something… Fred and George had be experimenting like crazy all summer… and there was also that matter of the advertisements in the Daily Prophet last week… which means that they must've come into with some money hadn't they? Where on earth could they have gotten any of that? But before he could voice this out-loud, Molly went on.

**All in all, the atmosphere was not very friendly as they took their departure. Mrs. Weasley was still glowering as she kissed Mr. Weasley on the cheek, though not nearly as much as the twins, who had each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked out without a word to her.**

"Well," Tonks said in forceful happiness. "That went better than it could've been."

Molly didn't hear her, she only thought back to how she received the paper that next morning with a picture of the Dark Mark on the front page. As soon as she saw that, she had violent flash-backs of the first war… of knowing how many people were killed… her brothers…

That mark only appeared whenever someone was killed… she felt nothing but terror go through her at the sight of that ugly sign. What if it had been one of her children? Harry? Hermione? She gulped… Arthur? It was all she thought about as she stood out there, waiting for hours and hours for them to return. And when she saw them coming over the hill—after a quick head-count—she thought that she would faint with relief. When you think about how much you have to lose, you realize just how petty arguments seem.

"Molly?" Arthur asked softly as he touched her shoulder to bring her back.

"W-what?" she stuttered.

"You alright, Molly?" Kingsley asked in concern. "You sort of faded out there for a second."

"Yes, yes I'm… it was just… I'm fine," she stuttered as she forced herself to come back to reality.

**"Well, have a lovely time," said Mrs. Weasley, "and behave yourselves," she called after the twins' retreating backs, but they did not look back or answer.**

**"I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy along around midday," Mrs. Weasley said to Mr. Weasley, ****as he, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny set off across the dark yard after Fred and George.**

"Oh, you should've made them go with them," said Sirius, frowning at Bill. "Leave your little brothers, sister, and their friends to do all the work and then walk in when they got everything done."

Bill shrugged. "I didn't think about it at the time."

**It was chilly and the moon was still out.**

"The moon was out?!" Sirius gasped as Remus twitched slightly at the mention of the word 'moon.'

"Where you are trying to kill them?"

"A little walk hadn't killed anyone," Arthur replied, though he couldn't deny that he would've liked to have left a little later.

**Only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak was drawing closer. Harry, having been thinking about thousands of wizards speeding toward the Quidditch World Cup, sped up to walk with Mr. Weasley.**

**"So how does everyone get there without all the Muggles noticing?" he asked.**

"Not enough ways," Mad-Eye muttered. "Even with all that security and planning, people don't take it seriously and look what happens!"

"I can't argue with that," Arthur said surprisingly cold at the memory of the Death Eater's party.

**"It's been a massive organizational problem," sighed Mr. Weasley. "The trouble is, about a hundred thousand wizards turn up at the World Cup, and of course, we just haven't got a magical site big enough to accommodate them all. There are places Muggles can't penetrate, but imagine trying to pack a hundred thousand wizards into Diagon Alley or platform nine and three-quarters. **

"That would be a tight fit," Tonks laughed at the thought.

**So we had to find a nice deserted moor, and set up as many anti-Muggle precautions as possible. The whole Ministry's been working on it for months. First, of course, we have to stagger the arrivals. People with cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeks beforehand. **

"Ok, this is boring!" Sirius groaned. "We get it! A lot of planning went here. Let's get to the good stuff!"

"Can you stop complaining every few lines?" Molly snapped back.

**A limited number use Muggle transport, but we can't have too many clogging up their buses and trains - remember, wizards are coming from all over the world. Some Apparate, of course, but we have to set up safe points for them to appear, well away from Muggles. I believe there's a handy wood they're using as the Apparition point. For those who don't want to Apparate, or can't, we use Portkeys. They're objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. You can do large groups at a time if you need to. There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at strategic points around Britain, and the nearest one to us is up at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that's where we're headed."**

Sirius was gazing at the opposite wall with his mouth lugging open. As if he were in Binn's class and he couldn't care less about what was going on. Remus just snorted at the familiar look and shoved his shoulder to make him pay attention.

**Mr. Weasley pointed ahead of them, where a large black mass rose beyond the village of Ottery St. Catchpole.**

**"What sort of objects are Portkeys?" said Harry curiously.**

"They can be anything, but mostly they're something that Muggles wouldn't go and pick them up," Remus answered at once.

"Does it matter what objects you make it into a Portkey?" asked Bill curiously.

"No, that's why they're so handy," Remus answered. "As long as they're light enough to pick up, then they can be absolutely anything. But like I said, if you are leaving them around, its best if you use something that any Muggle would think is just litter and not bother with it."

**"Well, they can be anything," said Mr. Weasley. "Unobtrusive things, obviously, so Muggles don't go picking them up and playing with them… stuff they'll just think is litter…"**

"But what would happen if a Muggle did pick them up?" Molly asked suddenly. "I mean, they were just trying to clean up and throw it away?"

"They would be in for one hell of a ride," Mad-Eye answered with a smirk. "It has happened before. Luckily, those at the Ministry who take the job more seriously than others find them, take them home before they wipe their memories clean and then no one's none the wiser."

"You make it sound like you're experienced with this," Tonks said brightly.

"Oh, I've heard my fair share of stories about some Ministry morons who don't pay attention and end up making some big mistakes," Mad-Eye retorted. "If people were more focused on doing their job right then we'd have fewer problems. Fudge is a prime example…"

**They trudged down the dark, dank lane toward the village, the silence broken only by their footsteps. The sky lightened very slowly as they made their way through the village, its inky blackness diluting to deepest blue. Harry's hands and feet were freezing. Mr. Weasley kept checking his watch.**

"We were running late," he answered to Remus's look. "And we still had to find the Portkey before it left without us."

**They didn't have breath to spare for talking as they began to climb Stoatshead Hill, stumbling occasionally in hidden rabbit holes, slipping on thick black tuffets of grass. Each breath Harry took was sharp in his chest and his legs were starting to seize up when, at last, his feet found level ground.**

"That must've been fun," Bill grinned and Arthur hit his shoulder gently.

"You won't be thinking that when you have kids of your own someday and have to take them to a game," he reminded him in a teasing voice.

Tonks wolf-whistled at those words which caused Bill to suddenly turn red at the thought. At the same time, the image of a beautiful, young woman with silvery hair and large blue eyes came to mind. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and was grateful when Mum went on.

**"Whew," panted Mr. Weasley, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his sweater. "Well, we've made good time - we've got ten minutes."**

**Hermione came over the crest of the hill last, clutching a stitch in her side.**

"Looks like Hermione needs a bit more exercise besides running to the library every day," Sirius smirked. "I'm guessing that spending endless hours reading isn't cutting it anymore."

"Be nice to her," Tonks told him. "She's had a rough year before this."

Bill nodded in agreement. He remembered reading about how many classes she had taken and how she had been getting to them; that would be enough to drive anyone mad.

**"Now we just need the Portkey," said Mr. Weasley, replacing his glasses and squinting around at the ground. "It won't be big… Come on…"**

**They spread out, searching. They had only been at it for a couple of minutes, however, when a shout rent the still air.**

**"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it."**

**Two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hilltop.**

"So you were travelling with another group then," Remus noted. "Someone you worked with?"

Sirius stopped staring at the wall and asked, "Who was it?"

Arthur was quiet for a moment before he said softly, "Mr. Diggory and Cedric."

They all froze at the names. Remus looked down at his hands and became lost in thought. He had taught Cedric himself two years ago and he had been one of his favorites. Very modest, hard-working… he had been devastated when he heard what had happened to the poor boy.

He had such a bright future ahead of him… and then he was cut down… and for what? Because of one psychopathic wizard… because he was just _there_… Voldemort killed him.

They were all silent for a few moments in respect for the first victim of this war before Molly sniffled and went on.

**"Amos!" said Mr. Weasley, smiling as he strode over to the man who had shouted. The rest of them followed.**

"This isn't going to be easy to listen to," Arthur sighed. "Just a year ago, Cedric was a young man with his whole life ahead of him… and now…" he trailed off, unable to finish. But no one needed him too, all of them silently understanding how wrong this was.

**Mr. Weasley was shaking hands with a ruddy-faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard, who was holding a moldy-looking old boot in his other hand.**

"Well," Tonks smiled bleakly. "Imagine if that hadn't been the Portkey? That he just found the boot there and thought it was the Portkey? Then you all would've missed it…"

"Oh, I highly doubt that would've happened," Arthur said smiling.

**"This is Amos Diggory, everyone," said Mr. Weasley. "He works for the Department for the ****Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?"**

**Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen. He was Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff House Quidditch team at Hogwarts.**

"I really hope that we don't have to listen to this for too long," Sirius moaned. "This is just painful." Even though most of them never met Cedric, just hearing his name was as difficult as hearing about the heroes who had all died in the first war. Because he had been innocent…

**"Hi," said Cedric, looking around at them all. Everybody said hi back except Fred and George, who merely nodded. They had never quite forgiven Cedric for beating their team, Gryffindor, in the first Quidditch match of the previous year.**

"Well, he tried to call a rematch," Molly frowned. "Not just anyone would've done that."

"I'll give you that," Sirius mumbled. But just thinking about that match still made him sick with cold at what could've happened if things had turned out any differently… he was sometimes still haunted at the image of this thirteen-year-old godson falling through the air like a ragdoll…

**"Long walk, Arthur?" Cedric's father asked.**

**"Not too bad," said Mr. Weasley. "We live just on the other side of the village there. You?"**

**"Had to get up at two, didn't we, Ced? I tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparition test. Still… not complaining… Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons - and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy…" Amos Diggory peered good-naturedly around at the three Weasley boys, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. "All these yours, Arthur?"**

"Do they all look like his children?" asked Sirius sarcastically.

"Course they do," Tonks sniggered. "Just two of his kids aren't red-heads."

"Oh, Harry and Hermione are like members of the family to us," Arthur smiled. And the other two Weasleys nodded—Sirius felt a sting of jealously.

**"Oh no, only the redheads," said Mr. Weasley, pointing out his children. "This is Hermione, friend of Ron's - and Harry, another friend -"**

**"Merlin's beard," said Amos Diggory, his eyes widening. "Harry? Harry Potter?"**

"The one and only!" Sirius said proudly, holding his head up high.

**"Er - yeah," said Harry.**

**Harry was used to people looking curiously at him when they met him, used to the way their eyes moved at once to the lightning scar on his forehead, but it always made him feel uncomfortable.**

"Yes, I can see how that would become irritating after awhile," Remus said. Not like James in that sense at all. He still remembered how James had loved being the center of attention. Especially Lily's attention…

"They don't see past the scar," Kingsley sighed, feeling terrible for the boy.

"Thank you for that upbeat sentence, Kingsley," Sirius said with a glower.

**"Ced's talked about you, of course," said Amos Diggory. "Told us all about playing against you last year… I said to him, I said - Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will… **

Everyone flinched slightly at the reminder that Cedric had never got the chance to even have children let alone grandchildren.

**You beat Harry Potter!"**

Sirius's grin faltered and he looked irritated at that. "How do _you_ know what happened?! It's not Harry's fault that the dementors affect him like that! Harry would've won if they hadn't been there!"

"We know, Sirius," Remus said gently. "There's no need to get upset. He's just proud that his son won against someone who is so famous."

"I know," Sirius grumbled. "But I don't like remembering what happened that day! Does _he _have to be there?"

"My sympathies are with his son," Mad-Eye said with cool sarcasm. "I'm sure that he _loves_ all this praise in front of so many people."

"I'm sure that he's loving the attention as much as Harry does," Tonks rolled her eyes.

**Harry couldn't think of any reply to this, so he remained silent. Fred and George were both scowling again. Cedric looked slightly embarrassed.**

"I don't blame him," Bill shook his head. It's always embarrassing when your parents brag about you in front of fellow schoolmates.

**"Harry fell off his broom, Dad," he muttered. "I told you… it was an accident…"**

"I like this kid," Sirius sighed miserably. _'Of course it had to be someone like this to have been killed. Why was it that all the good people are the ones who suffer the most? While scumbags like the Malfoys walk free?' _he thought angrily. _'None of this is fair at all.'_

**"Yes, but you didn't fall off, did you?" roared Amos genially, slapping his son on his back. "Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman… but the best man won, I'm sure Harry's ****say the same, wouldn't you, eh? **

Mad-Eye shook his head. "Bragging and taunting usually comes back to haunt you."

"He's just proud of his son, I suppose, but he's still choosing the wrong subject to show it off!" said Arthur.

"What happened to the Diggorys?" Molly suddenly asked, gazing at her husband, who had just fallen silent. "They were distraught," he answered sadly. "Not that I blame them. In the end, they couldn't stand the thought of living in their house anymore—to many memories. They moved somewhere out of the country last I heard. Hoping for a chance to start over I guess."

They both looked at each other, not knowing what they would do if they lost one of their children. But it had been worse for the Diggorys… Cedric had been their only child…

"Do they know about Voldemort?" Mad-Eye asked, his gruff voice unusually soft when he said.

"Of course," Arthur replied. "They didn't want to believe it, but… there was the proof… they don't agree with Fudge. They were grateful that Harry had brought back their son's body… to have had a body to bury at least."

They all feel into a respectful silence at that for a minute before Molly wiped her eyes on her handkerchief and went on in a brave tone:

**One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the ****better flier!"**

"That is not true, there were bloody Dementors there, it had nothing to do with Harry's flying skills," Sirius repeated angrily, taking that remark about Harry's flying skills as a personal insult. "There were bloody Dementors, I would like to see you stay on a broom when you're hearing your mother's final words when she tried to save you…"

"Ok, Sirius," Remus sighed. "He just didn't know everything that happened."

He let the matter drop, but he still muttered under his breath, "Better flier? I'll show him better flier…"

**"Must be nearly time," said Mr. Weasley quickly, pulling out his watch again. "Do you know whether we're waiting for any more, Amos?"**

**"No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets," said Mr. Diggory. **

"They were furious when they couldn't go," Arthur remembered, trying to cheer up. "And Xenophilius had to pay an arm and a leg for some tickets for him and his daughter."

"Lovegood?" repeated Remus, a distant memory coming back. "Luna Lovegood? Is that his daughter? I taught her. She's in Ginny's year."

"What she like?" Tonks asked curiously.

"She's in Ravenclaw," Remus shrugged. "A very bright student… she's just ah… a little…"

"A little what?" Sirius asked, now becoming bored again.

"Unique," Remus finally decided on. "Think of her as the opposite of Hermione. She doesn't need a book or any hard evidence to believe in something. I remember when she asked me if I knew anything about the 'Crumple-Horned Snorkack'."

"A what?" repeated Tonks in amazement as Sirius burst out laughing again.

"I'm not surprised," Arthur chuckled. "After all, Luna's father is the editor of 'The Quibbler' after all. I would be very shocked if his daughter didn't share some of his views as well."

Sirius's laughing turned into hiccups. "Oh, wow. I would love to meet that girl. I bet she's great to have at parties."

**"There aren't any more of us in this area, are there?"**

**"Not that I know of," said Mr. Weasley. "Yes, it's a minute off… We'd better get ready…"**

**He looked around at Harry and Hermione. "You just need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do -"**

**With difficulty, owing to their bulky backpacks, the nine of them crowded around the old boot held out by Amos Diggory. They all stood there, in a tight circle, as a chill breeze swept over the hilltop.**

**Nobody spoke. It suddenly occurred to Harry how odd this would look if a Muggle were to walk up here now… nine people, two of them grown men, clutching this manky old boot in the semidarkness, waiting…**

There were a few more sniggers at that train of thought.

"I would think that they would guess that they were mad or something," Kingsley smiled as he envisioned the scene in his head.

"That sounds so funny when he puts it like that…" Tonks agreed, feeling light-headed.

**"Three…" muttered Mr. Weasley, one eye still on his watch, 'two… one…"**

**It happened immediately: Harry felt as though a hook just behind his navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward. His feet left the ground; he could feel Ron and Hermione on either side of him, their shoulders banging into his; they were all speeding forward in a howl of wind and swirling color; his forefinger was stuck to the boot as though it was pulling him magnetically onward and then – **

"That is surprisingly accurate," Bill said as he thought back to his first time using a Portkey.

**His feet slammed into the ground; Ron staggered into him and he fell over; the Portkey hit the ground near his head with a heavy thud. **

"I'm not too fond of Portkey travel myself," Remus shrugged at how uncomfortable traveling that way was. "But it is still more comfortable than Apparating or using Floo Powder."

**Harry looked up. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, and Cedric were still standing, though looking very windswept; everybody else was on the ground.**

"You do have to have use a Portkey a few times before you get used to it," Kingsley said to no one in particular.

**"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill," said a voice.**

"Seven past five?" repeated Sirius aghast. "Blimey, that's early."

"Hey, but you're going to the Cup," reminded Tonks happily and Sirius nodded at that.

"And that's it," Molly stated casually. She looked up at them all—none of them quite believing her.

"Already?" Remus asked in surprise when she didn't continue. "That was a short chapter."

"Good," Sirius said impatiently, "Let's get to the important stuff!"

"I'll take it from here," Bill volunteered, hoping that this would be better than the first chapter he had read. Judging from how things were going, he better get a good chapter while the going was good. He took the book from his mother and turned to the next page to read out, "**Chapter 7: Bagman and Crouch."**

**(Done with another chapter! Hope you all liked it even though it wasn't as long as most other chapters. And for those of you who have been complaining about Moody's idea about Dudley being a Death Eater from the last chapter? It was a joke! I was just trying to show how dangerously close that Dudley is to becoming something like a Death Eater. I was just trying to point out things that you might not have noticed. So please, stop complaining to me about that!)**


	10. Bagman and Crouch

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 8: Bagman and Crouch**

"I'll take it from here," Bill volunteered, hoping that this would be better than the first chapter he had read. Judging from how things were going, he better get a good chapter while the going was good. He took the book from his mother and turned to the next page to read out, "**Chapter 7: Bagman and Crouch."**

At Crouch's name, Sirius suddenly froze. A boiling hatred began to rise up inside of him at the thought of that self-righteous, power-hungry bastard. Sirius bared his teeth, fighting to hold back the wave of insults that he was bursting to say. He focused instead on the thought of reading about the World Cup. It worked… but only just.

"Bagman?" Tonks asked looking up at the book in Bill's hands. "As in Ludo Bagman?"

"An entire chapter on Bagman _and_ Crouch!" sighed Bill, suddenly regretting taking the book as he looked at the picture of the dancing shamrock hat. "Sure, I had to get this chapter!"

"Oh, it can't be that bad," Arthur nodded as he remembered that day when Bagman and Crouch were both at their tent. He was sure that was what this was about.

**Harry disentangled himself from Ron and got to his feet. They had arrived on what appeared to be a deserted stretch of misty moor. In front of them was a pair of tired and grumpy-looking wizards, one of whom was holding a large gold watch, the other a thick roll of parchment and a quill. Both were dressed as Muggles, though very inexpertly: **

"Translation? They look like they got dressed in the dark and had no fashion sense to start off with," giggled Tonks. She had been looking forward to hearing how wizards tried to dress up like Muggles and they never had done before. It was always so funny…

"Well, I don't think that you're going to be disappointed, Tonks," Bill laughed as he read a little ahead.

**The man with the watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes; his colleague, a kilt and a poncho.**

Tonks and Sirius were laughing hard at this as Kingsley said, "It still amazes me how wizards can mix up Muggle clothing like this." At their laughter, Arthur tilted his head curiously.

"I'm guessing those aren't normal clothes?" he asked, confused. "I know that it doesn't sound like something one would normally wear, but aren't those Muggle clothes?"

"Well, they _are_ Muggle clothes," Kingsley answered smiling. "But you're not supposed to wear them like that. Just a normal pair of jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt is enough."

"Amazing how wizards go out of their way to make things more difficult," added Remus in a relaxed tone.

"It doesn't take that much research to find out what Muggles normally wear!" Mad-Eye spoke up suddenly in his usual gruff voice.

"Doesn't surprise me, personally," Sirius shrugged once he calmed down. "But they have to be purebloods. Why else would they not know how a Muggle dresses. And they think that it's beneath them to look it up. Don't care and aren't bothered."

"That'll come back to bite them later," Mad-Eye answered. "They always regret it later, at events like this. These pro-pureblood laws are stupid. The Ministry always let them off too easily in my opinion."

**"Morning, Basil," said Mr. Weasley, picking up the boot and handing it to the kilted wizard, who threw it into a large box of used Portkeys beside him; Harry could see an old ****newspaper, an empty drinks can, and a punctured football.**

**"Hello there, Arthur," said Basil wearily. "Not on duty, eh? It's all right for some… We've been here all night… **

"Poor bloke," said Tonks sympathetically. "I would hate to have that job."

"Yeah," Mad-Eye said sarcastically. "Instead you chose a job that's considers life-threatening and dangerous tasks on a good day. That makes sense."

She grinned back. "Mad-Eye, if I didn't know better, I would think that you actually care."

"Shut it," he barked at her.

**You'd better get out of the way, we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest at five fifteen. Hang on, I'll find your campsite… Weasley… Weasley…" He consulted his parchment list. "About a quarter of a mile's walk over there, first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory… second field… ask for Mr. Payne."**

"Old friend?" Remus commented to Arthur politely.

"Oh, well, Basil and I have worked with each other for the last few years," Arthur chuckled. "Good man. He's a little absent-minded, but a great friend to have."

**"Thanks, Basil," said Mr. Weasley, and he beckoned everyone to follow him. They set off across the deserted moor, unable to make out much through the mist.**

**After about twenty minutes, a small stone cottage next to a gate swam into view. Beyond it, Harry could just make out the ghostly shapes of hundreds and hundreds of tents, rising up the gentle slope of a large field toward a dark wood on the horizon. They said good-bye to the Diggory's and approached the cottage door. A man was standing in the doorway, looking out at the tents. Harry knew at a glance that this was the only real Muggle for ****several acres. **

"Well, he's probably the only one who knows how to _actually_ dress like a Muggle," said Tonks, snickering.

"He should," Mad-Eye agreed. "He's the only Muggle around those parts."

**When he heard their footsteps, he turned his head to look at them.**

"Isn't it a bit risky to use a Muggle during big events like this?" Molly asked, frowning slightly, as she looked up at Kingsley. "I mean, with all these wizards walking around, isn't he bound to become suspicious?"

"I'm sure they'll use a Memory Charm or two on him if he starts to ask too many questions," Bill shrugged, and his mother glanced at him.

"They can't use a Memory Charm for every little thing that happens though," she responded.

**"Morning!" said Mr. Weasley brightly.**

**"Morning," said the Muggle.**

**"Would you be Mr. Roberts?"**

**"Aye, I would," said Mr. Roberts. "And who're you?"**

**"Weasley - two tents, booked a couple of days ago?"**

**"Aye," said Mr. Roberts, consulting a list tacked to the door. "You've got a space up by the wood there. Just the one night?"**

**"That's it," said Mr. Weasley.**

"What would you do if the World Cup lasted more than that?" Sirius asked quickly—Mad-Eye looking more irritable than ever.

"Well, it's a good thing that it didn't," Arthur sighed. "The match was over that day."

"Shame," Sirius answered shaking his head.

**"You'll be paying now, then?" said Mr. Roberts.**

"Oh, watching Dad deal with Muggle money. Wish I could've seen that," Bill snorted, and smiled when he saw his dad blushed.

**"Ah - right - certainly -" said Mr. Weasley. He retreated a short distance from the cottage and beckoned Harry toward him. "Help me, Harry," he muttered, pulling a roll of Muggle money from his pocket and starting to peel the notes apart. "This one's a - a - a ten? Ah yes, I see the little number on it now… So this is a five?"**

"Why are you asking Harry, I would've thought that you knew how to spend Muggle money?" Kingsley asked in surprise.

"He should know it better than Harry does," Sirius muttered under his breath bitterly. "Seeing how cheap those Dursleys never bothered spending anything on him."

"You love Muggles and yet you don't know anything about their money?" Tonks yelped out at Arthur, unable to help herself.

"I'm not use to using paper instead of coins," he shrugged. "I find it real confusing…"

"Actually," commented Kingsley lightly. "I find that it is easier to understand than using Galleons and Sickles. Much easier to carry around than a bag of coins, and the number of how much it's worth is written right on it."

Arthur just shrugged. "You can't know everything."

**"A twenty," Harry corrected him in an undertone, uncomfortably aware of Mr. Roberts trying to catch every word.**

"That isn't smart," Molly said anxiously. "With all these wizards around, they would have to do a lot of Memory Charms frequently. Isn't that dangerous?"

"Well, it could do some serious, lastingly damage to his memory," Mad-Eye said in disgust. "Too bad that politics don't think like that."

"Always so cheerful, you are, Moody," Tonks sighed happily.

**"Ah yes, so it is… I don't know, these little bits of paper…"**

"They're not that hard to understand," Kingsley laughed again. "I would find it very convenient to only need to carry around a few sheets of paper."

**"You foreign?" said Mr. Roberts as Mr. Weasley returned with the correct notes.**

**"Foreign?" repeated Mr. Weasley, puzzled.**

"Didn't you know what foreign meant?" Bill laughed at his father.

"Of course," Arthur said chuckling at his past actions. "I was just puzzled to why he would think _I_ was foreign."

"Maybe it had to do with the fact that you didn't know how to use their currency," Remus chortled. "I would think the same if I was in his shoes."

**"You're not the first one who's had trouble with money," said Mr. Roberts, scrutinizing Mr. Weasley closely. "I had two try and pay me with great gold coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago."**

Sirius suddenly started laughing again. "What now?" Mad-Eye demanded.

"Oooo, I wish I could've seen Lucius Malfoy trying to paying with what he would call _'filthy Muggle money_'," Sirius sniggered. "He wouldn't have a clue what to do."

"His own fault," Mad-Eye muttered.

"You know, Muggles are cleverer than what we give them credit for," Arthur said fondly. "I mean, look at all the amazing things they have invented. Look at the _tele-phone_. You can talk to someone instantly, instead of having to wait weeks for an answer to your letter! Truly amazing things these Muggles come up with…"

"Well, despite what some purebloods, like the Malfoy's for example, think," said Sirius, with an air of dislike. "They aren't stupid."

"Though, I doubt that Roberts would actually work out what we really were. It would be too hard to grasp for him," reasoned Mad-Eye. "If anything, he would think that they were all mentally unstable."

The frown on Sirius's face had just disappeared, and was replaced with a smirk.

"What?" Tonks asked him in concern.

"I remember when my dear old Mum told me that she expected me to marry a pureblood girl someday," he answered. "I told her that I would marry some hot, Muggle girl or I won't marry at all. I can't help but smile when I remember the look on her face… I thought that she looked even uglier than before if that's possible…"

"I remember you saying that at school," Remus laughed. "I think that you must've caused her a heart-attack."

"Impossible," Sirius waved his hand at Remus. "She would need a heart to have heart-failure."

**"Did you really?" said Mr. Weasley nervously.**

**Mr. Roberts rummaged around in a tin for some change.**

**"Never been this crowded," he said suddenly, looking out over the misty field again. "Hundreds of pre-bookings. People usually just turn up…"**

**"Is that right?" said Mr. Weasley, his hand held out for his change, but Mr. Roberts didn't give it to him.**

**"Aye," he said thoughtfully. "People from all over. Loads of foreigners. And not just ****foreigners. Weirdos, you know? There's a bloke walking 'round in a kilt and a poncho."**

Sirius snorted loudly at that last line. Remus looked up and smiled. He had missed this happy, carefree side of his old friend… the side that had been missing for so long. Especially his eyes, when he laughed like that, you could _almost_ swear that dead, haunted look that Azkaban had given him was gone.

"Though, I think a kilt and a poncho is definitely making a statement," Sirius grinned.

"You would," Remus muttered, an amused smile lingering on his lips.

"What kind of statement?" Mad-Eye asked annoyed. "That you just escaped from a nuthouse?"

**"Shouldn't he?" said Mr. Weasley anxiously.**

"Well, it's not against the law," Kingsley admitted with a laugh. "But I can think of several better choices he could've gone with."

"Just because he looks strange, that doesn't make him a weirdo," Bill offered. "I would think he just had a strange taste in fashion."

"I like it," said Sirius brightly. "Makes life more interesting with people like that."

**"It's like some sort of… I dunno… like some sort of rally," said Mr. Roberts. "They all seem to know each other. Like a big party."**

"Though it would be difficult not to notice anything with so many magic around," Remus said deeply, "I think that this Mr. Roberts is very observant."

"Too observant for his own good," Mad-Eye muttered. "That's gonna get him in trouble."

**At that moment, a wizard in plus-fours appeared out of thin air next to Mr. Roberts's front door.**

**"Obliviate!" he said sharply, pointing his wand at Mr. Roberts.**

**Instantly, Mr. Roberts's eyes slid out of focus, his brows unknitted, and a look of dreamy unconcern fell over his face. Harry recognized the symptoms of one who had just had his memory modified.**

**"A map of the campsite for you," Mr. Roberts said placidly to Mr. Weasley. "And your change."**

"Well, that's one good thing about a Memory Charm," Sirius said sarcastically. "Makes you so happy."

**"Thanks very much," said Mr. Weasley.**

**The wizard in plus-fours accompanied them toward the gate to the campsite. He looked exhausted: His chin was blue with stubble and there were deep purple shadows under his ****eyes. Once out of earshot of Mr. Roberts, he muttered to Mr. Weasley, "Been having a lot of trouble with him. Needs a Memory Charm ten times a day to keep him happy.**

"There's always one who's too perceptive for their own good," said Mad-Eye, thinking of Harry. "While that is good for staying alive, it brings nothing but trouble."

"Can't disagree with you for that," Kingsley nodded.

"Ten times a day!" Molly said in shock. "But that has to be dangerous!"

"That is dangerous isn't it?" Tonks asked Remus worriedly. "All those Memory Charms on one person every day?"

"They can be," he said knowledgeable. "But if they're just erasing the last few minutes then it shouldn't make too much of a difference. But if they were erasing a long period of time, or a particular memory, it's more dangerous and might cause more permanent damage, especially if used more than once."

Arthur remembered that they would have to make him forget a much bigger thing later that night. He hoped that man and his family where alright…

**And Ludo Bagman's not helping. Trotting around talking about Bludgers and Quaffles at the top of his voice, not a worry about anti-Muggle security**

"That is highly irresponsible of him," Molly said with a disapproving frown. "Oh, just because he was a famous Quidditch star, he thinks that he's above that."

"He's just excited," said Sirius with a shrug.

"Still dumb," Mad-Eye said at the same time that Kingsley offered, "It's doesn't change the fact that it's not a wise idea."

**Blimey, I'll be glad when this is over. See you later, Arthur." He Disapparated.**

**"I thought Mr. Bagman was Head of Magical Games and Sports," said Ginny, looking surprised. "He should know better than to talk about Bludgers near Muggles, shouldn't he?"**

"I'm glad that she understands that," Molly said proudly.

**"He should," said Mr. Weasley, smiling, and leading them through the gates into the campsite, "but Ludo's always been a bit… well… lax about security. **

_'That's an understatement,'_ Mad-Eye thought to himself. Just because there are so many others around, doesn't mean that you're safe! If anything, with so many around, there are bound to be problems. People these days are going to get themselves killed if they lull themselves into a false sense of security. Especially, those who are dim enough to take the Ministry's word seriously.

Following authority is important, but if the government is corrupted, then you are left with only two choices. Either blindly follow it, or overthrow it. He smirked. He always enjoyed the second option, himself.

**You couldn't wish for a more enthusiastic head of the sports department though. He played Quidditch for England himself, you know. And he was the best Beater the Wimbourne Wasps ever had."**

Sirius nodded as he remembered to those happier days when he and James would go to the games and watch the Wimbourne Wasps crush the opposition.

**They trudged up the misty field between long rows of tents. Most looked almost ordinary; their owners had clearly tried to make them as Muggle-like as possible, but had slipped up ****by adding chimneys, or bellpulls, or weather vanes. **

"I'm sure that's an easy mistake to make," Sirius shrugged as if it was a mistake that anyone would make.

"How did they slip up?" asked Bill curiously. "So Muggles don't have any of that?"

"Not that I'm aware of," exclaimed Remus in an amused tone.

"How on earth do Muggles survive without magic?" Sirius asked jokingly. "I would think that it would make life boring."

"I find it all fascinating!" Arthur said excitedly.

**However, here and there was a tent so obviously magical that Harry could hardly be surprised that Mr. Roberts was getting suspicious. Halfway up the field stood an extravagant confection of striped silk like a miniature palace, with several live peacocks tethered at the entrance.**

"Live peacocks?" Bill asked, raising his eyebrows. "I'm sure I don't need to ask this, but _why_?"

"Who would bring live peacocks to the World Cup?" asked Tonks, bemused. "That sounds so…"

"Sounds like Lucius…" Sirius muttered in harsher tone. "They always did have a thing for peacocks." He then muttered a few colorful words to where Lucius could stick his peacocks. Luckily, no one heard him but Remus—who gave him a sharp look. If Molly ever heard him say that, he would have his mouth washed out with soap faster than blinking.

**A little farther on they passed a tent that had three floors and several turrets; and a short way beyond that was a tent that had a front garden attached, complete with birdbath, ****sundial, and fountain.**

"All right, this is getting absolutely absurd!" Kingsley exclaimed with laughter. "I can't say that I'm surprised that Mr. Roberts is getting suspicious. I would to."

"Just a bunch of idiots trying to show off," Sirius answered confidently with a wave of the hand.

**"Always the same," said Mr. Weasley, smiling. "We can't resist showing off when we get together. **

"True that," Tonks nodded sagely. "You just want to impress and show off what you have or what you can do. Never did like anyone like that…"

She glanced over at Remus as she said that, who was still looking at the book in Bill's hands. She liked someone who was humble and kind… maybe that was why she fell so hard for Remus?

**Ah, here we are, look, this is us."**

**They had reached the very edge of the wood at the top of the field, and here was an empty space, with a small sign hammered into the ground that read WEEZLY.**

"Get this, it's spelled W.e.e.z.l.y," Bill told them with a laugh, and Molly rolled her eyes.

"Oh, it's not that hard to spell our name," she said.

"I don't know about that," Sirius muttered. "Sounds like an easy mistake to me."

**"Couldn't have a better spot!" said Mr. Weasley happily. "The field is just on the other side of the wood there, we're as close as we could be." He hoisted his backpack from his shoulders.**

**"Right," he said excitedly, "no magic allowed, strictly speaking, not when we're out in these ****numbers on Muggle land. We'll be putting these tents up by hand! Shouldn't be too difficult… Muggles do it all the time… **

"Yeah, they do. But I think that they would know how to do it," Tonks laughed. "I mean, they go camping without magic all the time, but they have at least some idea how it's done."

"Which was why it was so fascinating," Arthur said happily.

**Here, Harry, where do you reckon we should start?"**

**Harry had never been camping in his life; the Dursleys had never taken him on any kind of holiday, preferring to leave him with Mrs. Figg, an old neighbor. **

Mad-Eye raised his eyebrows, briefly wondering if Potter was always left with Mrs. Figg, since she was the only one keeping an eye on him, he wondered if she encouraged that?

Everyone else on the other hand, became angry at the thought. In fact, Sirius, at this moment, honestly couldn't care about the Cup and thought menacingly at how those lowlife Dursleys treated his godson like that? He felt sick to his stomach at the thought of any child being treated like that.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sirius snapped. If they lived through this war, and he ever got his name cleared, he was going to make sure that he took his godson to all sorts of places. Poor kid probably never had been out of the country before. He wanted Harry to be able to see the world someday, and he was going to make sure that he did once this nightmare was over.

The others felt a burning dislike, so much stronger than the mere irritation and annoyance any of them previously felt with the Dursleys, rose up in them and they struggled to quell it, trying not to imagine the loneliness that a little boy must have gone through for ten years.

**However, he and Hermione worked out where most of the poles and pegs should go, and ****though Mr. Weasley was more of a hindrance than a help, because he got thoroughly overexcited when it came to using the mallet, they finally managed to erect a pair of shabby two-man tents.**

"Sounds like you were having fun?" questioned Remus with a laugh, feeling a little better than before.

Arthur shrugged, unable to deny that.

**All of them stood back to admire their handiwork. Nobody looking at these tents would guess they belonged to wizards, Harry thought, but the trouble was that once Bill, Charlie, and Percy arrived, they would be a party of ten. Hermione seemed to have spotted this problem too; she gave Harry a quizzical look as Mr. Weasley dropped to his hands and ****knees and entered the first tent.**

"But there's gonna be plenty of room inside," Sirius laughed as if it was obvious. "I mean, it'll have been bewitched to look smaller from the outside to make it look normal!"

**"We'll be a bit cramped," he called, "but I think we'll all squeeze in. Come and have a look."**

Sirius couldn't wait to hear Harry's reaction to when he saw this…

**Harry bent down, ducked under the tent flap, and felt his jaw drop. He had walked into what looked like an old-fashioned, three room flat, complete with bathroom and kitchen. Oddly enough, it was furnished in exactly the same sort of style as Mrs. Figg's house: There were crocheted covers on the mismatched chairs and a strong smell of cats.**

Sirius wrinkled his nose slightly at that description—but he was smiling anyway. Remus chuckled and asked him innocently, "I know that you and cats aren't the best of friends, but I thought that you were started to get to know them."

Sirius gave him a dark look. "I have nothing against Crookshanks. But I won't say that I'm a fan of them yet."

Bill smirked privately when he remembered how he found out about how he and Crookshanks were thick as thieves two years ago. He would've left if he wasn't fuming at the idea of who Scabbers truly was. He frowned in disgust as he turned the page and went back to the story before they could ask him what was wrong.

**"Well, it's not for long," said Mr. Weasley, mopping his bald patch with a handkerchief and peering in at the four bunk beds that stood in the bedroom. "I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp much anymore, poor fellow, he's got lumbago."**

Mad-Eye leaned back in his favorite armchair and understood the pain of old age and his many scars. He knew how painful it was, and he didn't blame Perkins one bit.

**He picked up the dusty kettle and peered inside it. "We'll need water…"**

**"There's a tap marked on this map the Muggle gave us," said Ron, who had followed Harry inside the tent and seemed completely unimpressed by its extraordinary inner proportions.**

"When if you grown up with magic, you get used to the wonders it can do," Arthur nodded. "Blimey, almost makes me wish I came from a Muggle family and could experience seeing magic for the first time…"

"That must be a wonderful feeling," Remus sighed longingly. He could still remember seeing the looks on those from Muggle families see something levitate for the first time, or every time a flare of light shot out of a wand. It was something special… even years after they left school, Lily had always been amazed of how beautiful it was…

**"It's on the other side of the field."**

**"Well, why don't you, Harry, and Hermione go and get us some water then" - Mr. Weasley handed over the kettle and a couple of saucepans - "and the rest of us will get some wood for a fire?"**

"Why can't you just use magic?" began Sirius in confusion. "It just said that you…"

"Because there'll be Muggles about," Arthur whispered happily. "Anti-Muggle security and everything!"

"Yeah, but they'll not see anything if they do it in the tent," moaned Sirius.

**"But we've got an oven," said Ron. "Why can't we just -"**

"Because you're not supposed to," said Remus amusedly. "I thought that Ron would know that…"

"Like anyone's gonna notice," Sirius repeated to himself. "With everything going on, I don't think that they would pay much attention."

"Dad you've got to be the only one who's going to take that seriously," Bill said with a chuckle.

"I've got to try and set an example," he answered firmly. "I am a Ministry official, and unlike some, I intend to do my job right."

"Well, at least someone at the Ministry has a brain," Mad-Eye said calmly.

**"Ron, anti-Muggle security!" said Mr. Weasley, his face shining with anticipation.**

**"When real Muggles camp, they cook on fires outdoors. I've seen them at it!"**

"An excuse to play with Muggle things. You must've been having the time of your life," laughed Sirius and Arthur was shaking his head and took off his glasses to rub his eyes in amusement.

"It was an interesting experience," he answered simply, but he was fighting back to hold back his laughter as well.

**After a quick tour of the girls' tent, which was slightly smaller than the boys', though without the smell of cats, **

"Lucky them," Bill muttered as he remembered that terrible stench… his clothes stunk for two days after that.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off across the campsite with the kettle and saucepans.**

**Now, with the sun newly risen and the mist lifting, they could see the city of tents that stretched in every direction. They made their way slowly through the rows, staring eagerly around. It was only just dawning on Harry how many witches and wizards there must be in the world; he had never really thought much about those in other countries.**

"That sounds amazing," Sirius groaned in longing. He would've killed for a chance to have gone there as well and seen all that with Harry. He looked around the room of Grimmauld Place and sighed miserably. How much longer would he have to endure this torture of being trapped inside this house? When would he be allowed to leave and feel the sun again?

**Their fellow campers were starting to wake up. First to stir were the families with small children; Harry had never seen witches and wizards this young before. A tiny boy no older than two was crouched outside a large pyramid-shaped tent, holding a wand and poking happily at a slug in the grass, which was swelling slowly to the size of a salami. As they drew level with him, his mother came hurrying out of the tent.**

"Needs to keep a closer eye on her wand," Molly sighed, shaking her head once again.

"And I'm guessing that you would know that from experience?" Tonks guessed, raising her eyebrows.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Molly said with a look at Bill, who looked back innocently. She remembered one time, when Bill was four-years-old, and she left her wand on the kitchen counter… the next thing she knew, all the windows exploded and shattered.

And she wasn't even going to start on the trouble that Fred and George got into whenever they got their tiny hands on Arthur's wand…

Guessing what his mother was thinking about, he hid his face behind the book and read.

**"How many times, Kevin? You don't - touch - Daddy's - wand - yecchh! "**

**She had trodden on the giant slug, which burst. Her scolding carried after them on the still ****air, mingling with the little boy's yells - "You bust slug! You bust slug!"**

Most of them burst out laughing while Molly tutted disapprovingly. If that little boy was anything like hers, then she knew that woman was in for a lot more trouble than slugs in the future.

"Sounds like a future trouble-maker," chuckled Remus quietly.

Sirius sighed; remembering another little baby that used to play like that.

**A short way farther on, they saw two little witches, barely older than Kevin, who were riding toy broomsticks that rose only high enough for the girls' toes to skim the dewy grass. A Ministry wizard had already spotted them; as he hurried past Harry, Ron, and Hermione he muttered distractedly, "In broad daylight! Parents having a lie-in, I suppose -"**

"I bought Harry one of those for his first birthday," Sirius smiled warmheartedly, when he remembered seeing that little baby on that broom for the first time. "James was so proud. Said that he was going to be a pro someday. Well, looks like he got his wish."

"And I think that Lily threatened to skin you alive and make you into a curtain when she saw that toy broom," Remus said and Sirius let out another barklike laugh.

"She did say that didn't she?" he asked warmly.

"As sweet as that sounds, parents really need to keep a closer eye on their children," Molly sighed.

"People are just too excited about the match to really care about security," Arthur stated. "They'll leave all the trouble to the ones in charge."

"And they are going to be sorry for that," Mad-Eye declared simply. Once they realize that their precious Ministry has been lying to them for almost a year, they weren't going to be so fond of it anymore. _'Oh,'_ he grinned at the thought._ 'I hope so.'_

**Here and there adult wizards and witches were emerging from their tents and starting to cook breakfast. Some, with furtive looks around them, conjured fires with their wands; others were striking matches with dubious looks on their faces, as though sure this couldn't work. **

"Oh, for goodness sake!" Tonks cried out. "If Muggles can manage without magic for a lifetime, there's no reason why we can't survive without it for a couple of days!"

"Funny how dependent that we have become on magic," Kingsley said sadly. "I don't think any of us would ever be able to appreciate how hard that Muggles work and get through life without it."

"That is true," Arthur said kindly. And he thought warmly about all the many wondrous things that Muggles had created in order to make up for their lack of magic. The things they've come up with are almost like magic themselves! And not only that, they don't need magic to survive, when he knew that they wouldn't have any idea how to do so if they couldn't use magic anymore. In some ways, the Mugge world far exceeded that of the Wizarding.

**Three African wizards sat in serious conversation, all of them wearing long white robes and ****roasting what looked like a rabbit on a bright purple fire, **

"Wow. Nothing says _'I'm not a wizard'_ like white robes and roasting a rabbit over a bright purple fire," Sirius said nonchalantly, grinning. "Now if it was a normal fire, they might get away with that."

"They make a statement," Tonks laughed as she turned to Kingsley. "They remind me of you, Kingsley."

He laughed back. "I don't think that I would be that obvious."

**while a group of middle-aged American witches sat gossiping happily beneath a spangled ****banner stretched between their tents that read: THE SALEM WITCHES' INSTITUTE. **

"Oh, isn't that one of the Magic organization that's in America?" Tonks said. She heard about that one institution quite often.

"Yes," Remus confirmed. "It's not as old as the schools here in Europe, but it has become very popular, and it has an excellent reputation."

"It is located in Salem, Massachusetts," Kingsley nodded. "They deal best with elemental magic, and fitting in with the Muggle World. One of the best in the world I would think."

**Harry caught snatches of conversation in strange languages from the inside of tents they passed, and though he couldn't understand a word, the tone of every single voice was excited.**

"Of course they are, it's the QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP!" Sirius said excitedly. "I'd be talking about it NON-STOP if I were there!" he looked wistful. "If only…"

_'If only I was free,'_ he thought, and his excitement faded away slowly. Remus noticed and clapped a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He leaned in and whispered, "There will always be other games, Sirius. Once you're free, you will have the rest of your life to catch up with Harry."

The corners of Sirius's mouth twitched hopefully, but he knew that it was a long shot. To be able to go to any games, they have to get his name cleared, and to end this war. And that could take _years_… he groaned and Bill continued.

**"Er - is it my eyes, or has everything gone green?" said Ron.**

**It wasn't just Ron's eyes. They had walked into a patch of tents that were all covered with a thick growth of shamrocks, so that it looked as though small, oddly shaped hillocks had sprouted out of the earth. Grinning faces could be seen under those that had their flaps open. Then, from behind them, they heard their names.**

_"Who is it?"_ Tonks was about to ask, but Mad-Eye shot her a warning look and she put up her hands in surrender. "Ok," she mouthed at him.

**"Harry! Ron! Hermione!"**

**It was Seamus Finnigan, their fellow Gryffindor fourth year. He was sitting in front of his own shamrock-covered tent, with a sandy-haired woman who had to be his mother, and his best friend, Dean Thomas, also of Gryffindor. "Like the decorations?" said Seamus, grinning. "The Ministry's not too happy."**

Doesn't surprise me," Kingsley laughed. He, himself, had been on duty that day as well and he remembered how those decorations cause a fuss. But those Irish supporters wouldn't take them down for love or money.

**"Ah, why shouldn't we show our colors?" said Mrs. Finnigan. **

"I can't argue with that," Sirius grinned. "Why shouldn't they?"

"Because it's going to draw attention to them," Mad-Eye barked back.

**"You should see what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents. You'll be ****supporting Ireland, of course?" she added, eyeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione beadily.**

"Ok," Tonks began steadily and carefully. "If they value their lives, they won't dare say no."

**When they had assured her that they were indeed supporting Ireland, they set off again, though, as Ron said, "Like we'd say anything else surrounded by that lot."**

"Like someone would be dumb enough to say otherwise," muttered Bill shuddering at the thought of several dozen curses flying at his brother and his friends. There were some sports fans who took their Quidditch teams seriously.

"Myself, personally, I'd like to see what she would've done if they said no," Mad-Eye said.

"You are cruel, Mad-Eye," Tonks sniggered.

**"I wonder what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents?" said Hermione.**

**"Let's go and have a look," said Harry, pointing to a large patch of tents upfield, where the Bulgarian flag - white, green, and red - was fluttering in the breeze. The tents here had not been bedecked with plant life, but each and every one of them had the same poster attached to it, a poster of a very surly face with heavy black eyebrows. The picture was, of course, moving, but all it did was blink and scowl.**

**"Krum," said Ron quietly.**

"I'm gonna guess that's their best player?" Sirius noted, tilting his head. He heard that name before…

"Yeah, he's an amazing Seeker," Bill nodded. "And he's young to. He was still at school last year. In fact, he was one of the school champions with Harry, Fleur, and Cedric."

"I thought his name sounded familiar," he sighed. "Well, he may be good, but he's not as good as my godson."

"If that makes you happy," Tonks told him teasingly.

**"What?" said Hermione.**

**"Krum!" said Ron. "Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker!"**

**"He looks really grumpy," said Hermione, looking around at the many Krums blinking and scowling at them.**

**"Really grumpy?" Ron raised his eyes to the heavens. "Who cares what he looks like? He's unbelievable. He's really young too. Only just eighteen or something. He's a genius, you wait until tonight, you'll see."**

"I forgot what a big fan of his that Ron used to be," Molly said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well, Harry's the youngest Seeker in a century," Sirius proudly.

Mad-Eye opened his mouth to tell him to shut up, but Kingsley nudged him in the side. "Don't burst his bubble," he whispered quickly. "I rather see him like this than the gloomy, sullen one that we've seen for the last couple weeks."

Alastor gave him a stern look, but he stayed quiet until Sirius calmed down enough for them to go on.

**There was already a small queue for the tap in the corner of the field. Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined it, right behind a pair of men who were having a heated argument. One of them was a very old wizard who was wearing **

But Bill wasn't able to finish reading because he stared at the next four words.

"Wearing what?" Molly asked curiously.

"Oh my God," said Bill, his eyebrows raised.

Tonks leaned over the arm of her seat to read over his shoulder. When she read it, she burst out giggling and covered her mouth, but unable to hold it back. "And I thought kilt and poncho outfits were bad!" she roared as Bill read:

**a long flowery nightgown. **

They all stared at each other for a long moment before bursting into laughter. _"A nightgown," _Sirius gasped out in between laughs, pounding the arm of his side of the couch in laughter. "Oh, I'd kill to have seen that! What was he thinking?"

Now not everyone in the room knew everything about the Muggle World, but they were all aware that wearing nightgown wasn't something that a _male_ would wear…

Finally, Bill was able to catch his breath and went on.

**The other was clearly a Ministry wizard; he was holding out a pair of pinstriped trousers and almost crying with exasperation.**

"Looks like someone is making a fuss…" said Sirius gleefully. He was going to enjoy this part.

"Apparently, those three forgot to mention this," Arthur smiled peacefully.

**"Just put them on, Archie, there's a good chap. You can't walk around like that, the Muggle at the gate's already getting suspicious –**

**"I bought this in a Muggle shop," said the old wizard stubbornly. "Muggles wear them."**

"Indeed, Muggles _do_ wear them, but I think it's more along the lines of the _fairer_ gender," said Kingsley. He looked as if he didn't know whether to laugh again or not.

**"Muggle women wear them, Archie, not the men, they wear these," said the Ministry wizard, and he brandished the pinstriped trousers.**

**"I'm not putting them on," said old Archie in indignation. "I like a healthy breeze 'round my privates, thanks."**

They all roared with laughter once again and applauded old Archie for his words.

"That is amazing," Tonks laughed, shaking her head. "I so want to go to a party with him. I bet he's the best part!"

"I like this guy," Sirius agreed. "I bet he's a real laugh…"

**Hermione was overcome with such a strong fit of the giggles at this point that she had to duck out of the queue and only returned when Archie had collected his water and moved away. Walking more slowly now, because of the weight of the water, they made their way back through the campsite. Here and there, they saw more familiar faces: other Hogwarts students with their families. Oliver Wood, the old captain of Harry's House Quidditch team, **

"Oh, him," Sirius said rather stiffly. He was still a little sore to how Wood reacted to Harry's injuries and almost kicked him off the team.

**who had just left Hogwarts, dragged Harry over to his parents' tent to introduce him, and told him excitedly that he had just been signed to the Puddlemere United reserve team.**

"Good for him," said Remus, knowing it had been Wood's dream to join a real Quidditch team.

"That's awesome!" Tonks grinned. "Good for him!"

**Next they were hailed by Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff fourth year, **

"Oh, that git," Sirius said snidely, his good mood dropping a fraction at the name.

"Why are you angry all of a sudden?" Molly questioned.

"Don't you remember that kid who kept accusing Harry of opening the Chamber of Secrets?" Sirius asked coldly.

"Oh, I remember that," Bill nodded, as he thought back to how angry he was when he read how the rest of Hogwarts had turned against Harry like that. Whatever happened to_ innocent until proven guilty?_

"Yes, but he did apologize for accusing him and Harry did forgive him," Molly reminded him patiently. "As angry as I am that they thought Harry was behind it, they were just a bunch of scared kids. They weren't sure what to think…"

"That doesn't mean that _I_ like it," Sirius repeated stubbornly and pointed to himself. "And I still say that he's a git."

**and a little farther on they saw Cho Chang, a very pretty girl who played Seeker on the Ravenclaw team. She waved and smiled at Harry, who slopped quite a lot of water down his ****front as he waved back.**

"Awww," Tonks and Molly both cooed while the men laughed.

"Isn't that sweet?" cooed Tonks in a sing-song voice, "Harry has a _crrrrruuuussssh_!"

"Thatta boy, Harry!" Sirius snickered. He turned to Remus and asked, "Did you teach her too?"

Remus nodded with a slight smile. "She's very intelligent and pretty, an excellent flyer, and she's popular… but…"

"But what?" Sirius asked eagerly. This girl sounded like a keeper to him.

"Well, she's a little bit on the emotional side and her sense of humor is… pretty dry to be honest," Remus admitted. "I think that maybe Harry needs someone a little more—" he trailed off, unable to find the right word.

Sirius looked disappointed, but then brightened up and said in a teasing tone to Molly, "Well, there's always Ginny."

Molly and the other Weasleys laughed brightly at that thought. "Oh, as cute as that sounds," Molly said, "I really don't think that would happen…"

Mad-Eye rolled his magical eye. Are these people blind? The Weasley girl and Potter don't like each other? Maybe not _now_. But apparently they forgotten that the day that she was taken into the chamber was the _worst day of his life…_

**More to stop Ron from smirking than anything, Harry hurriedly pointed out a large group of teenagers whom he had never seen before.**

**"Who d'you reckon they are?" he said. "They don't go to Hogwarts, do they?"**

"There's more than one wizarding school in the world, you know," said Tonks as if she was talking to a small child.

"He doesn't know that though," Arthur reminded her.

"Well, he should use more of that common sense," Mad-Eye answered coolly.

**"'Spect they go to some foreign school," said Ron. "I know there are others. Never met anyone who went to one, though. Bill had a penfriend at a school in Brazil… this was years and years ago… **

Bill shuddered at the memory. He had received a package one day to find a beautiful hat inside and as soon as he put it on…

"What happened?" Tonks asked him. Instead of telling her, he read it out loud, still trying to erase the painful feeling of his ears shriveling up.

**and he wanted to go on an exchange trip but Mum and Dad couldn't afford it. His penfriend got all offended when he said he wasn't going and sent him a cursed hat. It made his ears shrivel up."**

"You never, ever, EVER open a package when you don't personally know the person," Mad-Eye barked, his eye on Bill

"I was twelve!" Bill retorted and he rubbed his ears at the thought. "And I thought I knew the person!" Tactfully, the others were holding back their laughter—but Molly pursed her own lips at the memory. They were scared half to death that Bill's hearing would be permanently damaged and had to rush him to St. Mungo's that day. Thank goodness for those Healers…

"Well, it's not your fault that happened!" said Sirius evenly. "It's them who can't take no for an answer. But a cursed hat is a good idea, though," he added to himself, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he came up with a few ideas of sending a couple to the Dursleys…

**Harry laughed but didn't voice the amazement he felt at hearing about other wizarding schools. He supposed, now that he saw representatives of so many nationalities in the campsite, that he had been stupid never to realize that Hogwarts couldn't be the only one.**

**He glanced at Hermione, who looked utterly unsurprised by the information. No doubt she ****had run across the news about other wizarding schools in some book or other.**

"How many books does she read?" asked Sirius incredulously. "No, actually… I think a better question is what _hasn't_ see read?"

"Just because you never read anything other than 'Quidditch through the Ages' doesn't mean that no one else does," Remus told him lightly. Sirius stuck his tongue out at him.

"Watch it," he warned. "Not everyone is blessed with being a genius like I was."

Everyone rolled their eyes and Mad-Eye whispered, "At least his confidence hasn't been ruined by Azkaban."

**"You've been ages," said George when they finally got back to the Weasleys' tents.**

**"Met a few people," said Ron, setting the water down. "You've not got that fire started yet?"**

**"Dad's having fun with the matches," said Fred.**

Everyone laughed and Arthur went slightly red, but couldn't hide the happy expression as he thought back to how the match started just by striking it… almost like magic… maybe Muggles knew more about magic than they gave them credit for…

**Mr. Weasley was having no success at all in lighting the fire, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Splintered matches littered the ground around him, but he looked as though he was having the time of his life.**

"You are something different," Kingsley said to Arthur fondly. "Really. We need more people who are as open-minded as you are."

"Thank you," he replied cheerfully.

**"Oops!" he said as he managed to light a match and promptly dropped it in surprise.**

**"Come here, Mr. Weasley," said Hermione kindly, taking the box from him, and showing him how to do it properly.**

**At last they got the fire lit, though it was at least another hour before it was hot enough to cook anything. **

"Oh, I'm starving…" Sirius groaned at the thought.

"We'll eat in a few chapters," Tonks promised.

"At least after the World Cup," Bill agreed, also starting to feel hunger in his stomach as well.

**There was plenty to watch while they waited, however. Their tent seemed to be pitched right alongside a kind of thoroughfare to the field, and Ministry members kept hurrying up and down it, greeting Mr. Weasley cordially as they passed. Mr. Weasley kept up a running commentary, mainly for Harry's and Hermione's benefit; his own children knew too much about the Ministry to be greatly interested.**

"Who would want to be interested in the Ministry anyway?" Sirius growled bitterly in an undertone.

**"That was Cuthbert Mockridge, Head of the Goblin Liaison Office… Here comes Gilbert Wimple; he's with the Committee on Experimental Charms; he's had those horns for a while ****now… **

"Poor bloke," Sirius said aghast. "That would be terrible to walk around with horns. How big are they?"

"They're small," Arthur said. "They're goat horns. As long as he remembers to wear a hat when he goes out in the Muggle world, then no one notices."

**Hello, Arnie… Arnold Peasegood, he's an Obliviator - member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, you know… and that's Bode and Croaker… they're Unspeakables…"**

**"They're what?"**

**"From the Department of Mysteries, top secret, no idea what they get up to…"**

They all froze at the mention of the Department of Mysteries; knowing full well what was that they were trying to protect there. Especially Arthur turned white at the name—having a violent flashback of foot long fangs sinking deeper into his body…

He shook his head, trying not to dwell on it—Molly took his hand, and he was glad to know that he wasn't the only one who was shaking…

**At last, the fire was ready, and they had just started cooking eggs and sausages when Bill, Charlie, and Percy came strolling out of the woods toward them.**

**"Just Apparated, Dad," said Percy loudly. "Ah, excellent, lunch!"**

"You mean to tell me that the law-abiding son was the one talking about magic in a Muggle environment?" whispered Sirius softly to Remus snidely before shaking his head in mild disgust. "And I thought that _I_ was a show-off."

"You are, Sirius," Remus whispered back.

**They were halfway through their plates of eggs and sausages when Mr. Weasley jumped to his feet, waving and grinning at a man who was striding toward them.**

**"Aha!" he said. "The man of the moment! Ludo!"**

**Ludo Bagman was easily the most noticeable person Harry had seen so far, even including old Archie in his flowered nightdress. **

"How can anyone be more noticeable than Old Archie?" Sirius demanded. Unless this guy was wearing a bowl of fruit on his head and dressed in a leopard-skin loincloth, he couldn't see how it was possible.

**He was wearing long Quidditch robes in thick horizontal stripes of bright yellow and black. An enormous picture of a wasp was splashed across his chest. **

"Wow. He really doesn't care about Anti-Muggle security does he?" Tonks stated, raising an eyebrow.

Mad-Eye shook his head. He had met Bagman only a few times before, and he was not impressed. He was far from professional in his opinion.

**He had the look of a powerfully built man gone slightly to seed; the robes were stretched tightly across a large belly he surely had not had in the days when he had played Quidditch for England. His nose was squashed (probably broken by a stray Bludger, Harry thought), but his round blue eyes, short blond hair, and rosy complexion made him look like a very overgrown schoolboy.**

"He acts likes one as well," Mad-Eye grumbled.

**"Ahoy there!" Bagman called happily. He was walking as though he had springs attached to the balls of his feet and was plainly in a state of wild excitement.**

"It's the Quidditch World Cup!" Sirius cried. "So I can understand that!"

Mad-Eye was lost in thought again when he realized, yet another important detail. _'Broken and injured noses are becoming more running bits and may have similar plots as the fingers and hands we saw in the last book.' _He ran his own hand over his own nose at that thought, already having a very good idea to why it was so important.

_'And I'm not buying that Bagman's broken nose was caused by a Bludger, especially because that doesn't make sense. In the magical world, broken bones can be mended in minutes, and there are always Healers at a Quidditch game specifically there in the first place! The only reason a broken bone would probably not be able to be fixed is either that the injury involved some Dark Magic, or that he wasn't able to get to a Healer in time. Wonder what he was up to?'_

But before he could think of an answer, Bill was reading in a tired tone, and he was wishing that they would get through this already.

**"Arthur, old man," he puffed as he reached the campfire, "what a day, eh? What a day! Could we have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless night coming… and hardly a hiccough in the arrangements… Not much for me to do!"**

**Behind him, a group of haggard-looking Ministry wizards rushed past, pointing at the distant evidence of some sort of a magical fire that was sending violet sparks twenty feet into the air.**

"Not much for him to do my arse," Sirius rolled his eyes.

**Percy hurried forward with his hand outstretched. **

_'Funny,'_ Tonks thought sarcastally. Despite his many complaints about Bagman, Percy was still trying to suck up.

**Apparently his disapproval of the way Ludo Bagman ran his department did not prevent him ****from wanting to make a good impression.**

A small sob escaped Molly's mouth to which Arthur wrapped an arm around her. Bill looked up at them sadly. The more times Percy was mentioned, the more they missed him. No matter what he was still family… and he wished that Percy would just grow up already. He knew his younger brother had always wanted to get ahead in life—but to throw your family away in the process…?

"Typical," Sirius snorted quietly, disgusted at that behavior. "So even this far back he was a power-hungry pawn of the Ministry."

"Sirius," Remus reprimanded, frowning at him—grateful that the Weasley couldn't hear him, and Sirius just shrugged.

**"Ah - yes," said Mr. Weasley, grinning, "this is my son Percy. He's just started at the Ministry - and this is Fred - no, George, sorry - that's Fred - Bill, Charlie, Ron - my daughter, Ginny and Ron's friends, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."**

**Bagman did the smallest of double takes when he heard Harry's name, and his eyes performed the familiar flick upward to the scar on Harry's forehead.**

"Poor kid," Kingsley sighed. He never really thought about it, but he was sure that would be a terrible thing to deal with everyday.

**"Everyone," Mr. Weasley continued, "this is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, it's thanks ****to him we've got such good tickets -"**

"I don't understand," Bill suddenly said. "I mean, if he was having so much trouble with his debts, than why not just sell those tickets?"

"I'm going to guess that his debts weren't as bad as they were right now," Remus suggested.

**Bagman beamed and waved his hand as if to say it had been nothing.**

**"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?" he said eagerly, jingling what seemed to be a large ****amount of gold in the pockets of his yellow-and-black robes.**

Molly looked outraged and muttered, "You better not have been gambling in front of the children."

Arthur looked away—dreading when they would be talking about who it was who had _really_ been gambling. Oh, he hoped that she wasn't going to kill the twins…

**"I've already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will score first - I offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years - and little Agatha Timms has put up half shares in her eel farm on a weeklong match."**

**"Oh… go on then," said Mr. Weasley. **

"Arthur," she warned.

"It wasn't much," Arthur defended quickly. "Just a friendly little bet."

_'Yeah,'_ Bill thought darkly. _'It's Fred and George who are about to be killed…'_

**"Let's see… a Galleon on Ireland to win?"**

**"A Galleon?" Ludo Bagman looked slightly disappointed, but recovered himself. "Very well, very well… any other takers?"**

**"They're a bit young to be gambling," said Mr. Weasley. "Molly wouldn't like -"**

"You bet I wouldn't," said Molly threateningly. "You shouldn't be betting either, Arthur. Look what happened to Bagman through gambling."

**"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts," said Fred as he and George quickly pooled all their money, "that Ireland wins - but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch.**

"WHAT?!" Molly screamed in horror. "WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? GAMBLING THEIR SAVINGS AWAY LIKE THAT?!"

"Thinking is the one thing I don't think they are doing," Tonks whispered in awe, as Molly went on ranting…

Bill almost had to scream to make himself heard.

**Oh and we'll throw in a fake wand."**

"Arthur you didn't really let them…" Molly began but got her answer as he shrugged helplessly.

She just looked away and shook her head, as if she couldn't believe this was happening… or rather _had_ happened.

**"You don't want to go showing Mr. Bagman rubbish like that," Percy hissed, but Bagman didn't seem to think the wand was rubbish at all; on the contrary, his boyish face shone with excitement as he took it from Fred, and when the wand gave a loud squawk and turned into a rubber chicken, Bagman roared with laughter.**

**"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!"**

Sirius smirked. He would've loved to have seen the look on Percy's face at that. Just because he thought it was rubbish, didn't mean everyone thought like him.

Tonks laughed. "Oh, I can picture it now—" she put up her hands as if she was movie director who had a burst of inspiration. "A face off between Harry vs. Voldemort… a horrible moment… Voldemort grabs a wand, and just as he casts a deadly spell, out bursts… a rubber chicken!" they all laughed at the thought—even Molly and Mad-Eye had to work hard to conceal their smiles at that one. "Wow," Tonks hiccupped. "These wands must be really good. If the twins are around, watch out for fake _anything's_…"

"This just proves the twins are awesome," Sirius grinned. "They really should open a joke shop. I can't wait to see it!"

**Percy froze in an attitude of stunned disapproval.**

**"Boys," said Mr. Weasley under his breath, "I don't want you betting… That's all your ****savings… Your mother -"**

Mad-Eye raised an eyebrow at those words. _'The poverty-stricken Weasley twins are betting their life savings on a whim? I don't think that's too lightly. How are they so certain that they're going to be right?'_

"I can't believe that you let them do that!" Molly hissed to Arthur who looked back helplessly.

"Now, Molly," he tried to defend himself. "I did tell them…"

But Bill went on, hoping that this wouldn't last too much longer.

**"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur!" boomed Ludo Bagman, rattling his pockets excitedly. "They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland will win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, not a chance… I'll give you excellent odds on that one… We'll add five Galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we…"**

"And what did they think they were going to do if they lost?" Molly began, but Arthur put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Dear, it's going to be alright. I think that the boys know more about what's going on than most of us."

**Mr. Weasley looked on helplessly as Ludo Bagman whipped out a notebook and quill and began jotting down the twins' names.**

**"Cheers," said George, taking the slip of parchment Bagman handed him and tucking it away into the front of his robes. **

Molly shook her head disapprovingly; looking forward to giving them a lecture about gambling.

**Bagman turned most cheerfully back to Mr. Weasley.**

**"Couldn't do me a brew, I suppose? I'm keeping an eye out for Barty Crouch. My Bulgarian opposite number's making difficulties, and I can't understand a word he's saying. Barty'll be able to sort it out. He speaks about a hundred and fifty languages."**

"How on earth could you even remember so many languages?!" cried out Sirius in annoyance. So exasperated, that he forgot for a moment that he hated Crouch.

**"Mr. Crouch?" said Percy, suddenly abandoning his look of poker-stiff disapproval and positively writhing with excitement. "He speaks over two hundred! Mermish and ****Gobbledegook and Troll…"**

"Troll? You don't need to be an expert to speak Troll," said Sirius, shrugging unconcernedly.

"They actually _have_ a language?" said Tonks in amazement. "I didn't know they did anything but grunt."

**"Anyone can speak Troll," said Fred dismissively. "All you have to do is point and grunt."**

"See?" she went on quickly. "How can you learn it? There's no point!"

**Percy threw Fred an extremely nasty look and stoked the fire vigorously to bring the kettle back to the boil.**

**"Any news of Bertha Jorkins yet, Ludo?" Mr. Weasley asked as Bagman settled himself down on the grass beside them all.**

The atmosphere in the room became more downhearted at the thought of Bertha's death and how no one bothered to look for her. But Bill went on bravely.

**"Not a dicky bird," said Bagman comfortably. "But she'll turn up. Poor old Bertha… memory like a leaky cauldron and no sense of direction.**

"Well, she definitely had no sense of direction -" Sirius grunted himself. "But a poor memory? Not at all." He knew that it was probably the Memory Charm that was placed on her by Barty Crouch that affected her mind.

"How can they not be worried that she's gone?" Bill asked. "I mean, if one of my employees disappeared, I would at least try to find out what happened!"

"Some people just don't care about what's going on," Mad-Eye answered with a glower. "They prefer to let others do the work for them."

"That's sick," Bill muttered.

**Lost, you take my word for it. She'll wander back into the office sometime in October, thinking it's still July."**

**"You don't think it might be time to send someone to look for her?" Mr. Weasley suggested tentatively as Percy handed Bagman his tea.**

"It won't make any difference… but he really should have," Molly frowned. "I can't believe him."

**"Barty Crouch keeps saying that," said Bagman, his round eyes widening innocently, "but ****we really can't spare anyone at the moment. Oh - talk of the devil! Barty!"**

Sirius sent a dark glare in the direction of the book. Everyone looked at him curiously and Remus placed his hand gently on Sirius's shoulder and squeezed it lightly—trying to tell him silently that it was going to be ok.

**A wizard had just Apparated at their fireside, and he could not have made more of a contrast with Ludo Bagman, sprawled on the grass in his old Wasp robes. Barty Crouch was a stiff, upright, elderly man, dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie. The parting in his short gray hair was almost unnaturally straight, and his narrow toothbrush mustache looked as though he trimmed it using a slide rule. His shoes were very highly polished. Harry could see at once why Percy idolized him. Percy was a great believer in rigidly following rules, and Mr. Crouch had complied with the rule about Muggle dressing so thoroughly that he could have passed for a bank manager; Harry doubted even Uncle Vernon would have spotted him for what he really was.**

"All the more reason to hate him!" Sirius said in disgust. Anyone who the Dursley's might've been ok with was sickening to him. "The man was married to his work."

**"Pull up a bit of grass, Barry," said Ludo brightly, patting the ground beside him.**

"Yeah, he'd be too worried about grass stains," Sirius growled again. "That or thinks he's about sitting on the grass is only for…"

"Ok, Sirius," Kingsley interrupted gently.

**"No thank you, Ludo," said Crouch, and there was a bite of impatience in his voice. "I've been looking for you everywhere. The Bulgarians are insisting we add another twelve seats to the Top Box."**

**"Oh is that what they're after?" said Bagman. "I thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of tweezers. Bit of a strong accent."**

"Idiot," Mad-Eye said in annoyance. How on earth could you ever think that?"

**"Mr. Crouch!" said Percy breathlessly, sunk into a kind of halfbow that made him look like a hunchback. "Would you like a cup of tea?"**

_'What a suck up,'_ Sirius thought resentfully, his bitterness towards Percy going up even more. Looks like they have a Crouch clone around. Sounds like Percy were in danger of becoming like Barty Crouch… if it wasn't too late already.

**"Oh," said Mr. Crouch, looking over at Percy in mild surprise. "Yes - thank you, Weatherby."**

"Weatherby?!" Sirius choked out, and several of them grinned. "He doesn't even know his name?!"

Even the Weasleys smiled half-heartedly, but their expressions still remained grim.

_'Percy must have been doing extremely important work for his boss, as Crouch, who speaks 200 languages, can't even remember Percy's name,' _Mad-Eye thought in amusement.

**Fred and George choked into their own cups. Percy, very pink around the ears, busied himself with the kettle.**

**"Oh and I've been wanting a word with you too, Arthur," said Mr. Crouch, his sharp eyes falling upon Mr. Weasley. "Ali Bashir's on the warpath. He wants a word with you about your embargo on flying carpets."**

**Mr. Weasley heaved a deep sigh.**

As did the present day Arthur.

**"I sent him an owl about that just last week. If I've told him once I've told him a hundred times: Carpets are defined as a Muggle Artifact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, but will he listen?"**

**"I doubt it," said Mr. Crouch, accepting a cup from Percy. "He's desperate to export here."**

"What's the point? They'll never be better than brooms," Sirius said with a moan of longing once again. He wasn't sure how much more he could take of being stuck on the ground.

**"Well, they'll never replace brooms in Britain, will they?" said Bagman.**

**"Ali thinks there's a niche in the market for a family vehicle," said Mr. Crouch. "I remember my grandfather had an Axminster that could seat twelve - but that was before carpets were banned, of course."**

Mad-Eye snorted. An Axeminster flying carpet? He vaguely recalled that being a well-known brand of Muggle carpeting. He also remembered all the times that a Muggle would accidently buy one of those carpets, only to be taken for a ride…

"They do sound better for families with young children," agreed Molly lightly.

"Blasphemy," Sirius cried out dramatically.

"Would you two solve this on your own time?" Mad-Eye barked at them. Honestly, it was like he was in a room of toddlers.

**He spoke as though he wanted to leave nobody in any doubt that all his ancestors had abided strictly by the law.**

"Not all of them," Sirius whispered, thinking hatefully of Crouch Jr.… that and the fact that Crouch himself had broken the law several times… the Memory Charm on Bertha Jorkins… sneaking his son out of prison…

**"So, been keeping busy, Barty?" said Bagman breezily.**

**"Fairly," said Mr. Crouch dryly. "Organizing Portkeys across five continents is no mean feat, Ludo."**

"Good, I hope he was miserable," Sirius croaked.

**"I expect you'll both be glad when this is over?" said Mr. Weasley.**

**Ludo Bagman looked shocked.**

**"Glad! Don't know when I've had more fun… Still, it's not as though we haven't got anything to look forward to, eh, Barty? Eh? Plenty left to organize, eh?"**

"Unfortunately," Remus sighed, knowing full well what they were talking about.

**Mr. Crouch raised his eyebrows at Bagman.**

**"We agreed not to make the announcement until all the details -"**

**"Oh details!" said Bagman, waving the word away like a cloud of midges. **

"So the details must've been the security and safety?" Sirius muttered scathingly. "That makes sense that they skipped over the most important parts."

**"They've signed, haven't they? They've agreed, haven't they? I bet you anything these kids'll know soon enough anyway. I mean, it's happening at Hogwarts -"**

"Why did it have to happen at Hogwarts in the first place?" Molly gasped out loud. "I mean, if students have had a history of dying during this then isn't it a bad sign that it is one of those traditions that should be thrown away?"

"Dumbledore wanted more relationships with the other schools," Kingsley explained. "Of course, none of us had any idea that there was Death Eater in disguise… if we had known…"

"Well, they should've done a lot more than just an age line!" Molly said forcefully. "How could they only stop at that?"

"Well, believe it or not," Kingsley explained, "There hadn't been an age limit before last year."

"What?!" Molly almost screamed at him.

"Yes," Kingsley said. "But Albus was especially insistent on it. To prevent anyone from getting hurt and…"

Mad-Eye shook his head and spoke in a brusque voice, "You just don't get it do you? The real reason why Dumbledore wanted an age limit so badly?"

"Get what?" Tonks demanded.

"If you can't figure it out for yourself, then you're hopeless," Mad-Eye said in a bad mood. After a few minutes of trying to get him to talk, they gave up, knowing that he wasn't going to explain until they either figured it out, or got so sick of them guessing. Arthur just told Bill to go on, in the meantime, they would try to guess what Mad-Eye was talking about.

**"Ludo, we need to meet the Bulgarians, you know," said Mr. Crouch sharply, cutting Bagman's remarks short. "Thank you for the tea, Weatherby."**

Bill's mouth twitched at the name, and almost choked as he said it.

**He pushed his undrunk tea back at Percy and waited for Ludo to rise; Bagman struggled to his feet, swigging down the last of his tea, the gold in his pockets chinking merrily.**

**"See you all later!" he said. "You'll be up in the Top Box with me -**

"The Top Box!" Sirius groaned, "Oh, I would've loved it."

**I'm commentating!" He waved, Barty Crouch nodded curtly, and both of them Disapparated.**

**"What's happening at Hogwarts, Dad?" said Fred at once. "What were they talking about?"**

**"You'll find out soon enough," said Mr. Weasley, smiling.**

"Something that never should have even taken place," Sirius growled under his breath. God, he was starting to sound like Molly again…

**"It's classified information, until such time as the Ministry decides to release it," said Percy stiffly. "Mr. Crouch was quite right not to disclose it."**

**"Oh shut up, Weatherby," said Fred.**

"Nice one, Fred," Tonks whispered.

**A sense of excitement rose like a palpable cloud over the campsite as the afternoon wore on. By dusk, the still summer air itself seemed to be quivering with anticipation, and as darkness spread like a curtain over the thousands of waiting wizards, the last vestiges of pretence disappeared: the Ministry seemed to have bowed to the inevitable and stopped fighting the signs of blatant magic now breaking out everywhere.**

"It _was_ great," Tonks said affectionately.

"You went?" Remus asked in surprise.

"Of course! With mum and dad! But our seats weren't anywhere near as nice as the Top Box," she answered mournfully.

"Wish I could've seen it," Remus sighed.

"Oh, you didn't go?" she asked him in disappointment.

"Well, you see," Remus said darkly, "Even the cheapest tickets still cost a lot. And unfortunately, I can't afford to spend money on just anything."

**Salesmen were Apparating every few feet, carrying trays and pushing carts full of extraordinary merchandise. There were luminous rosettes - green for Ireland, red for Bulgaria - which were squealing the names of the players, pointed green hats bedecked with dancing shamrocks, Bulgarian scarves adorned with lions that really roared,**

"Sounds like Gryffindor House," Sirius said. It almost made him sick to think they were going against the team that suddenly reminded him of Gryffindor… did that mean that they were supporting a team like Slytherin?

**flags from both countries that played their national anthems as they were waved; there were tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, ****which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening themselves.**

"That sounds wonderful," Sirius whispered and gave a great sigh of envy, but happy at the fact that Harry was there enjoying himself even if he couldn't be there with him.

**"Been saving my pocket money all summer for this," Ron told Harry as they and Hermione strolled through the salesmen, buying souvenirs. Though Ron purchased a dancing shamrock hat and a large green rosette, he also bought a small figure of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker. The miniature Krum walked backward and forward over Ron's hand, scowling up at the green rosette above him.**

"Even the toys of him are moody," Tonks stated, rolling her eyes. "That reminds me of someone…"

"Why are you looking at me when you said that?" Mad-Eye Moody asked me threateningly.

"Oh, nothing," she grinned back happily.

**"Wow, look at these!" said Harry, hurrying over to a cart piled high with what looked like brass binoculars, except that they were covered with all sorts of weird knobs and dials.**

**"Omnioculars," said the saleswizard eagerly. "You can replay action… slow everything down… and they flash up a play-by- play breakdown if you need it. Bargain - ten Galleons each."**

Sirius had to bite his tongue to keep him from saying anything. But he ached inside and wished he was there buying them for his godson._ 'Damn you, Wormtail…'_

**"Wish I hadn't bought this now," said Ron, gesturing at his dancing shamrock hat and gazing longingly at the Omnioculars.**

**"Three pairs," said Harry firmly to the wizard.**

**"No - don't bother," said Ron, going red. He was always touchy about the fact that Harry, ****who had inherited a small fortune from his parents, had much more money than he did.**

All the Weasleys looked a little uncomfortable at the mention of their money problems. Arthur felt the usual pain of not being able to support his family more, but Bill said suddenly, "It's Fudge's fault for not being able to see how important you are, Dad! Don't blame yourself! Like Dumbledore said last year, he puts too much importance in those ridiculous pureblood laws and expects nothing but blind loyalty. It has nothing to do with you or your hobbies."

He gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks son," he whispered softly. Now it only Percy could see that…

**"You won't be getting anything for Christmas," Harry told him, thrusting Omnioculars into his and Hermione's hands. "For about ten years, mind."**

"Why do I get the feeling that he'll conveniently forget that?" Sirius whispered to Remus who smiled back.

"Because that's what he does," he answered. "Hopefully, Ron will forget that…"

**"Fair enough," said Ron, grinning.**

**"Oooh, thanks, Harry," said Hermione. "And I'll get us some programs, look -"**

**Their money bags considerably lighter, they went back to the tents. Bill, Charlie, and Ginny were all sporting green rosettes too, and Mr. Weasley was carrying an Irish flag. Fred and George had no souvenirs as they had given Bagman all their gold.**

"It's all going to the joke shop," Sirius said.

"And what if they lost it?" Molly croaked out.

"Well, that isn't what happened isn't it?" Sirius asked, having heard who won. But he wasn't interested in that, he wanted to hear the game…

**And then a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods, and at once, green and red lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to the field.**

**"It's time!" said Mr. Weasley, looking as excited as any of them. "Come on, let's go!"**

Sirius's face lit up, and he started to bounce in his seat, grinning wildly. His face fell slightly as Bill closed the book.

"Why are you closing it?" he demanded.

"That's the end of the chapter," Bill said, "Not as bad as I thought it would be. Better than the first chapter I read anyway."

"But the game!" Sirius said excitedly, eyes bright with anticipation. "It's going to be the next chapter. And it's now my turn to read!"

Remus's lips twitched in amusement. "We did promise you that chapter. But something tells me that we might regret it." He then reached into his pocket for some of the earplugs that he had been smart enough to get the other day, knowing full well that Sirius was going to be doing a great deal of shouting soon.

"It's my turn now," Sirius snatched the book out of Bills hands, turned to the right page and began to speak in a loud, booming voice. "**Chapter 8: The Quidditch World Cup...**"

**(This chapter is over! I had been hoping to get it finished with yesterday, but I had a test to study for. Oh, well. Happy late Easter anyway. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. I'll update as soon as I can. And for those of you wondering what I meant about the _real_ reason Dumbledore wanted an age limit so badly? You'll find out once they return to Hogwarts and he starts explaining about the Triwizard Tournament!)**


	11. The Quidditch World Cup

**(Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling! I own nothing)**

**Chapter 10: The Quidditch World Cup**

"It's my turn now," Sirius snatched the book out of Bills hands, turned to the right page and began to speak in a loud, booming voice. "**Chapter 8: The Quidditch World Cup...**"

"This is it!" he cried out and grinned at them all, hardly noticing the picture of the Quidditch player ducking a Bludger and reaching for the Snitch. "FINALLY! I've been waiting for this since the end of the last book!" Sirius opened his mouth to read, but Mad-Eye was back on his feet and startled them all.

"What?!" Sirius demanded, frustrated.

"My hearing is one of the only few things that still works," he grunted. "And I rather not lose it listening to you screaming like some craved Quidditch fan girls!" Alastor's magical eye fixed itself on the door for a moment and a twisted grin appeared. No one else noticed this, aside from Kingsley that is…

"What is it?" he asked, his own eyes flying to the door.

"Nothing," he growled and left the room. "I'll be downstairs. When you all stop screaming, I'll know that it's over."

"Would it kill you to have some fun once in awhile, Mad-Eye?" Tonks called after him. "I will get you to read one of these chapters! You're the only one here who hasn't!"

"And it's going to stay that way!" he barked back before he shut the door behind him.

"Honestly," Tonks said after several seconds of silence. "You would think that he wouldn't want to have fun."

"I just don't think that he wants to read because he knows that we're going to interrupt every few lines," Remus answered.

"True," Tonks nodded. "But still…"

"Why don't we just continue?" Kingsley suggested, his eyes still fixed onto the door. He wasn't sure, but he couldn't help but feel as if Alastor was hiding something. "The sooner we continue, the sooner we can have Alastor join us."

**Clutching their purchases, Mr. Weasley in the lead, they all hurried into the wood, following the lantern-lit trail. They could hear the sounds of thousands of people moving around them, shouts and laughter, snatches of singing. The atmosphere of feverish excitement was highly infectious; Harry couldn't stop grinning. **

"Good for him," said Remus under his breath almost wistfully.

Sirius's enthusiasm faded for a moment as he imagining being there with Harry, teasing him about his crush and betting each other who would win or what they thought would happen.

_'At least I'll get to hear about it,' _he thought sadly. He gave his head a little shake as he brought himself back to the present and continued in an animated tone.

**They walked through the wood for twenty minutes, talking and joking loudly, until at last they emerged on the other side and found themselves in the shadow of a gigantic stadium. Though Harry could see only a fraction of the immense gold walls surrounding the field, he could tell that ten cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it.**

"It was gorgeous!" Tonks sighed as she remembered as she and her parents walked to their seats and saw how extravagance the whole thing was. "They sure didn't spare any expense!"

**"Seats a hundred thousand," said Mr. Weasley, spotting the awestruck look on Harry's face. **

Sirius smiled fondly, wishing more than ever that he was there in Mr. Weasley's place. Just imagining the look in his godson's green eyes… with James there and the two of them would be betting what was going to happen…

_'Snap out of it,'_ he told himself. _'You're reading this to help you… not wallow in the past anymore…'_

Remus looked at him and had just realized how difficult this must be for Sirius. The pain in his eyes was only serving to make him look even worse than before. "Sirius?" he asked almost cautiously. "Do you want me to read?"

"What?" Sirius asked confused as if he forgotten where he was, before he ran a hand through his dirty hair and said, "Oh… ah… No of course not!" he answered, raising his voice slightly on the last few words. "I've been looking forward to this, and I'm going to make sure that it's read right."

He blinked a few time in anger before he turned his full attention back onto the book, trying to convince himself that he was there… really there.

**"Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again… bless them," he added fondly, **

Everyone chuckled at Arthur's antics and Arthur smiled back. "It truly is amazing," he said warmly. "How far that Muggles are willing to go to try and keep their minds wrapped around things that they already know."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that it's only Muggles who are like that," Kingsley said, his smile fading a little. He remembered Fudge and how far he was willing to go to stay in control of a situation he knew.

**leading the way toward the nearest entrance, which was already surrounded by a swarm of shouting witches and wizards.**

"I hate lines," Tonks muttered grumpily. "I can't tell what's worse. Either waiting, or being rushed. And what do you know? That's what life is all about!"

"Never thought of it like that," Remus answered with a smile. "But I suppose you're right about that."

**"Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance when she checked their tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go."**

Sirius groaned, "Do you guys realize just how _lucky_ you were?! The Top Box! Even _really _rich families find it difficult to find seats there! That is hands down the best seat in the house."

"Arthur do you know _everyone_?" Tonks asked amazed.

He shrugged. "Just be friendly and polite and you make friends easily. And having friends are truly one of this world's greatest delights."

"Don't I know it," Remus muttered to himself sadly. Why did things have to turn out this way…?

**The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. They clambered upward with the rest of the crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into the stands to their left and right. Mr. Weasley's party kept climbing,**

"Mr. Weasley's party?" Sirius repeated with a laugh. "That makes it sound like you guys are throwing a wild and out-of-control party!"

"To be honest, the World Cup was nothing but a wild and out-of-control party," Arthur answered lightly. _'At least at first…'_ he then thought to himself as he remembered what was going to happen very soon. In a way, it was still a party… for Death Eaters that is.

**and at last they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts. **

"_Wow_…" Tonks groaned in envy. "I'd have killed for seats like that! I was stuck in the middle of a crowd and could hardly move!"

But she was smiling. Just hearing Sirius's awestruck excitement, everyone else was starting to feel their own anticipation kicking in. Just like when they read about the final match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Sirius's joyous mood was just infectious and it was easy to forget just how bad the world seemed to be outside this room.

**About twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here**, **and Harry, filing into the front seats with the Weasleys, looked down upon a scene the likes of which he could never have imagined.**

"So there are only twenty seats in there and there are, what, like ten people in your group alone?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah that sounds about right," Arthur admitted thinking back. "We took up half the box almost."

"Good," Sirius said forcefully as he turned the page. "Let's get to the good stuff already!" He smirked. "Though I have to say that I loved hearing about Harry's little crush on Miss Cho Chang."

They all laughed at that, Remus was privately thinking that it was probably a good thing that Harry wasn't here or he'd be embarrassed beyond belief over his crush. Though this didn't mean that Sirius wasn't going to forget this anytime soon. He was willing to bet that the next time that Harry was here, he was going to tease the kid about it. He glanced at Sirius's smirk and nodded. Yep, sure looks like it.

Sirius continued to smile and picked up where he left off.

**A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the field stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high;**

"Sounds quite magnificent," Remus sighed, still wishing that he could've gone.

"Of course it does!" Sirius said. "It's the World Cup. It HAS to be! And next time that the World Cup comes around, you're going!"

"W-what?" Remus croaked out, taken completely off guard.

"Oh, don't play dumb," Sirius teased. "I know that you're as much as a 'Quidditch nut'," he made air quotations in the air at the last two words, "As Mad-Eye thinks of us. And I know that you would've killed to have gone there like me. So next time I'm making sure that we'll all go!"

"Now,  
Sirius…" Remus croaked out, but Sirius ignored him as he then went on in his loud voice.

**right opposite them, almost at Harry's eye level, was a gigantic blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as though an invisible giant's hand were scrawling upon the blackboard and then wiping it off again; watching it, Harry saw that it was flashing advertisements across the field.**

"That sounds amazing," Molly murmured; she wasn't as interest in Quidditch as the others here, but hearing Harry's description of the atmosphere was really drawing her in.

**_The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family - safe, reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burgler Buzzer… Mrs. Shower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain!… Gladrags Wizardwear - London, Paris, Hogsmeade…_**

"Why would you even bother reading about the ads during the World Cup?!" Sirius scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Hurry up with the Quidditch!"

Arthur chuckled at the look on indignation on Sirius's face. He waved his "Guys, it's Harry's first Quidditch game, let him enjoy it!"

Sirius gave him a shady look but went on.

**Harry tore his eyes away from the sign and looked over his shoulder to see who else was sharing the box with them. So far it was empty, except for a tiny creature sitting in the second from last seat at the end of the row behind them. The creature, whose legs were so short they stuck out in front of it on the chair, was wearing a tea towel draped like a toga, and it had its face hidden in its hands. Yet those long, batlike ears were oddly familiar…**

"A house-elf?" Kingsley asked, frowning. "Why would a house-elf be there?"

"Strange…" Tonks said slowly, shaking her head. "I can't think why it would need to be there."

"It must be Winky," Molly said shaking her head, remembering sadly how much Hermione and Percy argued about that elf that summer. "She was Barty Crouch's elf."

"Right," Sirius hissed as his memory came back to him. "Harry told me about that. Said that she was 'saving a seat' for Crouch. Well, she was… just the wrong Crouch."

"Sirius," Remus said gently. But Sirius read the next line.

**"Dobby?" said Harry incredulously.**

"Does he think every house-elf is called Dobby or something?" Tonks asked, trying to lighten the mood. "I mean, just because it's a house-elf, that doesn't mean that it's Dobby. What are the odds of running into that one crazy elf again?"

"Nice try, Tonks," Sirius said, still sour as he turned the page so forcefully that it ripped.

**The tiny creature looked up and stretched its fingers, revealing enormous brown eyes and a nose the exact size and shape of a large tomato. It wasn't Dobby – it was, however, unmistakably a house-elf, as Harry's friend Dobby had been. Harry had set Dobby free from his old owners, the Malfoy family.**

"That was brilliant," Bills smirked. He wanted to shake that elf's hand when he heard about he had blasted Lucius Malfoy down those stairs. Especially when he learned when that monster slipped his little sister that diary… His fists clenched tightly in cold fury how he almost lost his sister.

Sirius was smiling a little wider at that and went on in a squeaky voice just like a house-elf.

**"Did sir just call me Dobby?" **

Tonks giggled at the squeaky voice that Sirius was using.

**squeaked the elf curiously from between its fingers. Its voice was higher even than Dobby's had been, a teeny, quivering squeak of a voice, and Harry suspected though it was very hard to tell with a house-elf – that this one might just be female. Ron and Hermione spun around in their seats to look. Though they had heard a lot about Dobby from Harry, they had never actually met him. **

"Hard to forget him," Sirius muttered with a frown. "His idea to save Harry was to put him in the hospital."

"But he did blast Lucius at the end?" Bill offered. "And if it weren't for him, we might not have been able to guess that it _was_ Malfoy behind it."

"Fair enough," Sirius admitted. "I'll let that slide."

**Even Mr. Weasley looked around in interest.**

**"Sorry," Harry told the elf, "I just thought you were someone I knew."**

Tonks smiled. "He's sweet. Most people would just look down and insult the poor thing. But he's so well-mannered. I can't see where he would pick that up…"

"He is Lily's son as well as James's," Remus said with a smile. "She had always been so polite to people until they gave her reason not to. I think that might have at least a small part to do in this."

"Like mother, like son," Tonks grinned.

**"But I knows Dobby too, sir!" squeaked the elf.**

"Whoa, talk about your small world," Tonks said shocked. "Did she just say that she knew him as well?"

"Those are extraordinary odds!" said Kingsley with a chuckle. "Of all the places to meet someone who knows Dobby, it had to be in the Top Box at the Quidditch World Cup!"

"Maybe all house-elves know each other?" Sirius shrugged. "Makes sense to me."

**She was shielding her face, as though blinded by light, though the Top Box was not brightly lit. "My name is Winky, sir - and you, sir -" Her dark brown eyes widened to the size of side plates as they rested upon Harry's scar. "You is surely Harry Potter!"**

**"Yeah, I am," said Harry.**

**"But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!" she said, lowering her hands very slightly and looking awestruck.**

"Wonder what he says?" Molly asked curiously.

"Probably worshiping the ground Harry walks on," Bill answered with a laugh. "At least that's what I picked up when we read about him."

**"How is he?" said Harry. "How's freedom suiting him?"**

"He'd like it wouldn't he?" asked Molly in concern.

"Actually, most house-elves hate being freed," Sirius answered her, longing to get rid of Kreacher and be free of _him_. "They think freedom is the worst thing that can ever happen to someone. But if Dobby served the Malfoy's… well, I can't blame him for wanting to be rid of them."

**"Ah, sir," said Winky, shaking her head, "ah sir, meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free."**

"Oh no," Tonks frowned, looking concerned. "What's wrong with him? Why would setting him free a bad thing?"

"He was freed from the Malfoys!" snarled Sirius. "Personally, I think it's the best thing Harry could have possibly done for him! If it were me, I would be happy!"

"Damn straight!" Bill agreed.

"Bill…" Molly warned him, though, she too felt concern for the poor elf.

**"Why?" said Harry, taken aback. "What's wrong with him?"**

**"Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir," said Winky sadly. "Ideas above his station, sir. Can't get another position, sir."**

"What? Why not? Plenty of people would want a house elf!" Molly exclaimed. "I personally would love one to do the ironing."

"Something tells me that finding a family isn't a problem," Remus spoke up logically. "It's getting one who will keep him that is…"

**"Why not?" said Harry.**

**Winky lowered her voice by a half-octave and whispered, _"He is wanting paying for his work, sir."_**

"That makes sense," Kingsley nodded in understanding. "Now I see why it would be difficult for him to find work."

"Well, what's wrong with that?" asked Tonks folding her arms. She worked hard and risked her life on a daily basis. While she believed in what she was fighting for, it was also nice to know that she at least was getting paid for it. How else could she afford her rent?

Kingsley looked at her. "House-elves don't get paid. It's disrespectful to them. And I can't think of too many people who would want to pay their House-elf to do the work for them."

"Well, that's rubbish!" Tonks muttered furiously and she folded her arms and leaned back in a pout. Seeing the way she stuck out her lip like that, Remus couldn't help but laugh at how cute she was. The kiss that the two of them shared suddenly came back into him mind…

He could still feel her warm lips on his own. The same warm and sweet taste… the feeling of coming home to a place where he knew that he belonged in…

He looked away from her face, afraid that if he looked at her any longer, he wouldn't be able to hold himself back and kiss her here in the room. But the longer he did, the more his heart felt as if it were being torn out of him. He had hated his curse with a passion since the night he had been bitten… but never had he hated more than before now.

**"Paying?" said Harry blankly. "Well - why shouldn't he be paid?"**

"Exactly!" said Tonks vehemently. "If I have to clean up after people all day, I would like to know that I was being paid for my work."

"It's just the prejudices that the wizarding world has," said Kingsley, shaking his head in disgust.

"Well, that is just…" Tonks began, but seemed unable to find a word for this.

**Winky looked quite horrified at the idea and closed her fingers slightly so that her face was half-hidden again.**

"What's with her?" Bill asked in confusion.

"You were there, you tell us," Sirius reminded him.

"Just because I was there, doesn't mean that I was listening," Bill answered back.

**"House-elves is not paid, sir!" she said in a muffled squeak. "No, no, no. I says to Dobby, I says, go find yourself a nice family and settle down, Dobby. He is getting up to all sorts of high jinks, sir, what is unbecoming to a house-elf. You goes racketing around like this, Dobby, I says, and next thing I hear you's up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common goblin."**

"Well, she's not paranoid at all…" Sirius murmured with a glance at Molly. "Now why does that sound familiar?"

"It does sound like what you had said to the twins doesn't it, Mum?" Bill said smiling and his mother blushed.

"Is it wrong to worry that my children might get into trouble for who knows what?" she asked them all. "I don't want to lecture them. But I'm afraid that they might take their jokes to far someday and get into serious trouble, or their jokes might cause someone some serious harm."

"We know, dear," Arthur comforted and he took her hand. "But you know as well as I do that the boys would never intend to hurt someone."

"That doesn't mean that it might not happen by accident," Molly said back.

But Tonks asked a different question. "They cannot do that just because Dobby wants to be paid?" She looked at Kinsley and Remus for the answer. She was surprised that Remus couldn't seem to bring himself to look up at her, but Kingsley answered.

"Don't worry Tonks, they can't," he assured her. "Only if he does something serious like stealing, or using his own magic to harm someone else. If he just _wants_ to be paid and can't find work then they can't do anything about that. Most house-elves are quite proud of serving their masters… they can't even think _not _serving someone."

"Yeah, most house elves end up punishing themselves if they do something wrong," Sirius said and then added under his breath, "Wish Kreacher was the same."

**"Well, it's about time he had a bit of fun," said Harry.**

**"House-elves is not supposed to have fun, Harry Potter," said Winky firmly, from behind her hands. "House-elves does what they is told. **

"Sounds like something Percy would do," Sirius muttered to Remus out of the corner of his mouth. Remus nudged him in the side, silently warning him to behave himself.

**I is not liking heights at all, Harry Potter" - she glanced toward the edge of the box and gulped - "but my master sends me to the Top Box and I comes, sir."**

"In other words he's a jerk," he grumbled to himself; his hatred for Crouch growing each time his name was mentioned.

**"Why's he sent you up here, if he knows you don't like heights?" said Harry, frowning.**

"Because she's there and wizards are far too used to having house-elves do the work for them," Tonks said patiently, as though Harry was right there next to her.

"Well said," Remus muttered softly, still unable to look at her.

**"Master - master wants me to save him a seat, Harry Potter. He is very busy," said Winky, tilting her head toward the empty space beside her. "Winky is wishing she is back in master's tent, Harry Potter, but Winky does what she is told. Winky is a good house-elf."**

"It's so sad, they've got them so scared and brainwashed that they don't realize they should have it better than they do," Tonks said.

"I have to agree with Hermione's mission for better lives for house-elves," Kingsley said as he remembered how the girl went on about house-elf rights when he met her last summer.

**She gave the edge of the box another frightened look and hid her eyes completely again. ****Harry turned back to the others.**

**"So that's a house-elf?" Ron muttered. "Weird things, aren't they?"**

"Some are weird and then there are those who are the ban of some wizard's existence," said Sirius, a glint in his eye as he remembered Kreacher. That house-elf had been a bur in his butt for as long as he could remember.

**"Dobby was weirder," said Harry fervently.**

"Dobby was completely nuts," said Sirius nodding.

"But he's really very sweet if you think about it," Tonks smiled fondly. "He thought that what he was doing was the best thing. House-elves just think that way."

"Yeah," Sirius muttered, "Well, Kreacher is still the weirdest of them all."

Arthur sniggered at Sirius' remark before drawling, "Well, poor Kreacher did have to serve your dear mother for a living, can you blame him?"

"Fair enough," Sirius nodded.

**Ron pulled out his Omnioculars and started testing them, staring down into the crowd on the other side of the stadium.**

**"Wild!" he said, twiddling the replay knob on the side. "I can make that old bloke down there pick his nose again… and again… and again…"**

The boys all chuckled while Molly shook her head.

"How mature," Tonks giggled.

"Yes, I'm glad to know that he is now as mature as five year old," Molly answered and rubbing her eyes.

**Hermione, meanwhile, was skimming eagerly through her velvet covered, tasseled program.**

**"'A display from the team mascots will precede the match,'" she read aloud.**

**"Oh that's always worth watching," said Mr. Weasley. "National teams bring creatures from their native land, you know, to put on a bit of a show."**

"That's cool, what were they?" Sirius asked Bill and Arthur enthusiastically.

"Think of it this way," Arthur said as he remembered how the two mascots raged war on the field. "It was a show that no one will forget in a hurry."

**The box filled gradually around them over the next half hour. Mr. Weasley kept shaking ****hands with people who were obviously very important wizards. **

"Great," said Sirius in disgust._ 'Percy'll be in his element. Honestly, he's really beginning to get on my nerves!'_

"Down boy," Remus said to him.

**Percy jumped to his feet so often that he looked as though he were trying to sit on a hedgehog. When Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself, arrived, Percy bowed so low that his glasses fell off and shattered.**

Tonks and Sirius smirked at that, ready to make some kind of comment, but Molly's glare silenced the both of them before they even had a chance to make fun of Percy.

**Highly embarrassed, he repaired them with his wand and thereafter remained in his seat, throwing jealous looks at Harry, whom Cornelius Fudge had greeted like an old friend. They had met before, and Fudge shook Harry's hand in a fatherly fashion, **

_'Amazing how that changes by the end of the year,' _Sirius thought angrily. Sure, when Harry is shown in a good light, Fudge shucks up. But as soon as Harry says something that he doesn't like then suddenly he's labeled as _'mentally unstable'_ and a _'chronic liar'_!

**asked how he was, and introduced him to the wizards on either side of him.**

**"Harry Potter, you know," he told the Bulgarian minister loudly, who was wearing splendid robes of black velvet trimmed with gold and didn't seem to understand a word of English.**

Arthur chuckled, "That's what he wants them to think."

**"Harry Potter… oh come on now, you know who he is… the boy who survived You-Know-Who… you do know who he is -"**

"It's probably easier to make a list of wizards who _don't_ know who he is," Bill declared with a yawn.

"You have to have been living under a rock or in a lake not to know," Tonks added.

**The Bulgarian wizard suddenly spotted Harry's scar and started gabbling loudly and excitedly, pointing at it.**

**"Knew we'd get there in the end," said Fudge wearily to Harry. **

"You notice that he's showing Harry off to that Minister like he's some prize show-dog?" Sirius snarled through gritted teeth. "Like he's their mascot."

"Sirius," Kingsley said sternly, though he had to admit that it certainly sounded that way to him.

**"I'm no great shakes at languages; I need Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah, I see his house-elf's saving him a seat…**

"Not him, his son," Sirius growled back to himself as the grip on the book hardened again. He hoped that the match started soon, he didn't know how much more of this he could stand before he snapped.

**Good job too, these Bulgarian blighters have been trying to cadge all the best places… **

"I thought the Bulgarians were trying to get extra seats not take all of the good ones," said Kingsley coolly, but there was a slight sharpness to his voice.

"Who knows, maybe they went for the good ones when they found out they couldn't make more," Remus suggested, but it didn't sound like he believed it himself.

"Prejudice," Arthur whispered, knowing that was how Fudge felt about foreigners as well as what one would call 'half-breeds.'

**ah, and here's Lucius!"**

"Oh joy," Sirius stated mockingly and rolling his eyes. "Malfoy's here as well. This can't get any better."

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned quickly. Edging along the second row to three still-empty seats right behind Mr. Weasley were none other than Dobby the house-elf's former owners: ****Lucius Malfoy; his son, Draco; and a woman Harry supposed must be Draco's mother. **

"Yay," Tonks said sarcastically and clapped in an insulting way, "The whole, bloody family is here. Just what we always wanted."

"If she's got a look like she's just swallowed a lemon, I am certain that's Narcissa," Sirius muttered under his breath with vengeance. Why did he have to be born as a Black? It was relatives like this that make him never want to have children. Honestly, he be doing any child a favor not having to be born with such… _black blood_…

**Harry and Draco Malfoy had been enemies ever since their very first journey to Hogwarts. A pale boy with a pointed face and white-blond hair, Draco greatly resembled his father. **

"Like we need _two _of them walking around," Sirius threw his arms up in the air, before looking to the cling as though praying for patience through this horrible revelation. "It's bad enough that we have one pale, rat-faced git!"

"Sirius, would you rather I read?" Kingsley offered.

"NO!" he snapped back.

**His mother was blonde too; tall and slim, she would have been nice-looking if she hadn't ****been wearing a look that suggested there was a nasty smell under her nose.**

"Well, dear little Dracy's there, isn't he?" said Tonks in a baby-talk voice and the others laughed.

"So she hasn't changed then?" Sirius asked them. "I haven't seen her since I ran away from home." His eyes narrowed around the room as he said that, but he didn't say anything.

"That's how she looks the few times I've seen her," Kingsley said darkly. "From what I heard she hardly leaves the house."

"House?" Sirius repeated in disgust. "More like a morgue. And that doesn't surprise me at all. She doesn't want to share the rest of _'her world'_ with us _'commoners'_." He kept making air quotations in air. He looked over at Tonks and said, "Thank god, Andromeda's smarter than that. She had the guts to go against the family's stupid ways."

"Just like you?" Tonks said as she thought of her mother with pride.

He grinned back. "One of my happiest memories is the day I left… I'll always look back on that fondly."

**"Ah, Fudge," said Mr. Malfoy, holding out his hand as he reached the Minister of Magic. ****"How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?"**

"Auntie Narcissa," Tonks murmured under her breath before she shuddered. "No, no, I don't like the sound of that at all."

"Who would want to meet them?" Arthur asked while rolling his eyes.

"Nobody with any decently, that's for sure," said Bill spitefully.

"And if he had any sense, I'm sure he's never want to meet them," snarled Sirius. "Then again, this is Fudge we're talking about, so I'm not surprised that he has no sense."

**"How do you do, how do you do?" said Fudge, smiling and bowing to Mrs. Malfoy. "And allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk - Obalonsk - Mr. - well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind. And let's see who else - you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"**

"What a fantastic minister," Molly said scathingly, rolling her eyes. "Can't even pronounce a visitor's name right. I would've found that insulting."

"You know, I vaguely recall that the two of them met, right Remus?" Sirius whispered, smugly. "You know? The last time that Arthur and Malfoy were in the same room?"

"I think I recall a meeting once, Padfoot," Remus smiled back.

**It was a tense moment. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy looked at each other and Harry vividly recalled the last time they had come face-to-face: It had been in Flourish and Blotts' bookshop, and they had had a fight. **

Arthur's face grew slightly red at remembering the fight he supposedly would have with Lucius. Molly was glaring at him remembering it as well.

"I applaud you for that mate," Sirius stated and clapped loudly. "IT's about time someone stood up and put him in his place."

Arthur smiled again and nodded his head slightly at them both. There were many things in this world he regretted doing… punching Malfoy like that wasn't one of them.

**Mr. Malfoy's cold gray eyes swept over Mr. Weasley, and then up and down the row.**

**"Good lord, Arthur," he said softly. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"**

"And I wonder how much money you had to spend to buy your way into Fudge's good books!" snapped Sirius, scowling darkly at the book.

Everyone in the room glared at the book hatefully. Sirius had to put it down to keep from tearing it in half. A few minutes later once everyone had regained what little of their tempers they could, Sirius began to read again.

**Fudge, who wasn't listening, said, "Lucius has just given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur. He's here as my guest."**

_'Not good…'_ thought Kingsley intriguingly._ 'Is this evidence that there may be some mal practice going on at St. Mungo's? We know that Malfoy uses his money and influence to control some of the Ministry. Now we see that even the wizarding hospital may be under his control. So, anyone he doesn't like could end up not recovering, or worse… what about people Malfoy does like? Are they given special treatments?'_

Tons suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "What a suck up; he doesn't care about St. Mungo's at all!" Tonks said.

"Yep, Lucius as Fudge tied to a string like a yo-you alright," said Sirius rolling his eyes. "Really, you'd think Fudge would recognize a bribe when he sees it!"

"Yes, well, we're talking about Fudge aren't we?" said Bill dryly.

**"How - how nice," said Mr. Weasley, with a very strained smile.**

**Mr. Malfoy's eyes had returned to Hermione, who went slightly pink, but stared ****determinedly back at him.**

"Good, don't let him intimidate you Hermione," Molly smiled encouragingly.

"Thatta girl, Hermione," cheered on Sirius. "You show the git you're not afraid of him."

"Looking down on her just because she's Muggle-born!" muttered Arthur angrily. "Disgusting."

"Don't worry," Tonks said determinedly. She had been so fond of that girl since she met her over the summer and hearing her insulted like this was like hearing her little sister insulted. "We all know that Hermione's three times the person all three Malfoy's ever will be."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Bill nodded.

**Harry knew exactly what was making Mr. Malfoy's lip curl like that. The Malfoys prided themselves on being purebloods; in other words, they considered anyone of Muggle descent, like Hermione, second-class.**

"Which is what Malfoy is in reality, because he's a Voldemort supporter!" snapped Arthur, uncharacteristically bitter.

"Oh yes. The smartest witch of her age is second class," Tonks scoffed, "Hey, if she beats your son in every exam, really makes you wonder what his son is."

Sirius smirked at that.

**However, under the gaze of the Minister of Magic, Mr. Malfoy didn't dare say anything. He nodded sneeringly to Mr. Weasley and continued down the line to his seats. Draco shot Harry, Ron, and Hermione one contemptuous look, then settled himself between his mother and father.**

**"Slimy gits," Ron muttered as he, Harry, and Hermione turned to face the field again. **

"Couldn't agree more." Sirius said appreciatively.

**Next moment, Ludo Bagman charged into the box.**

**"Everyone ready?" he said, his round face gleaming like a great, excited Edam. "Minister - ready to go?"**

"YES!" Sirius said immediately, his eyes widening in excitement—all previous bad moods disappearing. "Start the match! Come on!"

**"Ready when you are, Ludo," said Fudge comfortably.**

_'This is it!' _Sirius thought, excitement bubbling up within him once more. His smile fell a little however; why couldn't it be _him_ sitting with Harry in the stadium? Why couldn't it be _him_ buying his godson souvenirs? Why couldn't _he _just _be there_, damnit?

Taking a deep, shaky breath, he decided that he wouldn't dwell on it right now. Sirius knew that he just had to enjoy the experience from Harry's point of view and that he would just have to be happy enough knowing that his godson was having fun.

**Ludo whipped out his wand, directed it at his own throat, and said "Sonorus!" and then spoke over the roar of sound that was now filling the packed stadium; his voice echoed over them, booming into every corner of the stands.**

**"Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"**

Sirius was grinning wildly at those words, and the others were watching him in amusement as he began reading in a loud, echoing voice.

**The spectators screamed and clapped. Thousands of flags waved, adding their discordant national anthems to the racket. The huge blackboard opposite them was wiped clear of its last message _(Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans - A Risk With Every Mouthful!) _and now showed BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.**

_'Hopefully we can get through this without losing our hearing,'_ Remus thought as he winced slightly as Sirius's voice kept rising with every word.

**"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce… the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"**

**The right-hand side of the stands, which was a solid block of scarlet, roared its approval.**

**"I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning forward in his seat. "Aaah!" He suddenly whipped off his glasses and polished them hurriedly on his robes. "Veela!"**

"OH GOD!" Sirius groaned immediately, and the two women in the room rolled their eyes. Arthur had wisely kept his mouth shut, fearing Molly's wrath if he was to say anything about the Bulgarian mascots.

"That's smart of them, now they'll have practically all the males rooting for Bulgaria," said Remus.

"Are the powers of a Veela really that strong?" asked Tonks curiously. "I never noticed it."

"That's because you're a woman," Bill told her as if it was obvious. "Veela may work on men, but it has no effect on women."

"Oh, right," Tonks said smirking rather smugly.

**"What are veel -?"**

**But a hundred veela were now gliding out onto the field, and Harry's question was ****answered for him. Veela were women… the most beautiful women Harry had ever seen…except that they weren't - they couldn't be - human. **

"Well, that's because they're not," answered Tonks.

"Looks like Harry's fallen under the Veela's spell," said Sirius, shaking his head ruefully.

"It's irresistible to most men," Bill nodded. "Fleur told me that only men who either have already found true love, or have a great since of character are resistant to it."

"That explains a lot," Tonks said as she remembered how all the men that were sitting near her had fallen under the Veela's spell… everyone but her dad that was. She smiled. Now she knew… it was because her father had met his true love.

**This puzzled Harry for a moment while he tried to guess what exactly they could be; what could make their skin shine moon-bright like that, or their white-gold hair fan out behind them without wind… **

Bill blushed crimson at the thought of Fleur—that was how she looked to him—but it was more than that. There was something more to it that. It was her… everything. Not just her looks. It was her personality, her mind… she just seemed to have made everything beautiful… his eyes gazed over slightly at the thought of her blue eyes.

Arthur looked over at him and saw the far-away look in his eyes. He smiled, having a slight suspicion to what his eldest son was thinking about.

Sirius groaned in longing.

Molly snorted, "For God's sake—you sound so shallow!"

"I can't help it," he moaned. "I hadn't had a girlfriend for years. Like I said to Remus here," he jerked his thumb at Remus. "You can't live off bread and water alone."

Remus turned crimson red and looked ready to kill Sirius on the spot.

"What was that?" Tonks asked him politely as everyone looked at Remus with new interest.

Remus grabbed Sirius by the shoulder and hissed into his ear, "Once we're alone… remind me to _kill_ you."

"Can do," Sirius said cheerfully as he went back to the book. But Tonks was looking at Remus with new curiosity. Remus could only hide his face in his hands and wish to disappear into the floor.

**but then the music started, and Harry stopped worrying about them not being human - in ****fact, he stopped worrying about anything at all.**

"So that's how boys feel around Veela," Molly spoke up, feeling sorry for Remus and deciding to try and change the subject.

"Yep, he's under the spell alright," said Sirius, his mouth twitching slightly—oh, he was looking forward to asking Harry about this next summer.

"But he's never heard of Veela before, someone should have warned him," Molly protested, sounding worried about what Harry might so under the influence of the spell.

**The veela had started to dance, and Harry's mind had gone completely and blissfully blank. All that mattered in the world was that he kept watching the veela, because if they stopped ****dancing, terrible things would happen.**

The two women were shaking their heads at that line.

"Oh, please," Tonks said through laughter. "That's just sad."

"Tis the charm of veela," Sirius said mournfully.

**And as the veela danced faster and faster, wild, half-formed thoughts started chasing through Harry's dazed mind. He wanted to do something very impressive, right now. Jumping from the box into the stadium seemed a good idea… **

"Harry Potter!" Molly shrieked in shock. "Don't you dare!" Sirius was definitely beginning to look worried now, his parental instincts completely taking over his common sense.

**but would it be good enough?**

"If you even dare!" said Molly, sounding both angry and hysterical. She looked so dangerous at that moment that nobody bothered to tell her that Harry couldn't hear her. Arthur on the other hand said, "He didn't do any sort of thing, Molly. Don't worry, he was snapped out of it before he could actually do it.

"Wow. Is that seriously what males think when they see veela?" Tonks asked shocked, raising an eyebrow as the others sighed in relief.

"Apparently," Kingsley said smiling. "It's in the male nature. They see a girl they like, they want to impress them even if, in the end, it's a stupid idea."

"You would know this because…?" Sirius asked him with a smirk.

Kingsley chuckled. "Believe it or not, I was once young and foolish as well."

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Sirius asked with a shake of the head.

**"Harry, what are you doing?" said Hermione's voice from a long way off.**

**The music stopped. Harry blinked. He was standing up, and one of his legs was resting on the wall of the box. Next to him, Ron was frozen in an attitude that looked as though he were about to dive from a springboard.**

The boys burst out laughing while the women tuttered at the thought.

**Angry yells were filling the stadium. The crowd didn't want the veela to go. Harry was with them; he would, of course, be supporting Bulgaria, and he wondered vaguely why he had a large green shamrock pinned to his chest. Ron, meanwhile, was absentmindedly shredding the shamrocks on his hat. Mr. Weasley, smiling slightly, leaned over to Ron and tugged the hat out of his hands.**

"At least you have sense, Arthur," Molly huffed at the behavior going on here.

"Don't be too hard on them Molly," Remus said, speaking for the first time since that embarrassment Sirius said. "Harry, after all, didn't even know what Veela were until then."

"It was a smart idea," Tonks committed. "Easy way to get more than half the stadium on your side."

**"You'll be wanting that," he said, "once Ireland have had their say."**

**"Huh?" said Ron, staring openmouthed at the veela, who had now lined up along one side of the field.**

**Hermione made a loud tutting noise. ****She reached up and pulled Harry back into his seat. "Honestly!" she said.**

Molly let out a relieved breath, glad that she wouldn't have to worry about anyone about to topple out of the top box. "Thank Merlin for Hermione."

"I completely agree with you there, Hermione," said Tonks, nodding.

"Hey, it's not our fault veela happen to have powers that make men do things they normally wouldn't," said Sirius defensively.

_'I think that all women have that effect on people, veela or not,' _Kingsley thought privately.

**"And now," roared Ludo Bagman's voice, "kindly put your wands in the air… for the Irish National Team Mascots!"**

**Next moment, what seemed to be a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light. The crowd oooohed and aaaaahed, as though at a fireworks display. **

"It was very impressive," Arthur nodded. "You had to hand it to them… they sure know how to put on a show."

**Now the rainbow faded and the balls of light reunited and merged; they had formed a great shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands. Something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it –**

"What was it?" Kingsley asked curiously.

**"Excellent!" yelled Ron as the shamrock soared over them, and heavy gold coins rained from it, bouncing off their heads and seats. Squinting up at the shamrock, Harry realized that it was actually comprised of thousands of tiny little bearded men with red vests, each carrying a minute lamp of gold or green.**

"You know when it's put like that, they sound so cute…" Tonks said with an air of surprise.

"Well, they are far from cute," Arthur answered. Wondering what on earth they were talking about, Sirius read on ahead and understood as soon as he saw the next word.

**"Leprechauns!" said Mr. Weasley over the tumultuous applause of the crowd, many of whom were still fighting and rummaging around under their chairs to retrieve the gold.**

They were all shaking their heads. "I don't know why they bother," Bill said with a shrug. "Leprechauns can be very crafty creatures. Their gold disappears after a few hours."

"I'm surprised so many people don't know that," said Sirius, sniggering.

**"There you go," Ron yelled happily, stuffing a fistful of gold coins into Harry's hand, "for the Omnioculars! Now you've got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!"**

"I have a feeling Ron doesn't know that either," Remus commented, lips twisting into a frown. Apparently, he didn't know that Leprechaun gold vanishes after a few hours.

"I doubt Harry will tell him anyway, to be honest," Sirius shrugged. Even when it did vanish, Harry wouldn't care or even notice it.

**The great shamrock dissolved, the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the veela, and settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.**

**"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you – Dimitrov!"**

Sirius face lit up slightly. They were announcing the players, it was almost time!

**A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters.**

**"Ivanova!"**

**A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out.**

**"Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand - Krum!"**

"Sirius please stop screaming," Molly moaned with her hands over her ears.

"Yes, please," Remus agreed with a whimper.

"Sorry," Sirius said, but he didn't seem ready to stop anytime soon.

**"That's him, that's him!" yelled Ron, following Krum with his Omnioculars. Harry quickly focused his own.**

**Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an overgrown bird of prey. It was hard to believe he was only eighteen.**

"I'm curious to see how good he actually is," Remus said thoughtfully. "Everyone was always speaking so highly of him. He must he one amazing player."

"If only we could actually BE there!" Sirius said, staring at the book with utmost longing.

**"And now, please greet - the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Bagman. "Presenting - Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand - Lynch!"**

**Seven green blurs swept onto the field; Harry spun a small dial on the side of his Omnioculars and slowed the players down enough to read the word "Firebolt" on each of their brooms and see their names, embroidered in silver, upon their backs.**

Sirius smirked at that. Well, he was planning on seeing his godson like that one day.

**"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"**

**A small and skinny wizard, completely bald but with a mustache to rival Uncle Vernon's, wearing robes of pure gold to match the stadium, strode out onto the field. A silver whistle was protruding from under the mustache, and he was carrying a large wooden crate under one arm, his broomstick under the other.**

"I can't wait!" Tonks said excitedly, leaning forward, anxious to hear the game over again.

**Harry spun the speed dial on his Omnioculars back to normal, watching closely as Mostafa mounted his broomstick and kicked the crate open - four balls burst into the air: the scarlet Quaffle, the two black Bludgers, and (Harry saw it for the briefest moment, before it sped ****out of sight) the minuscule, winged Golden Snitch.**

"He saw it!" Remus said, deeply impressed.

"Unbelievable," cried Sirius eyebrows shooting up towards his hairline and eyes shining with overwhelming pride. "Well, don't know why I'm so surprised! Of course he would see it! Harry isn't the youngest Seeker in a century for nothing! That's my boy! It's nearly impossible to see the Snitch at a professional match. To have seen the snitch at the world cup game from the _top box_! He was born to be a Seeker!" they let Sirius carry on for some time before they quietly asked him to continue.

Sirius snapped out of it, but he couldn't stop pride and excitement rise up within him.

**With a sharp blast on his whistle, Mostafa shot into the air after the balls.**

And Sirius began yelling as if he was really commenting.

**"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman. **

**"And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"**

"Sirius please or I'll take the book from you!" Remus warned him threateningly.

"Over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged if you keep yelling," Remus hissed as he rubbed his throbbing ears.

**It was Quidditch as Harry had never seen it played before. He was pressing his Omnioculars so hard to his glasses that they were cutting into the bridge of his nose. The speed of the players was incredible - the Chasers were throwing the Quaffle to one another so fast that ****Bagman only had time to say their names.**

Tonks and Sirius are jumping up and down as they have never heard Quidditch played like that before. Sirius was drinking up every word and imagining the scene in his head. The others were watching him in slight interest. "Personally though, I think that they should've had Lee do this," he said.

**Harry spun the slow dial on the right of his Omnioculars again, pressed the play by- play button on the top, and he was immediately watching in slow motion, while glittering purple lettering flashed across the lenses and the noise of the crowd pounded against his eardrums.**

"Harry, don't slow it down!" Sirius groaned, shaking his head quickly. "You'll miss everything if you have play by play!"

**HAWKSHEAD ATTACKING FORMATION, **

"Ohhh, that's a brutal attack," Tonks commented with a wince. "It's impossible to know where it's going to end up."

"Most of the time you just have to guess where it's gonna end up," Kingsley nodded.

Molly shook her head, now wishing that she could join Alastor downstairs.

**he read as he watched the three Irish Chasers zoom closely together, Troy in the center, slightly ahead of Mullet and Moran, bearing down upon the Bulgarians. PORSKOFF PLOY flashed up next, as Troy made as though to dart upward with the Quaffle, drawing away the Bulgarian Chaser Ivanova and dropping the Quaffle to Moran. One of the Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov, swung hard at a passing Bludger with his small club, knocking it into Moran's path; Moran ducked to avoid the Bludger and dropped the Quaffle; and Levski, soaring beneath, caught it – **

"That is some first-class teamwork," Remus commented.

"It's a national team. Did you expect them to be awful?" Tonks asked in amusement.

"Didn't stop England from being awful," Sirius pointed out as he shuddered at how badly England got beaten.

**"TROY SCORES!" roared Bagman, and the stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and ****cheers. "Ten zero to Ireland!"**

"Huh? But Levski's got the Quaffle!" said Sirius, sounding confused.

"Did you forget that Harry is watching it in slow motion?" said Remus in an amused tone of voice.

"WHAT?!" Sirius yelled, and Remus glared at him furiously, rubbing his ear in irritation. Sirius paid no attention, too lost in the description of the match. He was so close to jinxing Sirius right now… or at the very least take his voice away.

**"What?" Harry yelled, looking wildly around through his Omnioculars. "But Levski's got the Quaffle!"**

Sirius's smile went a little bit bigger at that if it were possible.

**"Harry, if you're not going to watch at normal speed, you're going to miss things!" shouted ****Hermione, who was dancing up and down, waving her arms in the air while Troy did a lap of honor around the field.**

**Harry looked quickly over the top of his Omnioculars and saw that the leprechauns watching from the sidelines had all risen into the air again and formed the great, glittering shamrock. Across the field, the veela were watching them sulkily.**

"If Ireland wins, I don't want to think about what the mascots would do," said Sirius gleefully.

"Yes, you do," Remus pointed out, and Sirius didn't bother to deny it.

"Yeah, you're right," he grinned.

**Furious with himself, Harry spun his speed dial back to normal as play resumed.**

"Good," Tonks huffed.

"It's a bit hard to really visualize what's going on in the match, even if Harry hadn't slowed down the footage on his Omniocular's," Arthur pointed out, and Sirius simply shrugged as a response. He wasn't even bothering on listening anymore to them.

**Harry knew enough about Quidditch to see that the Irish Chasers were superb. They worked as a seamless team, their movements so well coordinated that they appeared to be reading one another's minds as they positioned themselves, and the rosette on Harry's chest kept squeaking their names: "Troy - Mullet - Mo ran!" And within ten minutes, Ireland had scored twice more, bringing their lead to thirty-zero and causing a thunderous tide of roars and applause from the greenclad supporters.**

"I wish I could be there…" Sirius said dreamily; Harry really was describing it absolutely perfectly.

**The match became still faster, but more brutal. **

"Oooo in what way?" Tonks asked. The game turned into an all-out war before the Snitch was caught.

**Volkov and Vulchanov, the Bulgarian Beaters, were whacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the Irish Chasers, and were starting to prevent them from using some of their best moves; twice they were forced to scatter, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to break through their ranks; dodge the Keeper, Ryan; and score Bulgaria's first goal.**

"Finally!" Sirius called out dramatically. "So they don't completely suck!"

"Sirius, please," Molly hissed, having to conquer up a pair of earmuffs to protect her ears. Remus saw them and quickly copied for his own pair.

**"Fingers in your ears!" bellowed Mr. Weasley as the veela started to dance in celebration. Harry screwed up his eyes too; he wanted to keep his mind on the game.**

"Good boy!" Sirius said eagerly. As much as he enjoyed hearing about Harry's love life, he didn't need Harry to get distracted by a veela at that moment. He needed to know more about the match.

**After a few seconds, he chanced a glance at the field. The veela had stopped dancing, and Bulgaria was again in possession of the Quaffle.**

**"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova - oh I say!" roared Bagman. **

"What?!" cried out Sirius in excitement. "What's happened?"

"Why don't you read and we'll find out?!" Remus yelled at him. It was no use, even with the earmuffs he could still hear Sirius's voice.

**One hundred thousand wizards gasped as the two Seekers, Krum and Lynch, plummeted through the center of the Chasers, so fast that it looked as though they had just jumped from airplanes without parachutes. **

Arthur looked baffled but Kingsley said, "It's a Muggle thing. It's hard to explain right now, but we can talk more about it later."

**Harry followed their descent through his Omnioculars, squinting to see where the Snitch was –**

**"They're going to crash!" screamed Hermione next to Harry.**

Everyone in the room gasped, so engrossed in the game at that point that they forgot that it had happened over a year ago.

**She was half right - at the very last second, Viktor Krum pulled out of the dive and spiraled off. Lynch, however, hit the ground with a dull thud that could be heard throughout the ****stadium. A huge groan rose from the Irish seats.**

"The Wronski Feint!" cried Sirius, holding his arms out wide as if he was praising the heavens. "Oh, I'd given anything to have seen that!"

"What's the Wronky Faint?" asked Molly bewildered.

Sirius flinched at her mispronunciation, as though she bellowed it, "The Wronski Feint! It's a diving technique that lets one of the Seekers crash after a long dive."

"He feinted," Kingsley stated, in a softer and simply. "Basically he pretended to see the Snitch and caused the other Seeker to copy him and crash into the ground. It's very dangerous and risky, but it is a very effective move if you can pull it off."

"What's the point in that? I mean… it's just a waste of time isn't it? He could've just been looking for the Snitch instead of pretending to," she asked.

"What?" Tonks asked with an air of shock as if Molly had said something forbidden. "By disabling one of the players for at least a few minutes, if gives you a chance to look for the Snitch without any worries that the other player will find it before you!"

"I hope Harry never tries something that stupid…" Molly muttered, scowling slightly. Quidditch was such a vicious game.

**"Fool!" moaned Mr. Weasley. "Krum was feinting!"**

**"It's time-out!" yelled Bagman's voice, "as trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch!"**

"Can Krum catch the Snitch during time out?" asked Molly curiously.

"No, but he can search for the Snitch and then follow it until the time outs over," Sirius explained.

"Not to mention that it would probably make it a little harder for Lynch to try and catch anything if he's taken a face-plant," Tonks added.

**"He'll be okay, he only got ploughed!" Charlie said reassuringly to Ginny, who was hanging over the side of the box, looking horror-struck. "Which is what Krum was after, of course…"**

"_Only_?" muttered Molly disbelievingly and Sirius shook his head in an almost pitying manner. "Honestly… men and their sports."

"It could have been a whole lot worse, Molly," Arthur told her earnestly. "Lynch was lucky, to put it lightly. These professional games can become ugly!"

**Harry hastily pressed the replay and play-by-play buttons on his Omnioculars, twiddled the speed dial, and put them back up to his eyes. He watched as Krum and Lynch dived again in slow motion. WRONSKI DEFENSIVE FEINT - DANGEROUS SEEKER DIVERSION **

"You got that right," Tonks nodded.

**read the shining purple lettering across his lenses. He saw Krum's face contorted with concentration as he pulled out of the dive just in time, while Lynch was flattened, and he understood - ****Krum hadn't seen the Snitch at all, he was just making Lynch copy him. **

"Of course he did it to take him out of action for five minutes," said Sirius, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Harry did something like that to Cho Chang in third year," Tonks suddenly remembered.

"Yeah, but he didn't make her crash into the ground," Bill added.

"Sure he didn't," Sirius smirked at the memory of Wood yelling at Harry. "Harry's a 'gentleman' who couldn't knock a girl he liked off her broom."

**Harry had never seen anyone fly like that; Krum hardly looked as though he was using a ****broomstick at all;**

"Harry flies like that," Remus said absentmindedly. "I remember the times I've seen him fly at school, and when we brought him here last summer. He goes so fast on that Firebolt you can barely see it at all it's like he's flying without the broom."

"Like a hawk," Sirius grinned proudly.

**he moved so easily through the air that he looked unsupported and weightless. Harry turned his Omnioculars back to normal and focused them on Krum. He was now circling high above Lynch, who was being revived by mediwizards with cups of potion. **

"See? He'll be fine!" Sirius waved his hand at Molly. "You worry too much."

"He just crashed into the ground," Molly repeated herself. "I'm sure that he wouldn't be calling himself 'fine'."

"His fault for falling for it," Sirius said stubbornly.

**Harry, focusing still more closely upon Krum's face, saw his dark eyes darting all over the ground a hundred feet below. He was using the time while Lynch was revived to look for the Snitch without interference.**

**Lynch got to his feet at last, to loud cheers from the green-clad supporters, mounted his Firebolt, and kicked back off into the air. **

"There you go!" Sirius called out. "He gets back on his feet."

**His revival seemed to give Ireland new heart. When Mostafa blew his whistle again, the Chasers moved into action with a skill unrivaled by anything Harry had seen so far.**

"So now the kid gloves are off," Kingsley noted, nodding his head.

"Of course," Tonks grinned. "It's only bound to become more ferocious."

**After fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Ireland had pulled ahead by ten more goals.**

"Wow," said Sirius, interrupting himself yet again.

"I can see why Mad-Eye left," Molly said sternly. Really, this was starting to drive her crazy as well.

**They were now leading by one hundred and thirty points to ten, and the game was starting to get dirtier. **

"Sounds like Gryffindor versus Slytherin," Tonks chuckled. "Except more dangerous and with mascots."

**As Mullet shot toward the goal posts yet again, clutching the Quaffle tightly under her arm, the Bulgarian Keeper, Zograf, flew out to meet her. Whatever happened was over so quickly Harry didn't catch it, but a scream of rage from the Irish crowd, and Mostafa's long, shrill whistle blast, told him it had been a foul.**

"It's ok, I didn't see it either," Arthur said and Bill nodded in agreement.

**"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing — excessive use of elbows!" Bagman informed the roaring spectators. "And - yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"**

**The leprechauns, who had risen angrily into the air like a swarm of glittering hornets when Mullet had been fouled, now darted together to form the words "HA, HA, HA!" The veela on the other side of the field leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily, and started to dance again.**

"Well, at least the mascots have a sense of humor. This is getting good!" Sirius chuckled.

They all laughed though Tonks added, "I doubt the veela will be too happy about that though."

"Probably not," said Sirius, still laughing with glee. "Oh, it's going to get better!"

**As one, the Weasley boys and Harry stuffed their fingers into their ears, but Hermione, who hadn't bothered, **

"Why would she?" Tonks asked. "Veela's don't affect girls."

**was soon tugging on Harry's arm. He turned to look at her, and she pulled his fingers impatiently out of his ears.**

**"Look at the referee!" she said, giggling.**

"Oh dear," said Molly, giggling as she guessed what must have happened.

Tonks laughed with her, "Honestly. He shouldn't be getting distracted like that."

**Harry looked down at the field. Hassan Mostafa had landed right in front of the dancing veela, and was acting very oddly indeed. He was flexing his muscles and smoothing his mustache excitedly.**

Tonks burst into a fit of giggles at this, ridiculous images of this scene forming in her mind.

"That's hilarious!" Sirius choked, cracking up into spasms of laughter at the referee's actions.

"Oh, dear," Molly said again with a sympathetic smile. "This can't end well."

"Maybe they should have gotten a woman referee if they knew that there were going to be veela there," Remus said.

"It's an idea," said Bill. "I don't know of too many women who'd like to be in the middle of an extremely dirty match."

"I would!" Tonks added brightly and stuck her hand up. "If I didn't trip over my broom first that is."

Everyone in the room laughed for a few more moments at Tonks's enthusiasm, and when they had settled down, Sirius was able to go on.

**"Now, we can't have that!" said Ludo Bagman, though he sounded highly amused. "Somebody slap the referee!"**

"I'd love to have done that," Sirius smirked with envy

**A mediwizard came tearing across the field, his fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked Mostafa hard in the shins. Mostafa seemed to come to himself; Harry, watching through the Omnioculars again, saw that he looked exceptionally embarrassed and had started shouting at the veela, who had stopped dancing and were looking mutinous.**

"Don't shout at them!" Tonks said putting her hands on her hips.

"Oh, it's getting interesting now," Sirius laughed. "Merlin I wish I could be there to see this… nothing is scarier than an angry woman. Veela or not."

"What are you saying?" Tonks asked with her eyebrows raised and Molly was giving him the evil eye.

"Idiot," Remus laughed.

"Sorry," Sirius grinned back, "Didn't catch that."

**"And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!" said Bagman's voice. "Now there's something we haven't seen before… Oh ****this could turn nasty…"**

"Yeah it will get nasty, veela's are quite scary when they're mad," Remus nodded.

"Excellent!" clapped Sirius. "Brilliant! Sending off the mascots! That's a new one that had to have made some Quidditch history!"

"As a matter of fact it did," Kingsley remembered and Sirius looked absolutely delighted.

**It did: The Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, landed on either side of Mostafa and began arguing furiously with him, gesticulating toward the leprechauns, who had now gleefully formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE." **

This made them all start laughing again.

"It's almost like the mascots are providing more entertainment than the actual players," said Molly, sounding incredibly amused.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that…" Arthur said as he remembered how dirty the players got.

**Mostafa was not impressed by the Bulgarians' arguments, however; he was jabbing his finger into the air, clearly telling them to get flying again, and when they refused, he gave two short blasts on his whistle.**

"Two penalties," Sirius chuckled, shaking his head. "Are the Bulgarians trying to help the Irish out? That's only going to help him out."

"That's not going to go down well with the Bulgarian crowd," Bill agreed, grinning.

**"Two penalties for Ireland!" shouted Bagman, and the Bulgarian crowd howled with anger. **

Sirius was snickering madly and rubbing his hands like a child who got what he wanted for Christmas.

**"And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms… yes… there they go… and Troy takes the Quaffle."**

**Play now reached a level of ferocity beyond anything they had yet seen. The Beaters on both sides were acting without mercy: Volkov and Vulchanov in particular seemed not to care whether their clubs made contact with Bludger or human as they swung them violently through the air. **

"They're going to hurt their own teammates if they aren't careful," Molly said anxiously.

"Oh, they'd never hurt their own team," Sirius answered coolly. "Can't say the same for other one…"

**Dimitrov shot straight at Moran, who had the Quaffle, nearly knocking her off her broom.**

"Foul," Sirius said immediately.

"If one of the Seekers doesn't catch the Snitch soon, it's going to turn into a blood bath!" exclaimed Kingsley.

"Oh, they stopped caring about the rules long ago," Arthur declared.

**"Foul!" roared the Irish supporters as one, all standing up in a great wave of green. "Foul!" echoed Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice. "Dimitrov skins Moran - deliberately flying to collide there – **

"Don't know why that would help," Bill said. "It'll just hurt you as well as the other person if you fly into them."

"I don't think they care about that," Arthur informed him.

**and it's got to be another penalty - yes, there's the whistle!"**

**The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the veela across the field. **

Sirius cracked up laughing at this, and the rest of the group seemed quite amused by the leprechauns' antics. Molly looked on the verge of laughing and looking disapproving. After all, there were young children there!

**At this, the veela lost control. **

"This is gonna get ugly," said Remus, wincing.

"Literally," Sirius agreed, knowing what happens to veela when they lose control.

**Instead of dancing, they launched themselves across the field and began throwing what seemed to be handfuls of fire at the leprechauns. **

"The leprechauns didn't seem all that bothered," Tonks chuckled. "I think they were hoping for this from the start."

"Knowing leprechauns, I bet the were," Remus agreed.

**Watching through his Omnioculars, Harry saw that they didn't look remotely beautiful now. On the contrary, their faces were elongating into sharp, cruelbeaked bird heads, and long, scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders -**

"Beauty can only take you so far," Molly nodded firmly.

**"And that, boys," yelled Mr. Weasley over the tumult of the crowd below, "is why you should never go for looks alone!"**

"Good advice, Arthur," Kingsley laughed. Too bad so many people don't pay attention to that.

**Ministry wizards were flooding onto the field to separate the veela and the leprechauns, **

"Good luck with that is all I can say," Sirius said.

**but with little success; meanwhile, the pitched battle below was nothing to the one taking place above. **

"Really?" Sirius grinned, looking like his face was about to split in two.

**Harry turned this way and that, staring through his Omnioculars, as the Quaffle changed ****hands with the speed of a bullet.**

"Damn, I wish Hogwarts played that way," groaned Sirius in longing.

"Well, I think it's a good idea they _don't_," retorted Remus. "Can you imagine how many people would get injured?"

"Would you want Harry in the middle of all that?" Kingsley asked and Sirius's smile wiped off his face.

"No," he said as he picked up the book. "Got carried away."

**"Levski - Dimitrov - Moran - Troy - Mullet - Ivanova - Moran again - Moran - MORAN SCORES!"**

**But the cheers of the Irish supporters were barely heard over the shrieks of the veela, the blasts now issuing from the Ministry members' wands, and the furious roars of the Bulgarians.**

"It's a freaking war!" Tonks laughed. "Damn, it was the best game I ever saw!"

**The game recommenced immediately; now Levski had the Quaffle, now Dimitrov - The Irish Beater Quigley swung heavily at a passing Bludger, and hit it as hard as possible toward Krum, who did not duck quickly enough. It hit him full in the face.**

Everyone in the room cringed at the thought.

"That's gotta hurt…" Arthur muttered with a wince. "I hadn't noticed that, I saw the veela set the referee's broom on fire."

"Oh, so that's what happened," Tonks said. "I hadn't seen that part. I was wondering why they didn't notice that Krum had been injured."

**There was a deafening groan from the crowd; Krum's nose looked broken, there was blood everywhere, but Hassan Mostafa didn't blow his whistle. **

Kingsley looked up. He was starting to see it. There seems to be an odd epidemic of broken noses in this book. That had to be some kind of clue there like in the last few books those little hints kept cropping up here and there. If there was one thing that he learned, it was that the themes and the characters are the strongest elements of these books. In order to understand everything, you had to learn to see beyond the mere tip of the iceberg and contemplate what lies below…

**He had become distracted, and Harry couldn't blame him; one of the veela had thrown a ****handful of fire and set his broom tail alight.**

"That's unfortunate," Bill laughed.

**Harry wanted someone to realize that Krum was injured; even though he was supporting Ireland, Krum was the most exciting player on the field. Ron obviously felt the same.**

"Course he did," Bill answered. "He was the best one out there! And he was once Krum's biggest fan."

"Wonder what happened," Arthur asked. Ron had stopped liking Krum after they met at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. Why did meeting Krum change all that…?

**"Time-out! Ah, come on, he can't play like that, look at him -"**

**"Look at Lynch!" Harry yelled.**

"The Snitch has been seen!" Sirius exclaimed.

"It couldn't be another feint could it?" asked Remus.

"If it is, I'll eat my hat," Kingsley retorted.

**For the Irish Seeker had suddenly gone into a dive, and Harry was quite sure that this was no Wronski Feint; this was the real thing…**

Sirius's eyes widened. "It's the _real_ Snitch!"

**"He's seen the Snitch!" Harry shouted. "He's seen it! Look at him go!" Half the crowd seemed to have realized what was happening; the Irish supporters rose in another great ****wave of green, screaming their Seeker on… but Krum was on his tail. **

"How on earth does he expect to catch it with a broken nose?" asked Sirius incredulously.

"Never underestimate a Seeker," Remus smiled. He thought back to when he taught Harry the Patronus… that boy wouldn't stop… winning the game for his team was his biggest motivation. It didn't surprise him at all that Krum had that same determination to get the Snitch on his terms.

**How he could see where he was going, Harry had no idea; there were flecks of blood flying through the air behind him, but he was drawing level with Lynch now as the pair of them hurtled toward the ground again -**

"He's one hell of a good Seeker," said Sirius, shaking his head incredulously. Second, only to Harry of course…

**"They're going to crash!" shrieked Hermione.**

**"They're not!" roared Ron.**

**"Lynch is!" yelled Harry.**

"Which one is right?!" Molly asked.

"You're really getting into this, Mum," Bill committed happily.

Molly just noticed what she was saying and leaned back in her seat. "Sorry. It's exciting."

**And he was right - for the second time, Lynch hit the ground with tremendous force and ****was immediately stampeded by a horde of angry veela.**

"Again?" asked Molly in disbelief. "That poor man."

"At least he doesn't have to worry about a broken nose," Sirius reminded her. "Lynch doesn't sound like he's a very good player if he crashed twice in the same game."

"He is actually a decent Seeker, but he was playing against someone that was a lot better than him, so he had to be a little reckless," Arthur reminded him.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Sirius smiled.

"And if he slams into the ground for a second time, Sirius," Tonks said with a strangled laugh, "And then stampeded by a horde of angry veela I'm sure that a broken nose will be the least of his troubles."

**"The Snitch, where's the Snitch?" bellowed Charlie, along the row.**

**"He's got it - Krum's got it - it's all over!" shouted Harry.**

Sirius grinned widely. "NO WAY! IRELAND WON, BUT KRUM CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" he laughed wildly and shook his head. "The twins were right! Awww," he then moaned. "That was quicker than I'd hoped."

"Not for me," Remus whispered as he finally felt that it was safe to remove the earmuffs.

**Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose, was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint of gold in his hand.**

**The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170 across the crowd, who didn't seem to have realized what had happened. **

"That had to have been one of the craziest matches in Quidditch History," Arthur said as he let out a sigh of relief and leaned back.

**Then, slowly, as though a great jumbo jet were revving up, the rumbling from the Ireland supporters grew louder and louder and erupted into screams of delight.**

"About time they noticed," Kingsley chuckled.

**"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, who like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match.**

"A lot of people probably wanted it to go on for a few days," chuckled Bill.

"I know that I sure would have if I was there," Sirius said longingly. "Oh, well… that would've been something…"

"Personally," Arthur said with another sigh, "I am glad that it only lasted a few hours. I don't know how I would've been able to handle it."

"Spoil sport," Sirius grumbled.

**"KRUM GETS THE SNITCH - BUT IRELAND WINS — good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"**

"Wait," said Remus slowly. "Isn't that what the twins bet for?"

"Yes, it is," said Molly in realization. "How on earth did they manage to predict a result like that?"

"Who would ever have thought of such a crazy ending?" Tonks asked. "Only a crazy person. Fred and George do qualify, but how could they have been tipped off?"

"Are you saying that my sons are crazy?" Molly asked.

"Ah…" Tonks said, her eyes darting around the room.

"Well, it's true," Molly admitted, "But I would like to know where they get their information…"

"I guess they know more than we think," Arthur smiled and took her hand. "We'll have to ask them about that the next time we see them."

**"What did he catch the Snitch for?" Ron bellowed, even as he jumped up and down, applauding with his hands over his head. "He ended it when Ireland were a hundred and ****sixty points ahead, the idiot!"**

"Yes, why did he?" asked Molly, looking around at the others.

"Because he wanted to end it on his terms that's all," Sirius explained, giddy from excitement. Truth be told, he would be so much worse if he were actually there at the match.

**"He knew they were never going to catch up!" Harry shouted back over all the noise, also applauding loudly. "The Irish Chasers were too good… He wanted to end it on his terms, that's all…**

**"He was very brave, wasn't he?" Hermione said, leaning forward to watch Krum land as a swarm of mediwizards blasted a path through the battling leprechauns and veela to get to him. "He looks a terrible mess…"**

"Cute," Tonks cooed. "Sounds like she's worried about him. Well…"

"Enough," Molly said strongly.

**Harry put his Omnioculars to his eyes again. It was hard to see what was happening below, because leprechauns were zooming delightedly all over the field, but he could just make out ****Krum, surrounded by mediwizards. He looked surlier than ever and refused to let them mop him up. **

"Why not?" asked Tonks, startled.

"Probably because they lost," Sirius shrugged. "Or it's some sort of pride of being able to take his injuries or something like that."

"Well, that's just stupid," Tonks retorted. The pride of men sometimes…

**His team members were around him, shaking their heads and looking dejected; a short way away, the Irish players were dancing gleefully in a shower of gold descending from their mascots.**

"At least they made it to the final. That's got to count for something," said Kingsley.

"Yeah, but they wanted to _win_," Sirius pointed out needlessly.

"I know that," Kingsley answered. "I'm just saying that they should be proud to have made it so far."

**Flags were waving all over the stadium, the Irish national anthem blared from all sides; the veela were shrinking back into their usual, beautiful selves now, though looking dispirited and forlorn.**

**"Vell, ve fought bravely," said a gloomy voice behind Harry. He looked around; it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic.**

"So he _can_ speak English!" said Sirius, before bursting into peals of laughter. What a _classic _prank to play!

**"You can speak English!" said Fudge, sounding outraged. "And you've been letting me mime ****everything all day!"**

**"Veil, it vos very funny," said the Bulgarian minister, shrugging.**

"I like him," Sirius said happily. "A politician with a sense of humor."

"Can we have him for our next Minister instead?" asked Bill looking around the room. "I rather have _him_ in charge."

"Unfortunately," Kingsley told him, "He's running Bulgaria. So I don't think that will work out."

**"And as the Irish team performs a lap of honor, flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup itself is brought into the Top Box!" roared Bagman.**

**Harry's eyes were suddenly dazzled by a blinding white light, as the Top Box was magically illuminated so that everyone in the stands could see the inside. Squinting toward the entrance, he saw two panting wizards carrying a vast golden cup into the box, which they handed to Cornelius Fudge, **

"Why him?" Sirius said, his good mood slowly fading now that the match was over.

**who was still looking very disgruntled that he'd been using sign language all day for nothing.**

"Come on, he deserved it," said Sirius rashly.

**"Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers - Bulgaria!" Bagman shouted.**

"Gallant losers?" Tonks asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sure they _loved_ being called _Gallant Losers_."

"I suppose that he couldn't call them something worse," Arthur said with a shrug. "Doesn't matter anymore though I suppose."

**And up the stairs into the box came the seven defeated Bulgarian players. The crowd below was applauding appreciatively; Harry could see thousands and thousands of Omniocular lenses flashing and winking in their direction.**

**One by one, the Bulgarians filed between the rows of seats in the box, and Bagman called out the name of each as they shook hands with their own minister and then with Fudge. Krum, who was last in line, looked a real mess. Two black eyes were blooming spectacularly on his bloody face. He was still holding the Snitch. Harry noticed that he seemed much less coordinated on the ground. He was slightly duck-footed and distinctly round-shouldered. **

Kingsley looked a little interested in that. Now, he knew that wizards can mate with trolls and other creatures. Now Krum happens to be duck-footed and round-shouldered and to top it off, he 'flies like a bird!' wonder what might be in his lineage?

**But when Krum's name was announced, the whole stadium gave him a resounding, earsplitting roar.**

**And then came the Irish team. Aidan Lynch was being supported by Moran and Connolly; ****the second crash seemed to have dazed him and his eyes looked strangely unfocused. **

"Doesn't seem much better off than Krum, does he?" asked Arthur lightly.

"Yeah, he looked worse up close," Bill said with a firm nod.

**But he grinned happily as Troy and Quigley lifted the Cup into the air and the crowd below thundered its approval. Harry's hands were numb with clapping.**

**At last, when the Irish team had left the box to perform another lap of honor on their brooms (Aidan Lynch on the back of Confolly's, clutching hard around his waist and still grinning in a bemused sort of way), Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "Quietus."**

"That was awesome," Sirius grinned, his voice feeling as if his throat was about to be torn apart.

**"They'll be talking about this one for years," he said hoarsely, **

"They really will; but not just for the match," Arthur said darkly thinking of the Death Eaters and the Dark Mark… that was sure to come up soon.

**"a really unexpected twist, that… shame it couldn't have lasted longer… Ah yes… yes, I owe you… how much?"**

**For Fred and George had just scrambled over the backs of their seats and were standing in front of Ludo Bagman with broad grins on their faces, their hands outstretched.**

"They really called it." Sirius noted. "And that's the end of that chapter! I loved that chapter! The best one yet in my opinion!" Sirius closed the book and he kicked back on the couch. He had a sort of demented look of excitement on his face. Sirius planned on keeping this new information with him… while he'd never get to share the real event with Harry, reading it out to his friends felt like the nearest thing he'd get to sharing it with others. And for now that would have to do. "Who's reading next?"

"Is it over with?" growled a voice from the doorway. They all jumped and spun around to see Mad-Eye was standing there, leaning against the frame. "When I heard the shouting die out and I figured that it would be safe to come back without having to worry." His magical eye landed on Molly's earmuffs that were in her lap, before moving to the ones still on Remus's head. "Well, glad that I missed out."

"What were you doing all this time?" Kingsley asked civilly.

"Having a chat with an old friend," he replied as if it was obvious and limped back into the room to take his seat.

"Really?" Arthur asked. "Who was here?"

"Never you mind," he said with a wave of the hand. "Just an Order member who dropped by for a moment. You don't need to worry about him now."

"Well, alright then," Tonks said as she took the book from Sirius. "If no one wants to read, then I guess I will."

"No, it's alright," said Remus, who seemed to be in a very good mood after such an uplifting chapter. Sirius passed him the book, and he turned the page to the next chapter. But as soon as he read it out, he regretted it almost instantly. "**Chapter 9: The Dark Mark.**"

**(Another chapter down. And I just wanted to tell you all that I haven't had a chance to update because I was on Pottermore. It's about time that it's open. But who was Mad-Eye talking to in the kitchen? Can you guess? The next chapter will be going up and things will only be going downhill before long. Thank you all and I hope you enjoy it.)**


	12. The Dark Mark

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 11: The Dark Mark**

"No, it's alright," said Remus, who seemed to be in a very good mood after such an uplifting chapter. Sirius passed him the book, and he turned the page to the next chapter. But as soon as he read it out, he regretted it almost instantly. "**Chapter 9: The Dark Mark.**"

Just those three little words caused everybody's breath to catch in their throats and they froze immediately. Suddenly giving their complete attention to the book.

"No," Molly said turning white and starting to shake. She will never forget… that morning when she saw that paper—terror flooding her body at the thought on one of her babies kill… just thinking about it now made her want to fall to her knees and cry. The others stared at Remus—unsure what to think. This was it… this was when it started. When signs of another war was coming…

"I was wondering when we get to this part," Arthur finally croaked out needlessly. "It was only a matter of time…"

Sirius groaned, "We should've been able to guess it. I mean, the last few chapters were so great! Of course it was building up something bad is going to happen now."

"Well," Mad-Eye said. "Glad I stuck around."

"Mad-Eye?" Tonks whispered to him as she glanced anxiously at the quivering Molly. "If you value your life… you might want to be quiet."

Remus just gritted his teeth and went on… trying to ignore the picture of bodies floating over a flaming tent.

**"Don't tell your mother you've been gambling," Mr. Weasley implored Fred and George as they all made their way slowly down the purple-carpeted stairs.**

**"Don't worry, Dad," said Fred gleefully, "we've got big plans for this money. We don't want it confiscated."**

"And I'm sure they were just planning on telling you as soon as they get home," Sirius said sarcastically, and the gloomy mood seemed to have lifted slightly.

"Would you really confiscate it?" Tonks just had to ask her. "I mean, that was their money to spend on what they wanted."

"No," she replied honestly, with a hard look at her husband. "Up until now I didn't' even know they been gambling… but if I did, I would've given them the lecture of a lifetime. I mean, if they think that it would pay off once, they'll keep doing it! Look at Bagman…"

"I wonder what big plans these will be…" Remus asked slowly, trying to get everybody's minds off of the worrying chapter title.

"Most likely it's for the joke shop," Sirius shrugged obviously. "That's what I'd do."

"Oh, that's just great," Molly hissed as she rubbed her temple—a throbbing migraine starting to take hold.

**Mr. Weasley looked for a moment as though he was going to ask what these big plans were, but seemed to decide, upon reflection, that he didn't want to know.**

Sirius burst out laughing at that remark, and even Arthur was able to come up with a small grin.

"And I still hold to that," he confessed. "Sometimes it's better _not_ to know the truth."

"That's probably for the best," Sirius agreed and he reached over to clap his shoulder. "Trust me, on this. I'm not sure even _I _want to know what their thinking."

**They were soon caught up in the crowds now flooding out of the stadium and back to their campsites. Raucous singing was borne toward them on the night air as they retraced their steps along the lantern-lit path, and leprechauns kept shooting over their heads, cackling and waving their lanterns. **

"Well, for blokes who were just attacked by veela, they sure seem to be in high spirits," Tonks committed.

"Gotta love leprechauns," Sirius said happily. "Nothing fazes them."

**When they finally reached the tents, nobody felt like sleeping at all, and given the level of noise around them, Mr. Weasley agreed that they could all have one last cup of cocoa together before turning in. They were soon arguing enjoyably about the match; Mr. Weasley got drawn into a disagreement about cobbing with Charlie, and it was only when Ginny fell asleep right at the tiny table and spilled hot chocolate all over the floor that Mr. Weasley called a halt to the verbal replays and insisted that everyone go to bed.**

_'I don't blame them,' _Tonks thought privately._ 'Sounds like Percy bored them to sleep by talking about cauldron bottoms and how much work he's gonna have to make up from the match.'_

"Awww" Sirius pouted at Arthur. "Spoilsport." He didn't know what they were complaining about. He would have given anything to be there with Harry. He sighed miserably… he would've done anything for that…

**Hermione and Ginny went into the next tent, and Harry and the rest of the Weasleys changed into pajamas and clambered into their bunks.**

**From the other side of the campsite they could still hear much singing and the odd echoing bang.**

"First sign that something is going to go wrong," Mad-Eye said.

"Thanks for that, Mad-Eye," Bill grumbled. "We don't need you to be our prophet of doom here."

"Just speaking the truth," he answered, knowing full well that something bad was about to happen.

**"Oh I am glad I'm not on duty," muttered Mr. Weasley sleepily. "I wouldn't fancy having to go and tell the Irish they've got to stop celebrating."**

"I think they would've attacked you if you were dumb enough to try that," Sirius said conversationally.

"Good thing that I wasn't on duty then," he replied happily. Though his grin faded a bit after a few seconds._ 'Of course… someone did get them to stop in the end…'_

"I say, just let them celebrate," Tonks shrugged. "Better that than turn the whole thing turn into a riot."

"I pity the poor fool who had that job," Remus chuckled as he flipped the page.

**Harry, who was on a top bunk above Ron, lay staring up at the canvas ceiling of the tent, watching the glow of an occasional leprechaun lantern flying overhead, and picturing again some of Krum's more spectacular moves. He was itching to get back on his own Firebolt and try out the Wronski Feint…**

"Harry don't…" Molly warned, narrowing her eyes. Even someone as cheery as Sirius suddenly felt the need to lecture Harry about dangerous sports. He shook his head—he needed to get out of this house before he started sounding anymore like Molly.

**Somehow Oliver Wood had never managed to convey with all his wriggling diagrams what that move was supposed to look like… **

"Maybe because you have to be a professional to even attempt it?" Bill offered helpfully. "And even then, they have trouble doing it. Most slam right into the ground."

"Thank you for that mental image, Bill," Sirius said darkly. He had seen his godson fall from his broom once before and he never wanted to see it again if he could help it.

**Harry saw himself in robes that had his name on the back, and imagined the sensation of hearing a hundred-thousand-strong crowd roar, as Ludo Bagman's voice echoed throughout the stadium, "I give you… Potter!"**

"At least he's having a good dream for once," Sirius offered helpfully. He couldn't imagine the nightmares that his godson must've been having all these years… just hearing that he was at peace at least for a moment was a great comfort to him—reminding him that Harry had at least a few good memories.

"I think all little boys have that dream," Kingsley smiled. "I know that I used to have that familiar reverie… and after a match like this, I'm willing to bet that every child there is dreaming the same thing.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Tonks giggled—though she couldn't deny that she also had a dream similar to that one that night… at least before she was awakened by…

**Harry never knew whether or not he had actually dropped off to sleep – his fantasies of flying like Krum might well have slipped into actual dreams - all he knew was that, quite suddenly, Mr. Weasley was shouting.**

Remus gripped the book tighter as they all exchanged a worried glance with each other.

**"Get up! Ron - Harry - come on now, get up, this is urgent!"**

Molly started to shake with fear. "Oh no…" she muttered, and tightened her grip on Arthur's hand, and almost instantly, the suffocating tension resurfaced and filled up the room. "Oh, no… not this… they can't…"

"Molly," Arthur said gently as he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "We're fine remember? None of us were hurt…"

"I don't know if I can stand to hear this anymore though," she croaked out.

"Do you want me to stop?" Remus asked her softly. She thought it over for a moment, truly tempted to say yes and they all go home. But she couldn't bring herself to stop

"No," she croaked. "No… I… well, I think we can hear a little more."

Remus nodded as he looked back down at the pages, but Molly refused to let go of Arthur's hand, feeling as if it was the only thing that kept her from falling away into despair.

**Harry sat up quickly and the top of his head hit the canvas.**

**"S' matter?" he said.**

**Dimly, he could tell that something was wrong. The noises in the campsite had changed. The singing had stopped. He could hear screams, and the sound of people running. **

The cheerful atmosphere from the last chapter had completely disappeared and the tension was so thick that you could feel it like electricity in the air. Remus gulped as he bravely went on…

**He slipped down from the bunk and reached for his clothes, but Mr. Weasley, who had pulled on his jeans over his own pajamas, said, "No time, Harry - just grab a jacket and get outside - quickly!"**

"Oh, why did you have to talk like that?" Sirius moaned.

"I had to get them out of the tent as fast as possible," Arthur explained. "I was terrified that they would get hurt if they stayed. I felt better knowing they were out at least away from all the riots."

**Harry did as he was told and hurried out of the tent, Ron at his heels. By the light of the few fires that were still burning, he could see people running away into the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field toward them, something that was emitting odd flashes of light and noises like gunfire.**

"Ironic isn't it? The only thing they wanted was a moment of fun," Mad-Eye said with a shrug. "And it's not even the Dark Mark… it's an attack."

"Mad-Eye please shut it!" Tonks called to him as she looked at how deep that Molly's teeth were digging into her bottom lip—knowing that if she kept it up, she would be bleeding soon.

**Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them; then came a burst of strong green light,**

"NO!" Molly screamed in panic, having violent flashbacks of the first war…

"It wasn't the killing curse," Arthur said quickly and hugged her to his side tighter. "They just wanted it to look like it was… they were just lights to scare people."

"And they sure did," Kingsley said. He had been there that night on patrol when he saw the commotion from the other side of the field. He could see them shooting up green sparks and flashes of lights that weren't harm a fly.

But of course they weren't supposed to… just to scare everyone into running and screaming. To try and make them all think that they were in charge. He told this to the others and Mad-Eye could only shake his grizzled head as the others looked appalled.

"Cowards all of them," Mad-Eye grunted. "Makes me sick just listening to it."

"I'm right behind you there," Tonks nodded as she looked rather green herself.

**which illuminated the scene. A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward, was marching slowly across the field. Harry squinted at them… They didn't seem to have faces… Then he realized that their heads were hooded and their faces masked.**

"Death Eaters," Mad-Eye growled again, his fists clench tightly in hatred at each and every one of them. You think that the Ministry would have gotten a clue right here. All those Death Eaters there attacking Muggles and everyone else? Shouldn't that be enough to clue them all in that there were still among us? They obvious don't have any regret of being murderers… why not try to capture them instead of covering everything up?

"You think the Ministry would have some sense…" Bill snapped. "They saw with their own eyes that Voldemort's supporters are still here. Why not believe Dumbledore after all this?"

"You would think," Arthur said grimly. "But we have a cowardly, worthless worm for a Minister."

Arthur rarely ever insulted anyone like that, and it was that that showed them how ghastly things were.

**High above them, floating along in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the people above them were marionettes operated by invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air. Two of the figures were very small.**

Remus actually snarled like the wolf that he became once a month. He couldn't stand this. Just thinking about _innocent children _being tortured like this by those revolting excuses for humans just made him long to rip out those Death Eater's throats.

"Muggle children…" Kingsley spoke up bitterly.

"This is disgusting," Sirius hissed through gritted teeth, his hands clenching into tight fists, cracking his knuckles as he listened to this. "I can't believe that they are actually doing this to kids! They didn't do anything to deserve this! Makes me almost ashamed that I'm a wizard."

"They're too evil to be human!" Tonks called out furious. How could she be related to people like these… these… oh, she didn't know what they were. How could anyone actually do this and feel nothing?

"It's horrible," Molly said tearfully. She felt the need to start ripping out her own hair as she thought back to all the stories she heard of children being tortured and killed in front of their own families…

She gave a shuddering gasp at that thought. No, she couldn't stand that… she looked up at Bill… he looked right back at her in the face—as if he knew what she was thinking of. She rather die than be forced to watch _them_ hurt one of her babies…

**More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies. Tents crumpled and fell as the marching crowd swelled. Once or twice Harry saw one of the marchers blast a tent out of his way with his wand. Several caught fire. The screaming grew louder.**

"That means they're getting nearer!" yelped Molly anxiously, biting her nails. "They have to hurry and get to the woods before they catch up to them… it'll be harder to for them to find anyone there."

**The floating people were suddenly illuminated as they passed over a burning tent and Harry recognized one of them: Mr. Roberts, the campsite manager. The other three looked as though they might be his wife and children. **

"The Roberts!" cried Arthur in outrage. "They've got some nerve! After they've let us stay in their field and everything! And this is how we thank them?!"

"Oh, Merlin…" Sirius muttered, looking as pale and shocked as the others did. "That's…"

"Repulsive," said Remus, just as angrily as Arthur. For that moment, he wanted nothing more than to leave this room and go after those Death Eaters—that is until he felt Tonks's hand grab his own.

"I can't stand it," gasped Tonks—holding Remus's hand for her own comfort as well as for him. Slowly, Remus began to take several deep breaths to calm himself.

"Sick," Sirius finished for them, staring at the book in disgust. "Really sick. I can't believe Harry is seeing this." He had never wanted Harry to have to see any of the horrors that were in the world. It was the main reason he fought in the Order of the Phoenix.

Of course that sure didn't seem to help did it?

**One of the marchers below flipped Mrs. Roberts upside down with his wand; her nightdress fell down to reveal voluminous drawers and she struggled to cover herself up as the crowd below her screeched and hooted with glee.**

"They were _laughing_?" Sirius asked in disbelief—what the hell is _wrong _with people? "They're torturing _children _and they were laughing? On second thought—why am I surprised that I'm _surprised_? I should've guessed this."

"Oh, they're monsters," Molly whispered horrified, shaking her head in terror at what she was reading—what they were up against. "How can they find that fun? How can anyone do such a thing out of spite? Just because they aren't magical, doesn't mean they should be treated in that way!"

"Easy, they all have problems up here," Sirius answered bitterly and pointed to his skull. "I think it's due to all the inbreeding… does things to you."

Remus turned slightly green, as did most of the others. Tonks and Sirius were both looking utterly furious as they fingered their wands.

"Doesn't mean that I have to sit here and take this," said Tonks sounding angry. "What I would've give to go after those bastards and see how they like it!"

"Couldn't agree with you more, Dora," Kingsley said, looking a little sick himself.

"I know and—hey! Don't call me Dora!" Tonks snapped at him. Remus just wanted to get this over with and went on, yet a slight strain evident in his voice.

**"That's sick," Ron muttered, watching the smallest Muggle child, who had begun to spin like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side. "That is really sick…"**

"Damn straight!" they all said angrily.

"The worst side of human nature," murmured Remus softly. "I don't think they even count for humans after this."

Molly shook her head at the thought of the child being held up there with his family… oh that poor dear… she could only imagine the terror and confusion of what was happening to him…

**Hermione and Ginny came hurrying toward them, pulling coats over their nightdresses, with Mr. Weasley right behind them. At the same moment, Bill, Charlie, and Percy emerged from the boys' tent, fully dressed, with their sleeves rolled up and their wands out.**

"You were all going to help?" Remus asked with relief, but fearful that something could happen to them.

"Yeah, most of the overage Wizards and Witches did stay behind to try and help while the children and the rest were all in the woods," Kingsley explained.

"Smart decision," Mad-Eye said as Molly whimpered at the thought of her husband and three oldest children fighting. "They need all the help they can get and this way less people can get hurt."

"Mum," Bill sighed when his mother took his hand. "Really, I'm fine. Only got a scratch on my arm! It didn't even leave a scar!"

"I know…" she whispered. "I just need… need to make sure… just hearing about this is painful. I just can't stand the thought of any of my children getting hurt or… or…"

"Shhh, Molly," Arthur murmured in comfort. "We're all alive and well now…"

**"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted over all the noise, rolling up his own sleeves. "You lot - get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"**

"Oh, don't leave them alone!" Molly said suddenly, her eyes widening. "They always get into trouble when they're on their own!"

"Didn't have a choice, Molly," Arthur said. "I had to stay back and at least do what I could to keep them from getting hurt."

**Bill, Charlie, and Percy were already sprinting away toward the oncoming marchers; Mr. Weasley tore after them. Ministry wizards were dashing from every direction toward the source of the trouble. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was coming ever closer.**

"They have to get out of there," Kingsley said. "If they're still in sight of them, they'll be…" he stopped himself. He didn't think Molly could take anymore anxiety. He hoped that this ended soon.

**"C'mon," said Fred, grabbing Ginny's hand and starting to pull her toward the wood. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and George followed. They all looked back as they reached the trees. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was larger than ever; they could see the Ministry wizards trying to get through it to the hooded wizards in the center, but they were having great difficulty. It looked as though they were scared to perform any spell that might make the Roberts family fall.**

"That was one of the reasons that the Death Eaters had them in the air and not the ground; so we couldn't do anything," Arthur said darkly.

"Cowards," Mad-Eye repeated. "They knew that and are using them as human shields."

**The colored lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium had been extinguished. Dark figures were blundering through the trees; children were crying; anxious shouts and panicked voices were reverberating around them in the cold night air.**

"What a way to end it," Tonks said bitterly, shaking her head. "They just HAD to ruin the end of an amazing game for everyone didn't they? So now instead of good memories and exciting bragging rights, they get nightmares."

"What do you expect?" Sirius spat, a sudden bitterness leaking into his tone. "Some people just can't let others have their fun without a price."

**Harry felt himself being pushed hither and thither by people whose faces he could not see. Then he heard Ron yell with pain.**

"RON!" Molly exclaimed worried—her emotions now reaching their breaking point.

**"What happened?" said Hermione anxiously, stopping so abruptly that Harry walked into her. "Ron, where are you? Oh this is stupid – lumos!"**

"Little miss rules just broke the law again," Sirius teased. "Thatta girl!"

"Oh, I don't think anyone would care in that situation," Remus said offered. "The Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery clearly states that Under-age Witches and Wizards can use magic if they are in a dangerous situation and will be counted for self-defense."

"Besides," Kingsley said quietly. "With all the magic going on out there, the Ministry wouldn't be able to tell if an under-age wizard or witch cast spells."

"Oh, I know all that," Sirius replied. "I just wanted to point it out."

**She illuminated her wand and directed its narrow beam across the path. Ron was lying sprawled on the ground.**

**"Tripped over a tree root," he said angrily, getting to his feet again.**

**"Well, with feet that size, hard not to," said a drawling voice from behind them.**

"You've gotta be kidding me," Sirius said suddenly, his eyes narrowing. "As if Death Eaters on the march wasn't bad enough, they get _him_ there?"

"Oh, I hope you're wrong, but you're probably right," Tonks groaned.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned sharply. Draco Malfoy was standing alone nearby, leaning against a tree, looking utterly relaxed.**

"Because that's where dear _'father'_ told you to stay while he went off to torture Muggles with his mates," spat Sirius angrily.

"Which means that his parents, well, Lucius at least, were leading the trouble," Remus said darkly. "And Fudge still thinks he's trustworthy."

"What other reason is there? Malfoy Jr. is too much of scared baby to be that calm if he didn't know what was happening," Sirius snarled. "I love to see how he would like that if it happened to him."

**His arms folded, he seemed to have been watching the scene at the campsite through a gap in the trees. Ron told Malfoy to do something that Harry knew he would never have dared say in front of Mrs. Weasley.**

"I wonder what it was?" Sirius asked and the corner of his lips quirking slightly; Molly rolled her eyes—forgetting all the fear and panic for a brief moment.

**"Language, Weasley," said Malfoy, his pale eyes glittering. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like her spotted, would you?"**

**He nodded at Hermione, and at the same moment, a blast like a bomb sounded from the campsite, and a flash of green light momentarily lit the trees around them.**

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Tonks suddenly asked savagely, her eyes narrowing into slits.

**"What's that supposed to mean?" said Hermione defiantly.**

**"Granger, they're after Muggles," said Malfoy. **

"What?" Tonks asked with mock surprise. "They have ways of recognizing or identifying Muggle-borns? How? Look for the ones who aren't snobs?"

"He seems to have missed the fact that Hermione's a witch," said Arthur coldly. "How else could she beat him in every subject?"

"Yes, it seems that dear Draky forgot that Muggles can't attend Hogwarts," Sirius said—loving the fact that they were all insulting Malfoy again. "I grow to hate him more and more with each book. He just gets worse."

"Get's more like his worthless, lowlife father every year," Tonks sneered in a very Snape-like way.

"But he might have a point about Hermione being in danger…" Kingsley said worriedly. "After all, Lucius is down there and he does know she's Muggle-born."

"Oh, hell," Sirius cursed. "Now they really need to get out of there."

**"D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around… they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."**

"I'd love it more if I were holding you up there like that," snarled Sirius with venom. "In fact, if I ever meet him I'll be sure to do that!"

"Oh, what an absolutely horrible boy!" Molly raged furiously. "At this rate he'll be like the rest of them! Torturing and murdering without a care or thought!"

"I think that's what he wants, Molly," Tonks said with cold rage. "And I can't believe that he's my cousin!"

"Just pretend you're mother was adopted," Sirius offered. "Its how I get by…"

**"Hermione's a witch," Harry snarled.**

Everyone nodded in agreement and several of them let out cries of approval.

"You tell him, Harry!" Remus said appreciatively as he turned over the paper.

**"Have it your own way, Potter," said Malfoy, grinning maliciously. "If you think they can't spot a _Mudblood_, stay where you are."**

"HOW DARE HE CALL HER THAT?" Sirius shouted out in fury and Remus looked disgusted that he had uttered such a repulsive word.

"Don't worry," Kingsley said coldly, but a smile was playing on his lips, "I'm sure he'll get his retribution sooner or later. I recall from the last book that Hermione gave him a much needed slap didn't she?"

Sirius smirked, catching on to what Kingsley was saying. "Come on girl!" he cheered hopefully. "Do it again! Or better! Curse him! You can't get into trouble for it! It's the perfect chance!"

"I don't think that Lucius will like it if his son get's beat up by a girl, however," Arthur reminded them.

"Maybe if we're in luck he'll disown him if he does!?" Tonks asked. "It seems like what they would do! A Muggle-born witch beats up a pureblood spoiled brat!"

"As tempting as that sounds," Sirius nodded with a smirk. "I don't think we're that lucky."

**"You watch your mouth!" shouted Ron. Everybody present knew that "Mudblood" was a very offensive term for a witch or wizard of Muggle parentage.**

**"Never mind, Ron," said Hermione quickly, seizing Ron's arm to restrain him as he took a step toward Malfoy. There came a bang from the other side of the trees that was louder than anything they had heard several people nearby screamed. Malfoy chuckled softly.**

"I'm glad he thinks this is such a hoot," Kingsley said, his deep voice now icy-cold. "Of course, his father is wearing a mask, so he doesn't have anything to worry about."

"Oh, we all know that he's running around with them," Sirius said with a grimace. "He probably had the idea to take their masks out of the closet and test them out for old times' sake."

**"Scare easily, don't they?" he said lazily. **

"You wouldn't be saying that if it were you out there and daddy dearest wasn't there to buy your way out," Sirius growled menacingly. "He wouldn't last one minute out in the real world on his own."

**"I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to - trying to rescue the Muggles?"**

"Yes," said Arthur leaning in, hoping for some information. "I've been longing to get Lucius back for what he tried to do to Ginny. Wiping that smirk off your face will just be a bonus!"

"I like the way you think, Dad," Bill nodded feverously.

**"Where're your parents?" said Harry, his temper rising. "Out there wearing masks, are they?"**

**Malfoy turned his face to Harry, still smiling.**

It was obvious from Tonks's expression that she desperately wanted to just reach out and slap that smile right off of Malfoy's face. Maybe she could borrow Mad-Eye's invisibility cloak, sneak up to the school and… curse him into a thousand pieces? Oh, that sounds so tempting… maybe Mad-Eye would let her borrow his cloak…?

**"Well… if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"**

"Oh, please, you just as good as told them," Tonks muttered with a bitter laugh. "Harry, Ron, Hermione? Just do everyone a favor and leave before you snap and murder him. I would hate to have to arrest you for that."

Bill snorted, "Malfoy really is an idiot."

"Must get it from his old man," Sirius offered.

"Unfortunately, Lucius is so deep in the ministers pocket that nothing less than a confession will make him believe anything," Mad-Eye said disgustedly.

"I can't stand this," Bill cried out. "This is our government?"

"Better you learn it as quickly as possible," Sirius said grimly and shook his fists. "We shouldn't count on the Ministry to solve our problems. They _cause_ them!"

**"Oh come on," said Hermione, with a disgusted look at Malfoy, "let's go and find the others."**

"Good get away from them," Molly sighed, starting to calm down a little.

**"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger," sneered Malfoy.**

**"Come on," Hermione repeated, and she pulled Harry and Ron up the path again.**

**"I'll bet you anything his dad is one of that masked lot!" said Ron hotly.**

"No one would be dumb enough to bet against that, Ron," Sirius smirked. "Except Fudge of course," he added as an afterthought.

**"Well, with any luck, the Ministry will catch him!" said Hermione fervently. "Oh I can't believe this. Where have the others got to?"**

"Somehow I don't think finding them will be that easy," Sirius muttered.

"Oh, no," Molly groaned. "No… no, no, no… this can't be happening…"

"Don't worry," Arthur had to keep reminding her. "None of them were hurt. They got separated in the forest, but found their way back to the tent. There wasn't so much as a scratch on any of them. Fred and George took good care of Ginny."

Molly sniffled, but she gave him a rather watery smile in return.

**Fred, George, and Ginny were nowhere to be seen, though the path was packed with plenty of other people, all looking nervously over their shoulders toward the commotion back at the campsite. A huddle of teenagers in pajamas was arguing vociferously a little way along the path. When they saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a girl with thick curly hair turned and said quickly,**

**"Oü est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue -"**

"What was that?" Tonks asked in confusion.

"It's French," Bill said at once. "She said, _'Where is Madam Maxime? We have lost her'_."

"And how do you know that son?" Arthur asked politely, but he had a pretty good idea what it was about. "I don't remember you ever learning French."

"Well…" Bill said uncomfortably, and Arthur smiled a little wider at his eldest son's blush. "I have a co-worker who speaks it and I've been learning it to understand them better."

_'In other words,'_ Arthur thought privately as happiness filled his soul. _'You finally found a girl who has caught your eye.'_

Molly opened her mouth to speak, but Remus had already gone on again.

**"Er - what?" said Ron.**

**"Oh…" The girl who had spoken turned her back on him, and as they walked on they distinctly heard her say, "Ogwarts."**

**"Beauxbatons," muttered Hermione.**

"Wait," Sirius asked frowning slightly. "This was in the middle of August. Why would they be looking for Madame Maxime? And second of all, how can they lose her?"

"That's because Beauxbatons also has a summer course," Bill explained before he could stop himself. "Because Beauxbatons isn't as far away from everywhere else as Hogwarts is. They have a few summer classes for those who are having problems with certain subjects or just want some extra credit. This was supposed to have been a summer trip."

"Well, this is a trip those kids won't forget in a hurry," Sirius nodded.

"You know? I remember seeing her there," Arthur said as he thought back to that night. "Madame Maxime was yelling for her students to leave and she was fighting the Death Eaters."

"Sounds like you're type, Mad-Eye," Tonks teased. "Someone who is stubborn, ready for action, and tells everyone else what to do so that she can take down Death Eater scum."

"If you continue to talk like that I will personally pull that tongue of yours out of your head," Mad-Eye hissed at her as the others laughed.

**"Sorry?" said Harry.**

**"They must go to Beauxbatons," said Hermione. "You know… _Beauxbatons Academy of Magic… I read about it in An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe."_**

"Is there anything she _hasn't_ read?" Sirius couldn't help but ask again.

"She has to," Bill said. "I mean, look at how much trouble they would be in if she hadn't."

"Fair point," Sirius nodded. "Remind me to get something special for Hermione for Christmas next year for all her trouble."

"Like what?" Tonks asked. "She's already read every book out there."

"Oh, I'll find something," Sirius smirked.

**"Oh… yeah… right," said Harry.**

"Convincing," Bill joked lightly, and the others managed to crack small smiles at that, glad for some way to get rid of all the tension that was in the air.

**"Fred and George can't have gone that far," said Ron, pulling out his wand, lighting it like Hermione's, and squinting up the path. Harry dug in the pockets of his jacket for his own wand - but it wasn't there. **

"WHAT?" Tonks shouted, the fear intensifying.

"He lost his WAND?" Mad-Eye asked loudly. "And here I had such high hopes for him. You never lose sight of your wand! Keep it on you at all times! You never know when you're going to need it! It's bad for a wizard to be without a wand on a normal occasion, but in the middle of an attack?"

"This just keeps getting worse and worse with every page," Remus muttered. "But Harry's just fine. Remember? And let's not forget that Ron and Hermione still have their wands, and they're more than capable of fighting back, so I say that Harry is still well protected."

"And think about it this way," Mad-Eye offered, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "There's still a huge amount of the book to go, so I doubt he gets horribly maimed."

"Why do you sound like you're hoping for that?!" Sirius cried out at him.

**The only thing he could find was his Omnioculars.**

**"Ah, no, I don't believe it… I've lost my wand!"**

**"You're kidding!"**

"I wish he was," Sirius moaned.

"A poor sort of joke to be pulling at a time like this," Bill disagreed.

**Ron and Hermione raised their wands high enough to spread the narrow beams of light farther on the ground; Harry looked all around him, but his wand was nowhere to be seen.**

**"Maybe it's back in the tent," said Ron.**

**"Maybe it fell out of your pocket when we were running?" Hermione suggested anxiously.**

**"Yeah," said Harry, "maybe…"**

**He usually kept his wand with him at all times in the wizarding world, and finding himself without it in the midst of a scene like this made him feel very vulnerable.**

"Understandable…" Kingsley responded quietly. "To lose your wand… in a way it kind of feels like losing a part yourself, especially when you grow so used to having it with you. It's your protection… your only chance…"

"Now you're starting to really depress me, Kingsley," Tonks said. "And that's Mad-Eye's job!"

"What was that?!" Mad-Eye called out. "You may find it depressing but…"

"Please go on," Tonks begged Remus as she whispered into his ear. Just feeling her hot breath on his skin made him bit back a moan of longing. So instead, he did what he was told, hoping to get his mind off the young woman that he had fallen for so hard. In fact, he was so busy trying not to think of it, he didn't notice that she was still holding his hand.

**A rustling noise nearby made all three of them jump. Winky the house-elf was fighting her way out of a clump of bushes nearby. She was moving in a most peculiar fashion, apparently with great difficulty; it was as though someone invisible were trying to hold her back.**

Sirius frowned. That wasn't just a figure of speech. Someone WAS attempting to hold her back.

"Is that…?" Molly asked slowly and Mad-Eye nodded with an angry look on his face. He knew who it was alright… well, all he could say was that Crouch was lucky that he was no longer a threat because if he had it his way, he would make a lost soul seem like the least of his problems.

**"There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked distractedly as she leaned forward and laboured to keep running. "People high - high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"**

"Personally, I think she has the right idea, with or without Crouch," Molly muttered.

"I personally think she should have stayed and let Crouch Jr. get trampled," Sirius softly disagreed.

**And she disappeared into the trees on the other side of the path, panting and squeaking as she fought the force that was restraining her.**

**"What's up with her?" said Ron, looking curiously after Winky. "Why can't she run properly?"**

"Because she was dragging Death Eater scum with her," Mad-Eye answered as if he was speaking to a Auror trainee. "They are nothing but dead weight."

Mad-Eye rarely made a joke, so it only made this one that much sweeter as they let out a few strangled chuckles; all of them feeling better now that the trio seemed to be out of harm's way.

**"Bet she didn't ask permission to hide," said Harry. He was thinking of Dobby: Every time he had tried to do something the Malfoys wouldn't like, the house-elf had been forced to start beating himself up.**

"That makes sense I guess…" Tonks said quietly, and then looked indignant. "She has the right to hide! She was scared!"

**"You know, house-elves get a very raw deal!" said Hermione indignantly. "It's slavery, that's what it is! That Mr. Crouch made her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone do something about it?"**

"Because they're all so used to it and nobody ever bothers to question it," said Remus simply—at those words they all suddenly felt as if they sunk a few inches lower into the floor.

"Which people should start to question it," Sirius spoke to Remus as he took his shoulder. The same thing goes for werewolves too. If I had it my way, I'd make sure that you get the best job out there and get the respect you deserve. That's what you do deserve mate."

Remus knew this was far from true, but still, he smiled at Padfoot. His words meant so much to him right now… just knowing that one of his oldest friends was back there and telling him that he was being stupid was worth any job to him.

"I'm guessing this is where Hermione started to do something about that," Kingsley offered. He remembered how passionately that Hermione was about her house-elf protection society. She talked about how uneducated they were and how they were unable to argue or think for themselves. They are kept as unpaid workers by wealthy wizarding families, and their treatment depends on the mercy of their masters. He began to think of the enslavement of the house-elves mirrored the enslavement of wizards, good and bad, at the hands of Voldemort. Whether by swaying them to follow him willingly, or by force if he has to; and gradually pulls much of the wizard community into his power, to work for his whims and to perform his malicious tasks toward the goal of wiping the world clean of all but pure-blood wizards. He would have to see if he could get her to work for the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and help her to change that…

"Hermione," Bill said starting to get anxious of what was coming. "Rant about house elf rights _after_ the Death Eaters are gone."

**"Well, the elves are happy, aren't they?" Ron said. "You heard old Winky back at the match… 'House-elves is not supposed to have fun'… that's what she likes, being bossed around…"**

"They really don't mind," Sirius shrugged. "At least some don't," he added with a hateful thought of Kreacher.

"It's more a fact of them being used to such lives, I would think," said Remus thoughtfully.

**"It's people like you, Ron," Hermione began hotly, "who prop up rotten and unjust systems, just because they're too lazy to -"**

"Now that's a little harsh," Remus said thoughtfully. "Most house-elves like working for Witches and Wizards, and as long as they're treated fairly. I mean, if you earn a House-elf's loyalty, you can't ask for a better friend." He shot Sirius a pointed look at this but Sirius pretended not to notice.

**Another loud bang echoed from the edge of the wood.**

**"Let's just keep moving, shall we?" said Ron, and Harry saw him glance edgily at Hermione. Perhaps there was truth in what Malfoy had said; perhaps Hermione was in more danger than they were.**

"No chance," said Mad-Eye, smiling darkly. "Granger in danger? Please, she's as much a fairy princess… as I am."

Tonks and Bill roared with laughter at that, but Remus still remained concern. "I think that Harry would be in the most danger…"

"If Lucius Malfoy is involved, I don't doubt it," Sirius stated harshly. "Course if he every hurt one hair on his head…" he made a violent gesture with his hands. "He's a dead man…"

**They set off again, Harry still searching his pockets, even though he knew his wand wasn't there. They followed the dark path deeper into the wood, still keeping an eye out for Fred, George, and Ginny. **

"Don't worry, Molly," Arthur said soothingly before Molly could start to panic again. "They made it back to the tent safely. I told you…"

**They passed a group of goblins who were cackling over a sack of gold that they had undoubtedly won betting on the match, and who seemed quite unperturbed by the trouble at the campsite. **

'_If I have to guess, those goblins must've been the ones to take them from Bagman,' _Bill thought to himself. Bill already knew that money motivates goblins, but this is proof that not even a riot can distract them from their gold. Goblins don't care about wizard affairs—the whole focus of their existence is money. If there is one thing you need to know about goblins, is that it was not wise to get between a goblin and his gold…

**Farther still along the path, they walked into a patch of silvery light, and when they looked through the trees, they saw three tall and beautiful veela standing in a clearing, surrounded by a gaggle of young wizards, all of whom were talking very loudly.**

"Of course," Tonks stated, rolling her eyes. "Typical, men trying to impress the pretty veela."

"Ah," Sirius laughed. "Oh, this should be good to hear. A bunch of idiots making fools of themselves… that's always a laugh."

"Like you wouldn't have done the same, Padfoot," Remus teased.

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Sirius answered. "But I would at least make it sound believable."

"Of course you would," Remus chuckled, but he highly doubted it.

**"I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a year!" one of them shouted. "I'm a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."**

"Sure you are," Bill answered sarcastically. "Good thing that Charlie isn't here or else he would go nuts at that thought."

**"No, you're not!" yelled his friend. "You're a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron… but I'm a vampire hunter, I've killed about ninety so far -"**

"Right," Sirius smirked. "And I'm Stubby Boardman!"

**A third young wizard, whose pimples were visible even by the dim, silvery light of the veela, now cut in, "I'm about to become the youngest ever Minister of Magic, I am."**

"Oh dear," Molly giggled, "They're just embarrassing themselves!"

Arthur also laughed before he said, "Well, whoever he is, I bet that would still be better Minister than Fudge. But then again, that's not exactly saying much, is it?"

Everyone quashed the laughter bubbling in their throat and grinned, eyes shining, before Remus continued to read.

**Harry snorted with laughter. He recognized the pimply wizard: His name was Stan Shunpike, and he was in fact a conductor on the triple-decker Knight Bus. **

"What? You mean to tell me that geeky kid who was on the Knight Bus last year when Harry ran away from the Durselys?" asked Sirius in astonishment. "Well, it's a small world after all eh?"

They all burst out in laughter again at the irony.

**He turned to tell Ron this, but Ron's face had gone oddly slack, and next second Ron was yelling, "Did I tell you I've invented a broomstick that'll reach Jupiter?"**

Many wouldn't have believed it possible, but they all laughed even harder at Ron's words. So much harder, that when they all finally calmed down, they were all panting as though they had all just run a marathon. It was so good to laugh again… even if it was over something so stupid.

"Ah, good one, Ron," Sirius laughed as he hiccupped. "I'd _love_ to see that…"

"At least his lies sound the most interesting," Kingsley chuckled.

Tonks finally calmed down enough to take several deep breaths and asked, "But Harry isn't affected this time? I mean, Ron just seems to be getting more venerable to their charm…"

"Strange," Mad-Eye asked curiously. "We know that Potter was affected by the veelas when they first came onto the field, so why is he apparently immune here? Or why is Weasley so infatuated?"

"Well, Fleur told me that after the first time, they slowly start to lose their charm after awhile…" Bill informed them. "So I guess that is what's happening to Harry. But I also know that there are just some people who just are especially weak to it."

"Well, Weasley better hope that Voldemort doesn't have veela on his side or he won't stand a chance," Mad-Eye said simply.

**"Honestly!" said Hermione, and she and Harry grabbed Ron firmly by the arms, wheeled him around, and marched him away. By the time the sounds of the veela and their admirers had faded completely, they were in the very heart of the wood. They seemed to be alone now; everything was much quieter.**

"You know, I'm getting a feeling that they'd be better off listening to Ron lie about miracle broomsticks instead of being there," Bill said, now starting to become scared for his little brother.

**Harry looked around. "I reckon we can just wait here, you know. We'll hear anyone coming a mile off."**

Mad-Eye shook his head. "There's safety in numbers. Here, they are open to attacks."

"Please don't say it like that, Mad-Eye," Arthur begged.

"But I have to agree that it would be better to be with others…" Remus said slowly, not wanting to alarm Molly any more. "It's safer that way."

**The words were hardly out of his mouth, when Ludo Bagman emerged from behind a tree right ahead of them.**

"What on earth is he doing there?" said Remus in surprise. "Why isn't he with the Ministry helping the Muggles?"

**Even by the feeble light of the two wands, Harry could see that a great change had come over Bagman. He no longer looked buoyant and rosy-faced; there was no more spring in his step. He looked very white and strained.**

"What happened to him?" asked Sirius suspiciously.

"I don't know," said Remus, also looking suspicious and curious.

"It looks like he just lost some money to the goblins," Bill said simply. "A lot of people have been having trouble getting money from him and I heard that a group of goblins cornered him at the World Cup and took all the gold he had on him. I guess this is what happened…"

**"Who's that?" he said, blinking down at them, trying to make out their faces. "What are you doing in here, all alone?"**

"How can he not know what's going on?" Molly demanded. "Even if he was in trouble with goblins, he should know the trouble going on at the campsite!"

"Apparently not," Mad-Eye answered.

**They looked at one another, surprised.**

**"Well - there's a sort of riot going on," said Ron.**

"A bit more than a riot," Sirius snorted under his breath.

**Bagman stared at him.**

**"What?"**

**"At the campsite… some people have got hold of a family of Muggles…"**

**Bagman swore loudly.**

"I wonder what he was doing that he didn't know about the Death Eaters?" asked Mad-Eye. "Besides just getting ripped off by goblins. Shouldn't take this long to lose everything…"

"I'm not sure I want to know," Bill answered. "He's caused plenty of problems for us because of that…"

**"Damn them!" he said, looking quite distracted, and without another word, he Disapparated with a small pop!**

**"Not exactly on top of things, Mr. Bagman, is he?" said Hermione, frowning.**

"Maybe Hermione is starting to sound like Percy—" Mad-Eye said. "But Bagman does seem quite distracted. Since his department was in charge of the event, you would think he'd be more alert."

"I agree with you and Hermione," said Kingsley. "Something's up with him."

"Hopefully, we'll find out," Arthur said.

**"He was a great Beater, though," said Ron, leading the way off the path into a small clearing, and sitting down on a patch of dry grass at the foot of a tree. "The Wimbourne Wasps won the league three times in a row while he was with them."**

"That doesn't make him innocent," Molly pointed out sternly. "Doesn't matter how good a player he is, that doesn't mean that he should be able to get away with everything."

**He took his small figure of Krum out of his pocket, set it down on the ground, and watched it walk around. Like the real Krum, the model was slightly duck-footed and round-shouldered, much less impressive on his splayed feet than on his broomstick. Harry was listening for noise from the campsite. Everything seemed much quieter; perhaps the riot was over.**

"Maybe… it's best to go and find other people," Tonks stated, and blew at a strand of her violet shade of hair which fell onto her face. "And wait for someone to come and tell you that everything's ok."

**"I hope the others are okay," said Hermione after a while.**

**"They'll be fine," said Ron.**

**"Imagine if your dad catches Lucius Malfoy," said Harry, sitting down next to Ron and watching the small figure of Krum slouching over the fallen leaves. "He's always said he'd like to get something on him."**

"I would really like to see that," Sirius said seriously with a fierce look at Arthur. "You have to get him back for something someday!"

"That's easier said than done, Padfoot," Remus reminded him.

"Besides, even if he was caught in the act, the Ministry would just let him buy himself free," Arthur added bitterly. "But if I can, I will," he promised.

**"That'd wipe the smirk off old Draco's face, all right," said Ron.**

"I wish I could be there to see that," Sirius said regretfully, shaking his head in a mournful fashion. He hated to admit but he was jealous of Arthur. Jealous at how close that they were and knew more about each other than he had with his own godson…

As much as he wanted his godson to have a father-figure, he wished that figure could've been him… or James.

**"Those poor Muggles, though," said Hermione nervously. "What if they can't get them down?"**

**"They will," said Ron reassuringly. "They'll find a way."**

"Just in time," Arthur remembered with a cold shiver at close they were to the Robert's family dying from that fall. Thankfully a few Cushioning Charms were acted just in time.

**"Mad, though, to do something like that when the whole Ministry of Magic's out here tonight!" said Hermione. "I mean, how do they expect to get away with it?**

"I think that's why they went through with it," Mad-Eye said.

"What?" Bill asked startled. "Sounds stupid to me."

"Most likely they did it to prove they are still among us and powerful," he elaborated. "And that they will be willing to betray us to their 'master'" he said that last word as if it was vile, "At any moment."

"Besides, with their luck," Sirius said. "Or rather money, they'll be able to buy their way out of trouble."

"They can just disapparate at any moment," Molly stated bitterly. "And I suppose they're only doing it to make a statement about 'Wizard superiority over Muggles', or something stupid like that."

"You're right," Sirius agreed with a frown. "Yeah, they were probably drinking, got bored and decided to play a game."

"Wait, this is all a _game _to them?" Tonks snarled, fury darkening her eyes until she looked almost ready to spit poison at someone. "This is _entertainment _to them?"

Remus looked straight into her eyes as he said softly, "I'm afraid it is. There are just some wizards like that in our world…"

"Like my bloody parents," Sirius muttered bitterly. "Good riddance to them all."

**Do you think they've been drinking, or are they just -"**

"That was my idea," Sirius nodded, agreeing with Hermione.

**But she broke off abruptly and looked over her shoulder. Harry and Ron looked quickly around too. It sounded as though someone was staggering toward their clearing. They waited, listening to the sounds of the uneven steps behind the dark trees. But the footsteps came to a sudden halt.**

The atmosphere in the room was building, as was the tension, as they waited for Remus to read on, all of them hoping that things will end soon.

**"Hello?" called Harry.**

**There was silence. Harry got to his feet and peered around the tree. It was too dark to see very far, but he could sense somebody standing just beyond the range of his vision.**

"That can't be good," Tonks said, biting her lip.

**"Who's there?" he said.**

**And then, without warning, the silence was rent by a voice unlike any they had heard in the wood; and it uttered, not a panicked shout, but what sounded like a spell.**

**"MORSMORDRE!"**

"What was that?" asked Molly anxiously, hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was.

"Damnit!" Mad-Eye hissed, and the others looked horrified.

"Run! They need to get out of there, now!" Sirius said urgently.

"Why is it always those three?" Molly muttered under her breath.

"Trust me, Molly," Sirius sighed. "I've been asking myself that for awhile now."

**And something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness Harry's eyes had been struggling to penetrate; it flew up over the treetops and into the sky.**

**"What the -?" gasped Ron as he sprang to his feet again, staring up at the thing that had appeared.**

"You think that Ron at least would know what that means?" Kingsley asked in surprise.

"We don't like to talk about it," Molly said stiffly. Just thinking about that hateful mark in the sky—the same mark that took her beloved brothers from her was just painful… even after all this time—that mark hunted her nightmares. She sometimes wondered if that green skull was the last thing that her brothers saw before…

She closed her eyes tightly and gripped Arthur's arms so tightly that he was starting to lose feeling in his fingers. He pulled his arm gently from her grip so that he could wrap it around her shoulders instead and hold her close as she buried her face into his shoulder. Just knowing that he was there was all the comfort she needed.

**For a split second, Harry thought it was another leprechaun formation. Then he realized that it was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. **

The entirety of the group shivered slightly. Everyone there knew that symbol hanging in the sky meant that you were sure to find bodies just underneath it. The fact that this mark hadn't been seen by the next generation up until this point was somewhat comforting to them all, but at the same time, a cold blanket of fear and apprehension seized their hearts.

**As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation.**

**Suddenly, the wood all around them erupted with screams. **

"Because the majority of people will recognize it… and of course, they have a right to be scared…" Mad-Eye said quietly. "It just marks death. They'll think that the Death Eaters are in the wood and are killing left and right."

Molly gave a shuddering gasp and struggled to hold in the horror she felt as Arthur gave Mad-Eye a dark look.

**Harry didn't understand why, but the only possible cause was the sudden appearance of the skull, which had now risen high enough to illuminate the entire wood like some grisly neon sign. **

"Some grisly what?" Arthur asked, confused.

"Neon, it's a Muggle thing," Kingsley answered quickly. "We can talk about what it is later. I don't think now is a good time, Arthur."

"I never heard someone was killed," Tonks said quietly. "I mean, they called us in to do some investigating but…"

"No one was," Arthur assured her. "This Death Eater had other intentions."

**He scanned the darkness for the person who had conjured the skull, but he couldn't see anyone.**

**"Who's there?" he called again.**

"Oh Harry, please don't!" Sirius groaned, "Just leave already!"

**"Harry, come on, move!" Hermione had seized the collar of his jacket and was tugging him backward.**

"Harry, whoever is there isn't a friend! Just get out of there and find the others as quickly as possible!" said Sirius sounding as though he wanted to be there more than ever.

"At least Hermione has her act together," Tonks muttered; but they have to hurry or else they'll be blamed for it.

"Rubbish!" Sirius snapped back. "How could anyone blame a bunch of kids for the Dark Mark?"

"Wouldn't be the first time the Ministry was dead wrong," Mad-Eye repeated to everyone.

**"What's the matter?" Harry said, startled to see her face so white and terrified.**

**"It's the Dark Mark, Harry!" Hermione moaned, pulling him as hard as she could. "You-Know-Who's sign!"**

**"Voldemort's - "Harry, come on!"**

"Harry, now is not the time to ask questions," Remus sighed.

**Harry turned - Ron was hurriedly scooping up his miniature Krum - the three of them started across the clearing - but before they had taken a few hurried steps, a series of popping noises announced the arrival of twenty wizards, appearing from thin air, surrounding them.**

"Duck!" Sirius screamed immediately, panic gripping her—forgetting that the kids were safe. "They're not going to want to ask questions!"

"Oh Merlin…" Molly muttered, pressing her lips together slightly in terror.

**Harry whirled around, and in an instant, he registered one fact: Each of these wizards had his wand out, and every wand was pointing right at himself, Ron, and Hermione.**

"They're going to stun them!" said Bill, standing up. "But they haven't done anything!"

"They don't care!" Mad-Eye called back.

**Without pausing to think, he yelled, "DUCK!"**

**He seized the other two and pulled them down onto the ground.**

"Good. The lad reacts fast" Mad-Eye said approvingly.

"Thank Merlin he has such quick reflexes," Remus sighed, shaking his head tiredly. "All those stunning spells coming at once… that could've done them some serious injuries.

**"STUPEFY!" roared twenty voices - there was a blinding series of flashes and Harry felt the hair on his head ripple as though a powerful wind had swept the clearing. Raising his head a fraction of an inch he saw jets of fiery red light flying over them from the wizards' wands, crossing one another, bouncing off tree trunks, rebounding into the darkness—**

_'Not visible, Apparating, and Disapparting people seem to be in fashion here. It's hard to keep track of everyone,'_ Mad-Eye thought with a frown.

**"Stop!" yelled a voice he recognized. "STOP! That's my son!"**

They all breathed out in relief.

Sirius smiled, also relieved but it seemed rather strained. How he wished _he _had been the one there to protect Harry and his friends, stop them from stunning the three teenagers… but nonetheless he was grateful for Arthur.

"Thank Merlin you got there, Arthur," Molly said quietly pressing a small kiss on his cheek.

"The voice of reason," Remus said nodded and Arthur chuckled slightly.

**Harry's hair stopped blowing about. He raised his head a little higher. The wizard in front of him had lowered his wand. He rolled over and saw Mr. Weasley striding toward them, looking terrified.**

"I don't blame you, you must've been so worried about you and then you found them near the mark," Remus said.

"When I got there and saw the three of them on the ground I thought…" Arthur began, but couldn't bring himself to finish. He never said this to anyone but when he arrived there and saw the three bodies of his son and two others who were as dear to him as his own children lying there under the mark he had immediately thought the worse. But when he saw them look up, he wanted to grab all of them in a Hagrid sized hug.

Molly laid her head on his shoulder and he tightened his grip tightly around her—comforting himself as well as her.

**"Ron - Harry" - his voice sounded shaky - "Hermione - are you all right?"**

**"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice.**

**It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Harry got to his feet to face them. Mr. Crouch's face was taut with rage.**

**"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"**

"He seriously thought that one of them conjured it?" Tonks said shocked.

"It's what Crouch does best," Sirius responded dully.

"Are you kidding me?" Bill asked in disbelief. "He's accusing three teenagers of conjuring up the Dark Mark?"

"Well, we always knew he was mental! Only Death Eaters know how to use that spell," Sirius scoffed and waved his hand at the book.

"Plus he's accusing Harry for Merlin sake, of all the possible people out there, Harry Potter has to be the absolute last one," Remus added.

**"We didn't do that!" said Harry, gesturing up at the skull.**

**"We didn't do anything!" said Ron, who was rubbing his elbow and looking indignantly at his father. "What did you want to attack us for?"**

"Because it's what the Ministry does best!" Sirius repeated grumpily. "Punish first, ask questions later."

**"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was still pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping - he looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"**

**"Barty," whispered a witch in a long woolen dressing gown, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to."**

"Exactly," Molly said in exasperation. "He needs to wake up and use his brain!"

**"Where did the Mark come from, you three?" said Mr. Weasley quickly.**

"Thank you! At least there's someone there, who's thinking straight!" said Remus.

"Maybe you should try out for Minister someday, Arthur," Kingsley smiled.

"Oh, no," Arthur said as he shook his head. "No… I rather not. I mean… if it's a choice between me and Fudge, then sure. Anything to get him out of office, but I rather not be the one. I think that you would be a better choice, Kingsley."

He smiled back. "I'm glad that you feel like that…" he said in his calming tone. "But I'm not sure if it's the right job for me."

**"Over there," said Hermione shakily, pointing at the place where they had heard the voice. "There was someone behind the trees… they shouted words – an incantation -"**

**"Oh, stood over there, did they?" said Mr. Crouch, turning his popping eyes on Hermione now, disbelief etched all over his face. **

"She just said so, didn't she?" snarled Sirius, "Or are you deaf?"

**"Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy -"**

"Probably because she heard the person who did conjure it," said Bill angrily. "I mean, where they could have learnt that spell!"

"Oh, someone shut him up, please," Tonks said, rolling her eyes. "Stop yelling at a group of kids and start doing your job."

**But none of the Ministry wizards apart from Mr. Crouch seemed to think it remotely likely that Harry, Ron, or Hermione had conjured the skull; on the contrary, at Hermione's words, they had all raised their wands again and were pointing in the direction she had indicated, squinting through the dark trees.**

**"We're too late," said the witch in the woolen dressing gown, shaking her head. "They'll have Disapparated."**

"Unless they were stunned by a stray spell just in time," Kingsley pointed out.

**"I don't think so," said a wizard with a scrubby brown beard. It was Amos Diggory, Cedric's father. "Our Stunners went right through those trees… There's a good chance we got them…"**

"You did, you just didn't _find_ them," Sirius growled in an undertone.

**"Amos, be careful!" said a few of the wizards warningly as Mr. Diggory squared his shoulders, raised his wand, marched across the clearing, and disappeared into the darkness. Hermione watched him vanish with her hands over her mouth. A few seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shout.**

**"Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's - but – blimey.."**

"Who was it?" Remus asked thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes.

**"You've got someone?" shouted Mr. Crouch, sounding highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?"**

**They heard snapping twigs, the rustling of leaves, and then crunching footsteps as Mr. Diggory reemerged from behind the trees. He was carrying a tiny, limp figure in his arms. Harry recognized the tea towel at once. It was Winky.**

"Oh, he won't take this well," Sirius said lightly as he remembered everything he heard about Winky from the trio last year.

"What?" Tonks asked, startled. "Winky?" at seeing Remus's nod, she frowned. "Well, Winky couldn't possibly have done it! She has a squeaky voice doesn't she? She couldn't have been the one who had cast it."

"No, it was Crouch Jr." Sirius snapped. "No one could see him because he was under the cloak! So of course Winky was going to take the blame."

"Oh, this can't end well," Mad-Eye stated.

**Mr. Crouch did not move or speak as Mr. Diggory deposited his elf on the ground at his feet. The other Ministry wizards were all staring at Mr. Crouch. For a few seconds Crouch remained transfixed, his eyes blazing in his white face as he stared down at Winky. Then he appeared to come to life again.**

**"This - cannot - be," he said jerkily. "No -"**

**He moved quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode off toward the place where he had found Winky.**

"I feel sorry for Winky," Remus interrupted himself. "I mean… she was just trying to do her job and now she has to be punished for it."

"He's a jerk that Crouch," Tonks nodded. She looked to Sirius and said, "I see now why you hate him so much."

"Oh, I don't _hate_ him," Sirius rolled his eyes. "I_ loathe_ him."

**"No point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him. "There's no one else there."**

**But Mr. Crouch did not seem prepared to take his word for it. They could hear him moving around and the rustling of leaves as he pushed the bushes aside, searching.**

They all narrowed their eyes, knowing that he was searching for his son. But to Mad-Eye's relief, no one bothered to respond to that.

**"Bit embarrassing," Mr. Diggory said grimly, looking down at Winky's unconscious form. "Barty Crouch's house-elf… I mean to say…"**

**"Come off it, Amos," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "you don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."**

"But they don't need a wand," Remus said.

"He's right, they have very powerful magic all their own," Kingsley granted.

"Yeah, all the other just want someone to accuse," Sirius added, knowing better than anyone how the Ministry worked.

"If you ask me, Arthur is the only one there who has a brain that works," said Mad-Eye flatly. The compliment from Mad-Eye caused Arthur to blush deeply.

**"Yeah," said Mr. Diggory, "and she had a wand."**

"What?" some of the group called out in shock.

"She had a wand? But… where could she have gotten one?" Remus asked, frowning.

"You'll see," Sirius said grimly. He was planning on giving Harry a long lecture about keeping a closer eye on their wand.

**"What?" said Mr. Weasley.**

**"Here, look." Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed it to Mr. Weasley. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand."**

"That's not right," said Tonks. "That code is just ridiculous…" Suddenly her voice trailed off as she looked over at Remus. "But you have one Remus."

Remus sighed and pulled it out to exam it. "I know," he said, "And I know how lucky I am that I'm allowed one. I think it's because I _used_ to be human."

"And you are still human. It's only once a month that you aren't," she said softly.

"I don't know why I was able to get a wand and others don't," said Remus calmly. "But I am truly grateful for it."

"Those laws are seriously old-fashioned if you ask me," said Sirius, shaking his head.

"Well, for someone to fix them the Ministry has to stop taking bribes and start doing their jobs," said Arthur, slightly bitter.

"In other words, it's not going to happen in my lifetime," sighed Remus miserably. Tonks felt her heart break and leaned her head against his like how Molly was doing for Arthur. He froze for a moment and was considering if it would be a better idea to move to another seat when Mad-Eye barked, "Hurry up and read!"

Remus jumped and continued quickly.

**Just then there was another pop, and Ludo Bagman Apparated right next to Mr. Weasley. Looking breathless and disorientated, he spun on the spot, goggling upward at the emerald-green skull.**

**"The Dark Mark!" he panted, almost trampling Winky as he turned inquiringly to his colleagues. "Who did it? Did you get them? Barty! What's going on?"**

"Looks like someone is a little slow on the uptake," Tonks said wryly.

**Mr. Crouch had returned empty-handed. His face was still ghostly white, and his hands and his toothbrush mustache were both twitching.**

_'Even though Crouch didn't find anyone, you can't be too sure someone else wasn't there with all the people popping in and out all over the place,'_ Mad-Eye thought with pleasure. _'Crouch is acting especially nervous here… how the mighty have fallen…'_

**"Where have you been, Barty?" said Bagman. "Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too - gulping gargoyles!" Bagman had just noticed Winky lying at his feet. "What happened to her?"**

"You're a little behind the times," Sirius called out and Tonks smirked. "That's old news already!"

**"I have been busy, Ludo," said Mr. Crouch, still talking in the same jerky fashion, barely moving his lips. "And my elf has been stunned."**

**"Stunned? By you lot, you mean? But why -?"**

**Comprehension dawned suddenly on Bagman's round, shiny face; he looked up at the skull, down at Winky, and then at Mr. Crouch.**

"And finally he gets it," Sirius cried sarcastically. "I can see why they made him in charge of a Department."

_'What exactly does 'busy' mean?' _Kingsley thought curiously, as the others snorted at Sirius's words. _'Talk about people popping in and out—now where has Bagman been? The last time we saw him, I thought that he was going to go back to camp and help. So, when he said 'damn them' back there, who was the 'them' he was talking about, and where has he been? He's not the Dark Mark type, but he isn't leading the charge against evil either.'_

**"No!" he said. "Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"**

"Even if she did need a wand, she wouldn't know how to use it," Molly frowned, shaking his head. "Only Death Eaters know the incantation!"

"Well, they did," Mad-Eye said evidently. "But so do we."

"No…" Sirius said dramatically. "I forgot it already. And no one remind me! I am not going to remember it!"

**"And she had one," said Mr. Diggory. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself."**

"Well, at least they're giving Winky the chance to defend herself—though I don't think they should because they really shouldn't be accusing her in the first place!" Molly objected, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Yeah, it was her 'master' that was the lowlife who cast it," Sirius added.

**Crouch gave no sign that he had heard Mr. Diggory, but Mr. Diggory seemed to take his silence for assent. He raised his own wand, pointed it at Winky, and said, "Ennervate!"**

**Winky stirred feebly. Her great brown eyes opened and she blinked several times in a bemused sort of way. Watched by the silent wizards, she raised herself shakily into a sitting position.**

**She caught sight of Mr. Diggory's feet, and slowly, tremulously, raised her eyes to stare up into his face; then, more slowly still, she looked up into the sky. Harry could see the floating skull reflected twice in her enormous, glassy eyes. She gave a gasp, looked wildly around the crowded clearing, and burst into terrified sobs.**

"Poor thing," Molly frowned. "I'd be scared too, if I was stunned and woke up to that. They aren't doing anything but traumatizing her."

**"Elf!" said Mr. Diggory sternly. "Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"**

"Does he have to be so rude to her?" Tonks asked angrily. "Ever hear the saying, _'You catch more flies with honey than vinegar?'_"

"Well, they think that elves like vinegar," Bill offered. "Makes sense if you ask me."

"Insensitive! The whole lot of them!" Tonks cried out dramatically.

**Winky began to rock backward and forward on the ground, her breath coming in sharp bursts.**

**Harry was reminded forcibly of Dobby in his moments of terrified disobedience.**

**"As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago," said Mr. Diggory. "And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"**

**"I - I - I is not doing it, sir!" Winky gasped. "I is not knowing how, sir!"**

"Something tells me they're not going to believe her," Bill muttered, shaking his head with a small sigh.

"Of course not," Remus answered darkly. "She's not human. Of course, they won't believe a word she says."

"And they say that Death Eaters are prejudice," Mad-Eye said to himself.

**"You were found with a wand in your hand!" barked Mr. Diggory, brandishing it in front of her. And as the wand caught the green light that was filling the clearing from the skull above, Harry recognized it.**

**"Hey - that's mine!" he said**

"Wrong thing to say, Harry!" said Sirius, his eyes widening.

"So Winky had Harry's wand?" Remus asked, frowning slightly.

"No!" said Sirius indignantly. "It was Crouch Jr.! He took the wand from him when they were in the Top Box!"

"How can you not notice when someone takes your wand out of your own pocket?" Tonks asked incrediously.

"Pick-pockets like Dung do it all the time," Mad-Eye reminded her.

**Everyone in the clearing looked at him.**

**"Excuse me?" said Mr. Diggory, incredulously.**

**"That's my wand!" said Harry. "I dropped it!"**

"Something tells me that those aren't the best words that you could've used Harry," said Remus, wincing.

Exhaling a long breath Sirius slumped against his chair. Were the fates out for his godson or something? It's just one thing after another… can't he ever catch a break?

"Oh, come on, there's no way that they'll believe that the person who weakened Voldemort conjured the Dark Mark," scoffed Arthur. Though Amos needed a reminder of that…

**"You dropped it?" repeated Mr. Diggory in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"**

Sirius frowned angrily. "Yeah, as if _Harry Potter_, the boy who faced Voldemort, conjured the Dark Mark in front of everyone. Yeah that makes sense!"

"What an idiot," Tonks scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Well, if you ask me, he always was sort of thick-headed," Mad-Eye shrugged. "Nice to know some things don't change."

**"Amos, think who you're talking to!" said Mr. Weasley, very angrily. "Is _Harry Potter_ likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"**

"At least you were there to keep them in line, Arthur," Molly said smiling at her husband and he smiled back kindly at her.

**"Er - of course not," mumbled Mr. Diggory. "Sorry… carried away…"**

"And at least he was big enough to admit he was wrong," said Arthur satisfied.

**"I didn't drop it there, anyway," said Harry, jerking his thumb toward the trees beneath the skull. "I missed it right after we got into the wood."**

**"So," said Mr. Diggory, his eyes hardening as he turned to look at Winky again, cowering at his feet. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"**

"He needs to listen to himself!" Molly huffed, feeling herself getting angrier with each sentence.

**"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" squealed Winky, tears streaming down the sides of her squashed and bulbous nose. "I is… I is… I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"**

"Poor Winky," Tonks said sadly, "She's scared out of her mind and Diggory is just making it worse!"

**"It wasn't her!" said Hermione. She looked very nervous, speaking up in front of all these Ministry wizards, yet determined all the same.**

"Good girl," Tonks said approvingly and clapping for Hermione standing up to them all. "Make them think a little! Dare to question them, Hermione!"

**"Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper!" She looked around at Harry and Ron, appealing for their support. "It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"**

**"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "It definitely didn't sound like an elf."**

**"Yeah, it was a human voice," said Ron.**

**"Well, we'll soon see," growled Mr. Diggory, looking unimpressed. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?"**

"But that still doesn't mean she cast it!" Bill grimaced. "There's nothing there proving that she did anything wrong!"

"Try telling _them_ that," Sirius said with a hint of bitterness. "They don't care. Just blame the most likely person and be done with it. They'll say that their right and ignore everyone else."

"And besides," Remus sighed, "They probably wouldn't believe the word of three teenagers and an elf…"

**Winky trembled and shook her head frantically, her ears flapping, as Mr. Diggory raised his own wand again and placed it tip to tip with Harry's.**

**"_Prior Incantato_!" roared Mr. Diggory.**

"But all that's going to show is that Harry's wand was used!" Tonks exclaimed exasperated at how thick these people where. "Not that Winky was the one who cast it!"

**Harry heard Hermione gasp, horrified, as a gigantic serpent-tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands met, but it was a mere shadow of the green skull high above them; it looked as though it were made of thick gray smoke: the ghost of a spell.**

**"_Deletrius_!" Mr. Diggory shouted, and the smoky skull vanished in a wisp of smoke.**

**"So," said Mr. Diggory with a kind of savage triumph, looking down upon Winky, who was still shaking convulsively.**

"She's not going to get out of this, is she?" Tonks asked, her shoulders slumped slightly.

"Nope," Mad-Eye said with a popping sound.

"Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?" Bill asked the ceiling. "I love to know that."

"Got lost somewhere along the way after Voldemort took control during the first war," Mad-Eye answered grimly. "Ever since then, people don't trust anyone anymore."

"Sucks doesn't it?" Sirius asked in mock cheerfulness. "How Voldemort, or Tom, ruined hope for humanity for us all!"

**"I is not doing it!" she squealed, her eyes rolling in terror. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"**

**"You've been caught red-handed, elf!" Mr. Diggory roared. "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!"**

"Prejudice, they are too prejudiced to see that it couldn't possibly be her," Molly said angrily. "They wouldn't be treating people like this!"

"Sure they would. He'd be shouting at a wizard if they found one," said Sirius with a sigh.

"Yes, but they wouldn't be treating them like they're dirt on the bottom of their shoes," she snapped back.

**"Amos," said Mr. Weasley loudly, "think about it… precious few wizards know how to do that spell… Where would she have learned it?"**

"Exactly," said Arthur, agreeing with his past self. "If he thinks that Winky did it… who taught it to her? The Dark Mark is not a well-known spell. The only one who could've possibly taught it to her are either a Voldemort supporter."

"Well said," Kingsley agreed bleakly. "They just don't want to see that."

**"Perhaps Amos is suggesting," said Mr. Crouch, cold anger in every syllable, "that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?""**

**There was a deeply unpleasant silence. Amos Diggory looked horrified. "Mr. Crouch… not… not at all."**

**"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure that Mark!" barked Mr. Crouch. "Harry Potter – and myself. I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"**

"He's one to talk!" Bill said indignantly. "He accused Harry, Ron, and Hermione too not even five minutes ago!"

"Oh, but the tables have been turned now," Arthur drawled, shaking his head in disgust.

**"Of course - everyone knows -" muttered Mr. Diggory, looking highly discomforted.**

**"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career, that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch shouted, his eyes bulging again.**

"He sounds mad," Tonks said as she tilted her head. "Completely close to losing it…"

"He lost it long ago!" Sirius called out severely.

**"Mr. Crouch, I - I never suggested you had anything to do with it!" Amos Diggory muttered again, now reddening behind his scrubby brown beard.**

**"If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Diggory!" shouted Mr. Crouch. "Where else would she have learned to conjure it?"**

"At least he's sticking up for Winky," Remus said uncertainly. "In his own way."

"Oh yeah?" Sirius grunted. He knew that this show of _'kindness'_ wasn't going to last long. "Just wait for it…"

**"She - she might've picked it up anywhere -"**

"Now he's changing his tune," Tonks rolled her eyes. "And these people are in charge of protecting us? If that's the best we got then we are so doomed."

**"Precisely, Amos," said Mr. Weasley. "She might have picked it up anywhere… Winky?" he said kindly, turning to the elf, but she flinched as though he too was shouting at her.**

"At least _you're_ showing human compassion," Molly said softly.

"I knew that shouting at her wasn't going to change anything," Arthur said. "And I felt so bad for her… I hoped that maybe she would calm down and tell us what was going on."

**"Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?"**

**Winky was twisting the hem of her tea towel so violently that it was fraying beneath her fingers.**

**"I - I is finding it… finding it there, sir…" she whispered, "there… in the trees, sir."**

"Why didn't they just ask her that in the first place?" Tonks gasped outloud. "People these days… makes you wonder what the world is coming too!"

**"You see, Amos?" said Mr. Weasley. "Whoever conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right after they'd done it, leaving Harry's wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which could have betrayed them. And Winky here had the misfortune to come across the wand moments later and pick it up."**

"Well, what do you know?" Tonks said sarcastically. "That explanation sounds completely reasonable and practical! Even though we know that's not what happened. See what happens when we can all just get along? We won't be having problems like that."

**"But then, she'd have been only a few feet away from the real culprit!" said Mr. Diggory impatiently. "Elf? Did you see anyone?"**

"Why does he keep calling her Elf?" Remus said indignantly. After being treated as a monster for most of his life, he had a good idea to how Winky must've felt being called that. "She has a name! Use it!"

**Winky began to tremble worse than ever. Her giant eyes flickered from Mr. Diggory, to Ludo Bagman, and onto Mr. Crouch. Then she gulped and said, "I is seeing no one, sir… no one…"**

"What's that about?" Remus said narrowing his eyes. He remembered the way Dobby tried to give a clue to Harry in the second book.

"She's lying," Mad-Eye said suddenly, and the others looked at him; the women were glaring accusatory at him and he rolled his eyes. "I'm not saying she did it. I'm saying, she's lying about not seeing the culprit. She would have said straight away if she'd seen anyone or not, and she didn't."

"Well, she's not completely lying," Sirius spoke up brightly. "She truly didn't _see_ anyone. Crouch Jr. was under the cloak."

"How is it that on this night, no one seems to be able to see anyone?" Bill stated desperately. "And for being such powerful creatures, elves are easily intimidated by humans—are they always this fearful?"

"I think they're just so used to it that they don't know how to act any other way," Kingsley said sadly.

**"Amos," said Mr. Crouch curtly, "I am fully aware that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."**

"Here it comes," Sirius said knowingly.

**Mr. Diggory looked as though he didn't think much of this suggestion at all, but it was clear to Harry that Mr. Crouch was such an important member of the Ministry that he did not dare refuse him.**

**"You may rest assured that she will be punished," Mr. Crouch added coldly.**

"For _what_?" Tonks exclaimed, temper beginning to rise once more. "This is so unfair!"

Sighing, Remus tightened the hold on her hand and looked at her. As soon as her eyes met his, she seemed to relax and gave him a weary sort of smile. '_Dear God_,_'_ he thought vaguely as she shot him a quick lopsided smile and looked expectedly at the book in his hands. '_She really is beautiful, in every single way possible…' _

But as soon as he thought that, he quickly slapped himself away by blinking hard and turning away so that he couldn't see her face anymore. He stared determinedly at the page. What the hell was wrong with him?

**"M-m-master…" Winky stammered, looking up at Mr. Crouch, her eyes brimming with tears. "M-m-master, p-p-please…"**

**Mr. Crouch stared back, his face somehow sharpened, each line upon it more deeply etched. There was no pity in his gaze.**

Sirius glared darkly at the book in Remus's hands. He had seen that look himself… after he was caught and sent to Azkaban with no hope of release, Crouch had been giving him that exact same look as he was carted away. As if he had been turned to stone—as if his word was law and he should deal with it. Just hearing about that made his hatred for Crouch sink even lower if that was possible.

**"Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible," he said slowly. "I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me. This means clothes."**

**"No!" shrieked Winky, prostrating herself at Mr. Crouch's feet. "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"**

"With a master like Crouch I would be crying too if I was his elf that was freed," Sirius snapped. He rather hang himself than ever have worked for a man like him. "Crying for joy."

"Yeah but Winky's family have served the Crouch's for generations," Kingsley whispered.

"And it sounds like she must've decently treated while she was there," Arthur added. "I mean… it might not be shown here, but if she is taking being freed this hard…"

"Doesn't surprise me," Kingsley sighed. "Long ago, during the first war, many innocent people were held as prisoners for the Death Eaters. So that they could be tortured, or held for ransom. After the war and the few that survived were found and rescued, some of the prisoners had to be coaxed out of their prison. They had been there so long, become so inured to its horrors, that the world outside no longer had any meaning for them. These house-elves are no different from that."

For a long moment no one could speak as they listened to Kingsley explain it to them. That sounded so… so… meaningless. How could anyone be so used to the horrors of oppression that they have no more reason to live? Remus didn't want to think about that. He went back and read out in a louder voice than usual.

**Harry knew that the only way to turn a house-elf free was to present it with proper garments. It was pitiful to see the way Winky clutched at her tea towel as she sobbed over Mr. Crouch's feet.**

"Poor Winky," Tonks said softly. "She doesn't have anywhere else to go, does she?"

**"But she was frightened!" Hermione burst out angrily, glaring at Mr. Crouch. "Your elf's scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people! You can't blame her for wanting to get out of their way!"**

"Exactly, why can't he see that?" Tonks asked. "If I where her I would want to get out of the way before they got to close."

"Way to put him in his place, Hermione," Sirius grinned.

**Mr. Crouch took a step backward, freeing himself from contact with the elf, whom he was surveying as though she were something filthy and rotten that was contaminating his over-shined shoes.**

"Every time he's mentioned, I can't help but hate him more," Tonks frowned as she leaned back in her seat with a grumpy expression. "I can't stand hearing people like this."

**"I have no use for a house-elf who disobeys me," he said coldly, looking over at Hermione. "I have no use for a servant who forgets what is due to her master, and to her master's reputation."**

"Well, _excuse me_!" Sirius burst out angrily. "I had no idea that your precious reputation was at stake here. Oh no, your life is over because your elf didn't want to stay in the tent and risk getting killed by Death Eaters!  
Well, that clears things up!"

God, he hated this guy.

**Winky was crying so hard that her sobs echoed around the clearing. There was a very nasty silence, which was ended by Mr. Weasley, who said quietly, "Well, I think I'll take my lot back to the tent, if nobody's got any objections. Amos, that wand's told us all it can - if Harry could have it back, please -"**

"Yes, get them out of there, Arthur," Molly sighed—she swore these books were going to kill her in the end.

**Mr. Diggory handed Harry his wand and Harry pocketed it.**

**"Come on, you three," Mr. Weasley said quietly. But Hermione didn't seem to want to move; her eyes were still upon the sobbing elf. "Hermione!" Mr. Weasley said, more urgently. She turned and followed Harry and Ron out of the clearing and off through the trees.**

**"What's going to happen to Winky?" said Hermione, the moment they had left the clearing.**

**"I don't know," said Mr. Weasley.**

**"The way they were treating her!" said Hermione furiously. "Mr. Diggory, calling her 'elf' all the time… and Mr. Crouch! He knows she didn't do it and he's still going to sack her! He didn't care how frightened she'd been, or how upset she was - it was like she wasn't even human!"**

"Well, she's not," Sirius reminded them, when Tonks glared over at him he put his head down and said, "But that doesn't mean that she should be treated like that."

Remus laughed at the next few lines.

**"Well, she's not," said Ron.**

"Maybe not the best time to point that out," Remus said with a chuckle and Sirius laughed at having said the same thing.

**Hermione rounded on him.**

**"That doesn't mean she hasn't got feelings, Ron. It's disgusting the way -"**

**"Hermione, I agree with you," said Mr. Weasley quickly, beckoning her on, "but now is not the time to discuss elf rights. I want to get back to the tent as fast as we can. What happened to the others?"**

**"We lost them in the dark," said Ron. "Dad, why was everyone so uptight about that skull thing?"**

"Because it was the filthy Dark Mark, don't you lot know that?" Sirius asked exasperated.

"Not before this," Arthur answered.

"Course not. It hadn't been seen since Voldemort disappeared after all," Kingsley reminded him.

"You know, I think their ignorance is a good thing," Remus said hoarsely. "It proves that things had been peaceful up to this point."

"Peaceful?!" Sirius repeated aghast. "Have you not read the last three books?!"

"He means that they grew up in time without war," Molly explained firmly. "I hoped that they won't have to experience what we went through… that fear and death… they shouldn't have to go through that."

"And how is being ignorant about what life was like helping them?" Mad-Eye barked out. "Because they didn't know what that mark was, they didn't know that they needed to get out of there. How can they be ready for the worse if everyone insists on coddling them?"

Molly sniffed they were so innocent back then, they didn't know what it was or what it stood for… why did it have to be them… her children involved?

**"I'll explain everything back at the tent," said Mr. Weasley tensely.**

**But when they reached the edge of the wood, their progress was impeded. A large crowd of frightened-looking witches and wizards was congregated there, and when they saw Mr. Weasley coming toward them, many of them surged forward.**

"They all must've been freaking out," Sirius said lightly. He knew he would've been…

**"What's going on in there?"**

**"Who conjured it?"**

**"Arthur - it's not - Him?"**

"Funny how easily they jump to the conclusion he's back," Mad-Eye said with his eyebrows raised. "They were all so ready to believe that it was Voldemort. And yet now no one wants to."

"I'm sure that if Fudge did his job for once in his life, I think people would wake up," Sirius snarled. "They're all living in a dream… but are in for a nasty awakening sooner or later."

**"Of course it's not Him," said Mr. Weasley impatiently. "We don't know who it was; it looks like they Disapparated. Now excuse me, please, I want to get to bed."**

**He led Harry, Ron, and Hermione through the crowd and back into the campsite.**

**All was quiet now; there was no sign of the masked wizards, though several ruined tents were still smoking.**

"_Was_ anyone hurt?" Molly asked anxiously.

"A few minor injuries from the Death Eaters," Bill told her. "But nothing bad. No one was killed or even seriously hurt. Thank god."

**Charlie's head was poking out of the boys' tent.**

**"Dad, what's going on?" he called through the dark. "Fred, George, and Ginny got back okay, but the others -"**

"Oh good," Molly sighed, relief flooding through her at the confirmation that everyone was alive and safe. While she knew they were fine, it was still a load of her shoulders for that moment.

"Everyone's safe," Remus said with a small sigh. "So no-one got hurt, good to hear that."

**"I've got them here," said Mr. Weasley, bending down and entering the tent. Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered after him.**

**Bill was sitting at the small kitchen table, holding a bedsheet to his arm, which was bleeding profusely. Charlie had a large rip in his shirt, and Percy was sporting a bloody nose. **

_'Yet another battered nose?'_ Mad-Eye thought as he ran his own gnarled hand over the stump of what was left of his own snout. _'We all know that if you poke your nose in places where it doesn't belong… and all these running bits are making me even more interested in knowing where Bagman has been sticking his.'_

**Fred, George, and Ginny looked unhurt, though shaken.**

**"Did you get them, Dad?" said Bill sharply. "The person who conjured the Mark?"**

**"No," said Mr. Weasley. "We found Barty Crouch's elf holding Harry's wand, but we're none the wiser about who actually conjured the Mark."**

"Bet you all took that well," Tonks asked Bill.

He shrugged. "Ron told me that the three of them have a tendency to get into trouble… I just thought that he was exaggerating like all kids do. But boy did they ever prove me wrong."

**"What?" said Bill, Charlie, and Percy together.**

**"_Harry's wand_?" said Fred.**

**"_Mr. Crouch's elf_?" said Percy, sounding thunderstruck.**

"Of course that's all he cares about," Sirius scowled softly under his breath. "Never mind that your brother was in danger… it was your _boss_ who can't even get your name right that you were concerned about."

"Padfoot," Remus warned him again.

**With some assistance from Harry, Ron, and Hermione, Mr. Weasley explained what had happened in the woods. When they had finished their story, Percy swelled indignantly.**

"Oh, no," Sirius groaned, not looking forward to hearing Percy's pompous attitude at the moment.

**"Well, Mr. Crouch is quite right to get rid of an elf like that!" he said. "Running away when he'd expressly told her not to… embarrassing him in front of the whole Ministry… how would that have looked, if she'd been brought up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control"**

"What would you have done?! She did what any other person with any sense would have done, and that was get the hell out of there!" Sirius hissed angrily—more angry at Percy than how unfair Winky had been treated. "Who cares how it looked? Honestly, I can see how they're alike—image seems to be the only thing that matters to them! They can't be so caught up on image that they would sacrifice everything."

"It certainly sounds like that," sighed Remus—having been the only one who heard him—and glanced at the Weasleys who were looking worse every time that Percy was mentioned.

**"She didn't do anything - she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!" Hermione snapped at Percy, who looked very taken aback. Hermione had always got on fairly well with Percy - better, indeed, than any of the others.**

**"Hermione, a wizard in Mr. Crouch's position can't afford a house-elf who's going to run amok with a wand!" said Percy pompously, recovering himself.**

"He's saying it like she was running around casting all kinds of spells!" Tonks huffed, feeling an irritation wash over her at Percy. "It's not like she ever used the wand!"

**"She didn't run amok!" shouted Hermione. "She just picked it up off the ground!"**

"You tell him Hermione!" Tonks cheered. "Defla…" she trailed off from the miserable looks on Molly's and Arthur's faces. She had wanted to say, _'deflate that prat's overlarge head a bit! It'd do him some good!' _but she didn't think that would make them feel any better.

**"Look, can someone just explain what that skull thing was?" said Ron impatiently. "It wasn't hurting anyone… Why's it such a big deal?"**

**"I told you, it's You-Know-Who's symbol, Ron," said Hermione, before anyone else could answer. "I read about it in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts."**

"Of course she did," Sirius laughed. "Of course she read about it from a book! Where else would she have heard of it?"

"You make it sound like reading is a bad thing, Sirius," Remus warned as he ran his own finger down the spine of this one book.

"I never said it was," Sirius answered with a shrug. "It's when you don't do anything else but read. Isn't that right, _Moony_?" he added, putting emphasis on Remus's nickname and causing him to smile back.

"Ah, Padfoot…" he answered. "Some of us happen to like reading. Why else would we be here reading all these books? It's a record for you isn't it? You've now read a total of three and a half books in your life! Four and a half if you count _'Quidditch through the Ages.'_

Everyone chortled at the indigent look on Sirius's face and he turned away from him grumpily.

**"And it hasn't been seen for thirteen years," said Mr. Weasley quietly. "Of course people panicked… it was almost like seeing You-Know-Who back again."**

"Thirteen years—a foreboding number," Mad-Eye said firmly. "Unlucky thirteen."

The group shared a nervous look—Voldemort sure picked dark time to return… then again, any time he would've chose would've been a dark time.

**"I don't get it," said Ron, frowning. "I mean… it's still only a shape in the sky…"**

"It was always above a place that Voldemort and his followers attacked," said Remus as if Ron was sitting there. "If you saw it, you knew what you were about to find…"

"Way to depress us all Professor Moony," Tonks sighed miserably.

**"Ron, You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed," said Mr. Weasley. "The terror it inspired… you have no idea, you're too young. **

"If they don't learn when they're young, when _are_ they going to?" Mad-Eye asked coolly.

"When they're older!" Molly retorted loudly.

"And how old do they have to be?" he asked calmly. "By the time you feel they're ready to learn it, it'll probably be too late by then. After everything they've been through, I hardly call them still innocent."

She just gaped at him, unable to say anything. She just wanted her children to enjoy what little time they had left of their childhoods. Once you live through a war, you always look back and wonder where the time had gone and you wish you could return to that… at least once…

**Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside…" Mr. Weasley winced. "Everyone's worst fear… the very worst."**

Everyone winced like Arthur had done; it was once again everyone's worst fear. Molly looked quite pale as she remembered seeing the Dark Mark for the first time over her brothers' house, a silent tear ran down her face and Arthur put his arm around her as she read on.

"That's horrible," said Tonks sadly.

"No wonder people panicked… they'd want to find their friends and family as quick as possible to make sure that they were all right," said Remus.

Sirius shivered lightly at these words; and when he looked up and was haunted by James's dead eyes again… but when he saw that house in ruins—still smoking—then he knew it had to be… but when he didn't see the Dark Mark… he had hope… a slight hope that they were still…

It only made it that much more painful when he saw Hagrid running out with Harry…

**There was silence for a moment. Then Bill, removing the sheet from his arm to check on his cut, said, "Well, it didn't help us tonight, whoever conjured it. It scared the Death Eaters away the moment they saw it. They all Disapparated before we'd got near enough to unmask any of them. We caught the Robertses before they hit the ground, though. They're having their memories modified right now."**

**"Death Eaters?" said Harry. "What are Death Eaters?"**

"So innocent," Sirius shook his head sadly. If only they could live in a world where monsters like Death Eaters didn't live in.

**"It's what You-Know-Who's supporters called themselves," said Bill. "I think we saw what's left of them tonight - the ones who managed to keep themselves out of Azkaban, anyway."**

"Because we have greedy gits in charge who love money," Sirius said bitterly. "And aren't too proud to except bribes."

"I still can't believe how corrupt the Ministry is…" Arthur muttered, shaking his head.

**"We can't prove it was them, Bill," said Mr. Weasley. "Though it probably was," he added hopelessly.**

**"Yeah, I bet it was!" said Ron suddenly. "Dad, we met Draco Malfoy in the woods, and he as good as told us his dad was one of those nutters in masks! And we all know the Malfoys were right in with You-Know-Who!"**

"Oh, there's no mistake that it was Malfoy out there running amok," cried out Sirius loudly as if he was hoping that the Mafloys could really hear him. "They were the real criminals. Why not do something about them?"

"Especially when Malfoy Jr. was so smug," mocked Tonks. "That jerk, I'd love to wipe the smirk right off his face…"

**"But what were Voldemort's supporters -" Harry began. Everybody flinched – like most of the wizarding world, the Weasleys always avoided saying Voldemort's name. "Sorry," said Harry quickly. "What were You-Know-Who's supporters up to, levitating Muggles? I mean, what was the point?"**

"There _is_ no point," Kingsley said dully. "It's just a sick and twisted pleasure that purists tend to have."

Tonks's eyes flashed once more and was all the more prouder of becoming an Auror to do whatever it took to prevent this from happening. "It's just a _game_ for them!" she scowled, remembering the conversation they had earlier in the chapter.

"I think it's more along the lines of a _sport_ to them," Remus growled, looking revolted.

**"The point?" said Mr. Weasley with a hollow laugh. "Harry, that's their idea of fun. Half the Muggle killings back when You-Know-Who was in power were done for fun. I suppose they had a few drinks tonight and couldn't resist reminding us all that lots of them are still at large. A nice little reunion for them," he finished disgustedly.**

"They all seriously need to get new hobbies," Sirius spat. "That'll do everyone a favor!"

**"But if they were the Death Eaters, why did they Disapparate when they saw the Dark Mark?" said Ron. "They'd have been pleased to see it, wouldn't they?"**

**"Use your brains, Ron," said Bill. "If they really were Death Eaters, they worked very hard to keep out of Azkaban when You-Know-Who lost power, and told all sorts of lies about him forcing them to kill and torture people. I bet they'd be even more frightened than the rest of us to see him come back. **

"You make a fair point, Voldemort is not one to forgiveness," Mad-Eye growled. "It's either a lifetime of servitude… or death."

**They denied they'd ever been involved with him when he lost his powers, and went back to their daily lives… I don't reckon he'd be over-pleased with them, do you?"**

"I know I wouldn't be," Tonks shook her head.

"Then why the heck did they even join?" Bill asked appalled. "What on earth could be worth it?!"

"Power," Arthur said in revulsion. "Either that or they just have a fondness for torturing people."

"Serves them right, though," growled Sirius, baring his teeth. "They can't just switch sides all the time, you're either with him, or not! As for me, I'll always say not!"

"Good man," Tonks nodded in approval.

**"So… whoever conjured the Dark Mark…" said Hermione slowly, "were they doing it to show support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?"**

"Now that is a very good big question," Remus said heavily. To this day, he wasn't completely sure why Crouch did it… hopefully—or maybe its better not—he'll find out before this book is through.

**"Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione," said Mr. Weasley. "But I'll tell you this… it was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I'd be very surprised if the person who did it hadn't been a Death Eater once, even if they're not now…**

"Oh, they are one now," Sirius answered Arthur.

**Listen, it's very late, and if your mother hears what's happened she'll be worried sick. We'll get a few more hours sleep and then try and get an early Portkey out of here."**

**Harry got back into his bunk with his head buzzing. He knew he ought to feel exhausted: It was nearly three in the morning, but he felt wide-awake – wide awake, and worried.**

Sirius sighed slightly. Harry had had enough worries in his life. They had hoped that for once in his life, he could just have fun with his friends without having to worry about Voldemort. Was that too much to ask for?!

**Three days ago - it felt like much longer, but it had only been three days - he had awoken with his scar burning. And tonight, for the first time in thirteen years, Lord Voldemort's mark had appeared in the sky. What did these things mean? He thought of the letter he had written to Sirius before leaving Privet Drive. Would Sirius have gotten it yet? When would he reply?**

"I hope it's soon!" Sirius said cheering up slightly.

**Harry lay looking up at the canvas, but no flying fantasies came to him now to ease him to sleep, and it was a long time after Charlie's snores filled the tent that Harry finally dozed off.**

"Done!" Remus said, all too happy that the chapter was finally over. He closed the book and laid it out in front of them all on the table. Not able to say anything, there was a brief silence throughout the room for a moment.

"Maybe we should take a break?" Tonks offered slowly, "We haven't eaten anything since breakfast and it's getting a little late? How about we eat and then we'll read a few more chapters before we call it a day?" No one was in the mood to eat but no one argued. Mad-Eye said that he would be back in a about an hour.

"What are you up too?" Tonks asked him after he wrapped his cloak around his shoulders.

"Nothing that you need to be concerned about," he answered grumpily. "I need to go and check on something real quick. I'll be back by the next chapter."

He left after that. Molly bustled around the kitchen, coming up with some wonderful food—but no one had been able to truly eat anything. Everything they ate just tasted like cardboard to them. They tried to talk about the match, but only Sirius was able to sound even a tiny bit enthusiastic. Once they finished eating, they grimly made their way back upstairs… and sure enough… after another fifteen minutes, they heard Mad-Eye clunking along upstairs.

"I don't suppose there's any point you telling us where you've been?" Kingsley asked, knowing the answer.

"No," he answered gruffly. "I was just keeping a promise to a friend. That should be enough for you. Now read, I can't wait to get this book over with."

"You and the rest of us," Tonks grumbled to herself. This time it was Arthur who decided to take it and read out, "**Chapter 10: Mayhem at the Ministry…**"

**(Hope you liked a quicker update. Oh, I can't remember but did I already write about Fred and George leaving school? If not, I'll be putting that in very soon. And where do you all think Mad-Eye was? ;-) Hopefully a long chapter will keep you entertained for awhile. Hope you enjoyed it.)**


	13. Mayhem at the Ministry

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 12: Mayhem at the Ministry**

"You and the rest of us," Tonks grumbled to herself. This time it was Arthur who decided to take it and read out, "**Chapter 10: Mayhem at the Ministry…**"

Sirius cracked a slight grin at the chapter title. "Mayhem at the ministry?" he repeated—thoroughly enjoying the thought of the Ministry in disorder. "Not that I mind, but how is that any different to normal?"

"If had to guess, then it's bound to talk about the aftermath and repercussion of the nights activities," guessed Remus dully. "Thanks to the Death Eater's _'fun'_ the rest of us have to clean everything up."

"Isn't that how it's always been?" Mad-Eye asked with an air of disgust. "They have their way with the world—shattering it into pieces. Like how angry two-year olds throw tantrums when they don't get what they want and leave the mess for others to take care of."

"That's morbid," Tonks sighed, for once not teasing her mentor.

"Ironic isn't it?" he went on. "How madmen are always the one to cause the destruction… the government fights back and if they win, it's the rest of us who have to just deal with rebuilding everything. This is why I don't trust the government. Because when we need them most, they suddenly decide they have more important things to worry about than the people."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Tonks nodded and folded her arms.

"Especially, with how determined the government is about lying to the rest of the world these days," Sirius grunted.

"One way to find out," Bill offered and Arthur nodded in agreement. He glanced half-curious at the picture of the dress robes.

**Mr. Weasley woke them after only a few hours sleep. He used magic to pack up the tents, and they left the campsite as quickly as possible, passing Mr. Roberts at the door of his cottage. **

"You must've really been worried to miss the opportunity to do things the Muggle way," said Sirius evenly, trying to lighten the gloomy mood.

"I just wanted to get them home as soon as possible," Arthur said with a side glance at his wife. He had wanted to get them all back before Molly found out what had happened. He knew that she would be worried sick… to bad that early wasn't early enough.

"After last night I doubt that anyone would care about those Muggle rules at this point in time," Tonks added, remembering how much work it had been to get them all trying to fix the damage that had been done. "They wanted to leave before anything else happened."

**Mr. Roberts had a strange, dazed look about him, and he waved them off with a vague "Merry Christmas."**

"And to you as well," Sirius said brightly.

"Poor guy," Tonks said sympathetically with the shake of her head. "It looks like that Memory Charm addled his brains a bit…" Anger was still coursing through her at how they were treated the night before.

"Side effects of a powerful Memory Charm," elaborated Kingsley, "Normally, I don't approve of them. Though I think that it would be kinder to make them forget what happened."

**"He'll be all right," said Mr. Weasley quietly as they marched off onto the moor. "Sometimes, when a person's memory's modified, it makes him a bit disorientated for a while… and that was a big thing they had to make him forget."**

"No kidding," muttered Tonks darkly.

"It was only a life-threatening night where they were suspended in midair and tortured by freaks in masks," Sirius said sarcastically. "Honestly, I don't see why they would want to forget."

**They heard urgent voices as they approached the spot where the Portkeys lay, and when they reached it, they found a great number of witches and wizards gathered around Basil, ****the keeper of the Portkeys, all clamoring to get away from the campsite as quickly as possible. **

"Not unexpected, they probably want to get as far away from where the Mark was cast as possible and back to their families. Not that I blame them," Remus stated, shaking his head.

"Besides, it's a great big eyesore anyway… promising death and destruction," said Sirius, his sarcasm obvious to everyone. "Yeah, I can see why no one wanted to be near it."

**Mr. Weasley had a hurried discussion with Basil; they joined the queue, and were able to take an old rubber tire back to Stoatshead Hill before the sun had really risen. **

**They walked back through Ottery St. Catchpole and up the damp lane toward the Burrow in the dawn light, talking very little because they were so exhausted, and thinking longingly of their breakfast. As they rounded the corner and the Burrow came into view, a cry echoed along the lane.**

**"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!"**

"Always like to make a scene Mum," Bill winked.

"Sounds like you found out?" Sirius suggested lightly.

"Oh, you must have been so worried," Tonks frowned and looked up at Molly, who was looking pale.

"Of course I was," Molly sniffled. "I just got up and got the paper—and the first thing I saw was that horrid symbol on the front page at the World Cup!"

"We know Mum," Bill smiled gently. "And I suppose you were most upset about Fred and George?"

"You know the answer to that," she whimpered. "I lost my temper and shouted at them before they left! It was all that I could think about while I was waiting there! What if something had happened to them? Their last memory of their mother would be of her shouting at them. If anything had happened to them, I never would have forgiven myself."

Arthur rubbed Molly's shoulder gently before he began to read again.

**Mrs. Weasley, who had evidently been waiting for them in the front yard, came running toward them, still wearing her bedroom slippers, her face pale and strained, a rolled-up copy of the _Daily Prophet_ clutched in her hand.**

"How long had you been waiting there?" Sirius mused out loud, hiding his bitterness at the thought that _his_ mother would never have done anything like that for him.

"For almost an hour I suppose," she sighed. "As soon as I picked up the paper I had to go and see… to make sure…"

"We understand, Molly," Tonks said gently.

**"Arthur - I've been so worried - _so worried_-"**

_'That was an understatement,'_ Molly thought, a sick pit of her stomach seemed to grow at the memory.

**She flung her arms around Mr. Weasley's neck, and the _Daily Prophet_ fell out of her limp hand onto the ground. Looking down, Harry saw the headline: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP, complete with a twinkling black-and-white photograph of the ****Dark Mark over the treetops.**

"Dunno how anyone could have taken a picture of that ugly thing," spat Sirius sourly. "Just what everyone wants to see in the paper!"

"Oh, believe me, it wasn't the best thing to see first thing in the morning," Molly muttered darkly.

**"You're all right," Mrs. Weasley muttered distractedly, releasing Mr. Weasley and staring around at them all with red eyes, "you're alive…oh,_ boys_…" **

**And to everybody's surprise, she seized Fred and George and pulled them both into such a tight hug that their heads banged together.**

**"_Ouch!_ Mum - you're strangling us -"**

"That sounds so sweet," Tonks said with a smile. "Bet no one saw that coming."

"It was a surprise," Bill laughed at his mother who blushed. "The last time you saw them, you were so angry… and now you're hugging them and crying…"

"You _must_ have been worried to hug those two after that fight," Sirius muttered under his breath. "I'm guessing someone's feeling slightly guilty."

**"I shouted at you before you left!" Mrs. Weasley said, starting to sob. "It's all I've been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you ****was that you didn't get enough O.W.L.s? Oh Fred… George…"**

Sirius felt a little bit bad at how he teased Molly a second ago. He understood that feeling… he remembered when he first heard about the Dark Mark showing up at the World Cup and he knew that Harry was there… he gulped. It was the main reason why he needed to come back… make sure that he was alright…

"It's not like they would get close enough to the action to get killed," said Mad-Eye.

"Well, I didn't know that did I?" Molly asked coldly.

**"Come on, now, Molly, we're all perfectly okay," said Mr. Weasley soothingly, prising her off the twins and leading her back toward the house. "Bill," he added in an undertone, "pick up that paper, I want to see what it says…"**

**When they were all crammed into the tiny kitchen, and Hermione had made Mrs. Weasley a cup of very strong tea, into which Mr. Weasley insisted on pouring a shot of Ogdens Old Firewhiskey, **

Molly glared at Arthur, who looked away innocently. While the others chuckled and Sirius added quietly, "Good thinking, Arthur!"

"You're kinda the last person to be talking about Firewhiskey?" Remus whispered back, which shut Sirius up almost at once. He couldn't help himself. He needed something to take his mind off from being stuck here.

**Bill handed his father the newspaper. Mr. Weasley scanned the front page while Percy looked over his shoulder.**

**"I knew it," said Mr. Weasley heavily. "_Ministry blunders… culprits not apprehended… lax security… Dark wizards running unchecked… national disgrace…_ Who wrote this? Ah… of course… Rita Skeeter."**

"Oh, great," Sirius groaned, anger at how much trouble she had been putting them all through. "Not her."

"I was wondering when she would make an appearance," Mad-Eye said gruffly. "She had caused a great deal of trouble last year didn't she?"

"More than you know," Arthur said, shaking his head. That vulture had done nothing but cause problems. Because of her, she had put in all those articles that helped make Harry either a laughing stock, or to even make it more difficult for others to believe them.

**"That woman's got it in for the Ministry of Magic!" said Percy furiously. **

"I hate to agree with someone who's so smug and stuck-up…" Tonks whispered to Sirius. "But he's at least right about one thing."

"It's not just the Ministry," Sirius spoke up bitterly. "If she thinks she can ruin anyone's life, then she's after you."

"Sure she does," Mad-Eye said, rolling his eyes. "Even her name is annoying. The word 'Skeeter' means mosquito—how appropriate for someone who is always bugging people and out for blood."

"First clue that she's nuts!" Tonks called out. "She sure went into the right profession! Ruining other people's lives!"

**"Last week she was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires! As if it wasn't _specifically_ stated in paragraph twelve of the _Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans_ —"**

"Oh, I'd love to read those," Sirius snorted as he looked at Remus. "Do you count for that?"

"Yes," Remus sighed. "And let me tell you that they make it very difficult to not get arrested."

"Are they that bad?" Tonks asked.

"Are they bad?" Remus repeated. He then began to list them—having memorized them by heart: "1: It is forbidden for werewolves to marry purebloods."

Tonks smiled slightly and thought, _'Well, I'm a half blood.'_

"2: Werewolves are not allowed to leave the house during the week of the full moon. 3: Werewolves don't have a right to use anything from another witch or wizard. They can't borrow wands, brooms or books… etc."

He sighed. "And they go on like that for some time. So you see that it's been making it very difficult for me not to get arrested."

"You don't have to follow anything of all these stupid rules!" Tonks yelled and the others nodded fiercely.

"Dora, I don't have much of a choice," he answered softly. Tonks was so outraged at the injustice of this, that she hardly noticed that he used her name. "I don't wanna get to Azkaban… and if I do break any of those laws—however ridiculous they may be, I will."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Sirius said firmly and grabbed his shoulder. "And it's bad enough that you have to deal with becoming Moony once a month. They don't need to make it even harder than it has to be!"

"Remus…" Molly croaked. "Do you really…?"

"Yes," he nodded grimly. "And they're adding new laws all the time. Seems that every week they add a new one. I've learned to deal with it. Arthur, please—just keep going. I rather not talk about it right now."

Arthur did… but only because he didn't want to hear any of it anymore than Remus did

**"Do us a favor, Perce," said Bill, yawning, "and shut up."**

_Sirius was celebrating in his head. 'Yes! Thank you! Finally, someone shuts him up!'_ But instead of saying that, he asked calmly, fighting to hold back his smile, "How did you do it, Bill?!"

"He listened to me because I'm older," Bill said with a shrug.

"I told you that your brothers and sister all looked up to her," Arthur smiled at him.

_'Bill can shut down Percy—he doesn't hear another word. Now that's a powerful wizard,' _Tonks thought with a smirk.

**"I'm mentioned," said Mr. Weasley, his eyes widening behind his glasses as he reached the bottom of the Daily Prophet article.**

"You were?" Kingsley said in surprise.

"Just in passing," Arthur explained.

**"Where?" spluttered Mrs. Weasley, choking on her tea and whiskey. "If I'd seen that, I'd have known you were alive!"**

"Well, I can tell that you were thinking optimistic thoughts," commented Sirius and she gave him an exasperated look.

"I was going crazy not knowing what was happening," she sighed. "I was dreading the worst kinds of news."

**"Not by name," said Mr. Weasley. "Listen to this: _'If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the wood expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry official emerged some time after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any more information. _**

"Ah, that explains it," said Kingsley with a nod. He had thought it was strange that he had been mentioned because he certainly didn't remember ever reading about Arthur in the paper.

**_Whether this statement will be enough to quash the rumours that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen.'_**** Oh really," said Mr. Weasley in exasperation, handing the paper to Percy. "Nobody _was _hurt. **

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway, she'd had said something else to make you look bad," said Sirius with venom. He looked away from Arthur—as much as he hated to admit it… he felt a bit of vindictive pleasure. As pleased as he was about what Arthur had done to help his godson, there was a part of him that was jealous that Harry most likely thought of Arthur as a father more than he did James… or even himself. But then he suddenly felt a horrible wave of guilt and he sighed. He knew that he was being selfish—but he just couldn't help it. He shook his head hard and focused back onto the conversation.

"There _will_ be rumors now that she's printed that rubbish. She's going out of her way to just cause even more problems for everyone else," said Tonks angrily.

"That's what she does best," Arthur agreed sourly.

"Well, if it causes problems for the Ministry I'm not complaining," Sirius offered. "If they're in chaos then I say, good for them. Might make some of them do their jobs for a change."

"Of course, seems she hasn't changed, says whatever she likes in order to get attention, doesn't matter if it's true or not," said Mad-Eye acidly.

**What was I supposed to say? _Rumours that several bodies were removed from the woods_… ****well, there certainly will be rumours now she's printed that."**

"And she calls herself a reporter?" asked Molly in disbelief. "Reporters are supposed to get to print facts, not rumors. Who writes that in a newspaper? Is she trying to scare everyone?"

"The Prophet doesn't care," Mad-Eye shrugged. "They just want people to keep subscribing to them. So they print exciting news."

"You may call it _exciting_," Arthur sighed. "But I call it disturbing that anyone would want to read that."

"Some people are just so hard to please though," Tonks sighed and then flashed a smile at Mad-Eye.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he barked.

"Nothing," she said in a sing-song voice. "Just feel the need to point out my opinion."

"Well, keep your opinions to yourself," he snapped back.

**He heaved a deep sigh. "Molly, I'm going to have to go into the office; this is going to take some smoothing over."**

**"I'll come with you, Father," said Percy importantly. "Mr. Crouch will need all hands on ****deck. And I can give him my cauldron report in person."**

"Because handing in his report is the most important thing at the moment," Sirius whispered scathingly. He was starting to wish that the Weasleys weren't here so that he could curse out Percy's name without having to worry about upsetting anyone. "Who cares about some stupid cauldron report?! I think that the fact that the Dark Mark is back would cause greater concern!"

_'I'm sure, he probably just wants to seem important,'_ Mad-Eye thought in disgust. He always hated people like this… these types shouldn't be allowed in a position of power in his opinion. _'Talk about getting power hungry.'_

**He bustled out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley looked most upset. "Arthur, you're supposed to be on holiday! This hasn't got anything to do with your office; surely they can handle this without you?"**

**"I've got to go, Molly," said Mr. Weasley. "I've made things worse. I'll just change into my ****robes and I'll be off…"**

"You didn't make things worse dear, you were doing your best," Molly said sadly.

"Made things worse?" Sirius repeated in confusion. "What did you think you did?"

"I shouldn't have said anything to those people in the woods," he answered simply and ran his hand through his balding hair wearily. "Because of that, Rita was able to find some way to help spread panic."

"At least someone was being honest," Mad-Eye offered in a bored tone.

"All you did was tell the truth," said Bill furiously. "I mean, any other person wouldn't have bothered and told them all to skive off!"

"I doubt it would have made any difference even if you had said anything or not," Kingsley said to him. "If you hadn't, then I think that she could've made up something worse."

**"Mrs. Weasley," said Harry suddenly, unable to contain himself, "Hedwig hasn't arrived ****with a letter for me, has she?"**

"Well, that was a random change in topic," said Remus flippantly.

"Not really… I mean, he's worried about Voldemort—but I think that he wanted to hear back from me," Sirius said with a pleased smile.

"It makes sense now, but at the time I wasn't so sure," said Bill as he remembered to that morning. "Mum and Dad, you both were talking about all the trouble the Ministry was going to be in, and he suddenly asked if he had any post. I thought that he only said it to try and change the subject… shows how much I know?"

**"Hedwig, dear?" said Mrs. Weasley distractedly. "No… no, there hasn't been any post at all."**

"Hmm, you're sure taking your time to answer," said Remus to Sirius.

"Well, if I'm on the run, then it's going to take a lot longer than a couple days, is it?" Sirius pointed out reasonably. "And if I'm in hiding somewhere, it'll be a place that's hard to find, and that isn't going to help Hedwig out."

**Ron and Hermione looked curiously at Harry. With a meaningful look at both of them he said, "All right if I go and dump my stuff in your room, Ron?"**

**"Yeah… think I will too," said Ron at once. "Hermione?"**

"Yes, that wasn't suspicious at all," Tonks stated sarcastically, raising her eyebrows.

"I can't believe their lack of ability for subtlety," Mad-Eye sighed, shaking his head mournfully. "Come on, people! Learn some damn acting! Your lives might depend on it!"

"I think deep down, we all had a feeling that they were up to something," Bill smirked. "Of course, no one noticed it because we were all worrying over everything that had happened."

**"Yes," she said quickly, and the three of them marched out of the kitchen and up the stairs.**

**"What's up, Harry?" said Ron, the moment they had closed the door of the attic room behind them.**

**"There's something I haven't told you," Harry said. "On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar hurting again."**

"I'm guessing that they took the news well," Sirius said with heavy sarcasm.

**Ron's and Hermione's reactions were almost exactly as Harry had imagined them back in ****his bedroom on Privet Drive.**

"He knows his friends well," Arthur laughed, shaking his head a little.

"That's true friendship!" Sirius sighed thoughtfully. "What else does it say? Do they really sound just like he thought they would?"

**Hermione gasped and started making suggestions at once, mentioning a number of reference books, and everybody from Albus Dumbledore to Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts nurse. Ron simply looked dumbstruck.**

**"But - he wasn't there, was he? You-Know-Who? I mean - last time your scar kept hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasn't he?"**

"Those three are quite close," said Kingsley deeply as everyone was laughing hard at this.

"It's exactly what he thought would happen," Bill said, wiping away real tears of laughter. "Boy, wish I was this close to my friends."

**"I'm sure he wasn't on Privet Drive," said Harry. "But I was dreaming about him… him and Peter - you know, Wormtail. I can't remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill… someone."**

**He had teetered for a moment on the verge of saying "me," but couldn't bring himself to ****make Hermione look any more horrified than she already did.**

"It was you, and you know it was you, Harry!" said Tonks strongly, the laughter dying away at those words.

"He doesn't want to tell them that because he doesn't want them to worry," Remus reminded her.

"Yes, but I think they would have like to know anyway," Molly chastised, frowning. "He shouldn't lie to his friends like that… it's only going to make them worry even more."

**"It was only a dream," said Ron bracingly. "Just a nightmare."**

"I wish," Sirius groaned. "I wish that's all it was—but we know better than that by now, Ron."

**"Yeah, but was it, though?" said Harry, turning to look out of the window at the brightening sky. "It's weird, isn't it…? My scar hurts, and three days later the Death Eaters are on the march, and Voldemort's sign's up in the sky again."**

**"Don't - say - his - name!" Ron hissed through gritted teeth.**

"Why not? It's a name," said Sirius defiantly. "It's stupid calling him You-Know-Who! I mean, even you both got over saying it…" he said as he looked up at Molly and Arthur.

"We can say it," Arthur nodded slowly. "Though it still feels like we're breaking some kind of rule or taboo while we do so."

"But you both can say it without filching," Tonks said brightly. "That's a good sign. Soon, you won't even mind anymore."

"Don't see why anyone would be afraid of saying the name in the first place," Sirius said annoyed. "I mean, you might as well be afraid of saying _my_ name."

"Well, for some people," Remus smiled, "You're name is considered a bad thing."

Sirius punched Remus's shoulder. "Watch it…"

**"And remember what Professor Trelawney said?" Harry went on, ignoring Ron. "At the end of last year?"**

**Professor Trelawney was their Divination teacher at Hogwarts. **

"Yeah, we know who she is, a fraud who enjoys predicting misery!" called out Sirius mockingly.

**Hermione's terrified look vanished as she let out a derisive snort.**

**"Oh Harry, you aren't going to pay attention to anything that old fraud says?"**

"Usually, I'd agree with Hermione because she's usually right," Tonks nodded with a tiny frown on her face. "Sorry, Hermione, but I have to disagree in this case. I think that she really did seem to make some kind of prophecy."

"I have the same opinion with you there," Kingsley nodded. "She's not a complete fraud. She makes true predictions on occasion. However, that was a real predication that time… even Dumbledore said so."

**"You weren't there," said Harry. "You didn't hear her. This time was different. I told you, she went into a trance - a real one. And she said the Dark Lord would rise again… _greater and more terrible than ever before_… and he'd manage it because his servant was going to go back to him… and that night Wormtail escaped."**

"Don't remind me," Sirius said grouchily. He was still furious at that cowardly little worm for running off in the first place. He comforted himself by imagining doing terrible horrors to Peter as soon as he caught him. He smirked… oh, he was going to enjoy breaking in his skull and…

Arthur was reading again and Sirius had to force himself to come out of his daydream to listen.

**There was a silence in which Ron fidgeted absentmindedly with a hole in his Chudley Cannons bedspread.**

**"Why were you asking if Hedwig had come, Harry?" Hermione asked. "Are you expecting a letter?"**

"Well, obviously he's expecting a letter from me!" said Sirius, obviously expecting more from Hermione to figure that out on her own.

**"I told Sirius about my scar," said Harry, shrugging. "I'm waiting for his answer."**

**"Good thinking!" said Ron, his expression clearing. "I bet Sirius'll know what to do!"**

"Their confidence in me is stirring," Sirius grinned with a pleased look on his face. Molly groaned, why did her children have to have someone as reckless as Sirius Black for a role model?

"Really? They think a man who's spent twelve years in prison would know what to do about cursed scars?" Mad-Eye asked Sirius with an evil smirk.

"Nope," Tonks teased. "It might be better if he asked Professor Moony."

"Hey," Sirius warned and glared at them both grumpily.

"While your _'confidence in me is stirring'_," Remus spoke up, "But I don't think I would be able to help with this one. I don't think there's anything normal going on with that scar, and I doubt I would have a clue about it."

"Harry's scar is the only one of its kind," Bill reminded them. "I don't really think you would know that much unless you were hit with the Killing Curse and lived to tell the tale."

**"I hoped he'd get back to me quickly," said Harry.**

**"But we don't know where Sirius is… he could be in Africa or somewhere, couldn't he?" said Hermione reasonably. "Hedwig's not going to manage that journey in a few days."**

"Well, not Africa," Sirius confirmed. "But going there had crossed my mind. I would've loved to have gone on one of those Muggle safari's…"

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Remus laughed, but Sirius hardly heard him. He was lost in wonderful memories of the hot sand and sunny skies again… he had longed for the sun while he had been trapped in Azkaban… and this place was almost as bad as that hell.

He looked around him at the drawing room—all his terrible memories of his childhood came back just looking at this place. Just like Azkaban, he was forced to relive the house that he had been so desperate to escape from. He couldn't stand it. He looked over at Remus and smiled back. At least there were some friends here…

As long as the house was full of people then this place was _almost_ bearable.

"Shut up, Moony," he laughed back. "I bet that I can still take you on any day of the week."

**"Yeah, I know," said Harry, but there was a leaden feeling in his stomach as he looked out of the window at the Hedwig-free sky.**

**"Come and have a game of Quidditch in the orchard, Harry" said Ron. "Come on - three on ****three, Bill and Charlie and Fred and George will play … you can try out the Wronski Feint… "**

"He most certainly will not!" Molly said quickly—briefly wondering what she could've missed while they were playing in the orchard…"I don't want anyone trying that in my yard. What would he have done if he got hurt?!"

"Molly," Tonks cut in. "He's an amazing player! And if you don't remember any injuries, then he either did it right, or he didn't do it at all."

"That doesn't mean that I have to worry," she told her. Sirius privately agreed.

**"Ron," said Hermione, in an I-don't-think-you're-being-very-sensitive sort of voice, "Harry doesn't want to play Quidditch right now… he's worried, and he's tired… we all need to go ****to bed…"**

"Why do I suddenly doubt that?" Sirius asked, knowing full well what Harry's answer was going to be.

"I think Hermione's idea is better," said Molly approvingly. "They all need their rest especially after what happen the night before."

"Molly, you do remember who these kids are, don't you?" Kingsley asked with a laugh.

**"Yeah, I want to play Quidditch," said Harry suddenly. **

"Of course you would, Harry," said Tonks, now laughing slightly.

"Oh really, they should play Quidditch when they're more well rested," Molly huffed.

"It'll be alright, Molly. I think that this will help Harry get his mind off things," Remus said soothingly. "Remember how he used to be able to sleep better after a hard training session? Quidditch helps distract him and I think that he enjoying himself would be better than him having to lie in bed and dwell on everything that's happening."

"If there's one thing that he knows how to do it's brood," Mad-Eye exclaimed.

"I… I suppose," Molly admitted grudgingly.

**"Hang on, I'll get my Firebolt."**

Sirius swelled with pride with the mention of Harry's broomstick.

"I don't think that anyone will ever be able to top that gift," Remus said happily, grinning at Sirius.

"You don't think I know that?" said Sirius smugly. "It's nothing… he's my godson. I'd get anything for him!"

"Yeah," Tonks grinned. "Now all you have to do is buy another one?"

"You won't let me forget that?" Sirius grinned back. "But only because you're one of the only few family members that I'm not ashamed to know."

"Nice to know that I'm loved," she smiled serenely. But instead of looking at Sirius, her eyes fluttered to Remus—who was still trying to avoid her gaze. She sighed unhappily… but she knew that she was right when she chose to wait until he was ready to decide what he wanted… though that didn't make it better.

**Hermione left the room, muttering something that sounded very much like "Boys."**

"Oi," Tonks said suddenly annoyed. "Sexist! I'll have you know that girls can kick as much but in a Quidditch match as boys do!"

"No one said otherwise," Kingsley smiled. "Hermione is just one of those girls who thinks that it's easier to believe that boys to do more stupid things than girls."

"That is true," Tonks nodded and Sirius shoved her playfully.

**Neither Mr. Weasley nor Percy was at home much over the following week. Both left the house each morning before the rest of the family got up, and returned well after dinner every night.**

Molly sighed. It would've been nice to have the whole family together. She felt her eyes well up with tears at the idea that that summer had been the last time they were together as a family during a war-free time… she longed for the day that the war would finally end for good and that they could all be together again…

**"It's been an absolute uproar," Percy told them importantly the Sunday evening before they were due to return to Hogwarts. "I've been putting out fires all week. People keep sending Howlers, and of course, if you don't open a Howler straight away, it explodes. Scorch marks all over my desk and my best quill reduced to cinders."**

"Oh, there's a tragedy," Sirius snarled under his breath.

"Just get a new one," gasped Tonks just as quietly. "It's a freaking quill! You can get a dozes of them for a handful of knuts!"

**"Why are they all sending Howlers?" asked Ginny, who was mending her copy of _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _with Spellotape on the rug in front of the living room fire.**

**"Complaining about security at the World Cup," said Percy. "They want compensation for their ruined property. Mundungus Fletcher's put in a claim for a twelve-bedroomed tent with en-suite Jacuzzi, but I've got his number. I know for a fact he was sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks."**

"Ah Dung, couldn't fool anyone if his life depended on it," Sirius shook his head. "Well, unless they didn't have a brain or something."

"Sounds like the kind of thing Mundungus _would_ do," muttered Arthur with a thought of the thief.

"They have wizard insurance?" Tonks asked politely. "I never really bothered with that…"

"I find it very useful in case something like a Death Eater attack," Arthur stated. "That, and there are special clauses for dragon and troll damage…"

"Mundungus Fletcher is a real character," Mad-Eye said darkly. "Remember, in book 2, he supposedly tried to put a hex on you Arthur when your back was turned? Hard to believe he's on our side."

"I have to agree with you on that," Molly nodded sullenly. She still hadn't forgiven Dung for sneaking of to get some stolen cauldrons when he was supposed to be guarding Harry. Really, what had he been thinking?! At least get someone else to take your place before you leave guard duty!

**Mrs. Weasley glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. Harry liked this clock. It was completely useless if you wanted to know the time, but otherwise very informative. It had ****nine golden hands, and each of them was engraved with one of the Weasley family's names. **

"That is pretty cool," conceded Tonks.

Molly smiled; she really did love that clock. "Very useful… especially when you're the mother of seven—saves time and energy having running about trying to find everyone," she told her.

**There were no numerals around the face, but descriptions of where each family member might be. "Home," "school," and "work" were there, but there was also "travelling," "lost," "hospital," "prison," and, in the position where the number twelve would be on a normal clock, "mortal peril."**

"I hope they'll never point there again," said Molly fearfully, remembering the first war when the hands always were pointing at "mortal peril."

"Well, at least we know they're safe now," Arthur comforted her.

**Eight of the hands were currently pointing to the "home" position, but Mr. Weasley's, which was the longest, was still pointing to "work." Mrs. Weasley sighed.**

**"Your father hasn't had to go into the office on weekends since the days of You- Know-Who," she said. **

"Oh, they were taking advance of you, Dad," Bill said annoyed. "They'd never work you that hard under normal circumstances."

"I had a job to do, Bill," Arthur reminded him tiredly. "I had to show that at least some members of the Ministry care about doing it right."

"Good to know that someone cares enough about other people," Sirius grumbled.

**"They're working him far too hard. His dinner's going to be ruined if he doesn't come home ****soon."**

**"Well, Father feels he's got to make up for his mistake at the match, doesn't he?" said Percy. "If truth be told, he was a tad unwise to make a public statement without clearing it with his Head of Department first -"**

"I thought _you_ _are_ the Head of your Department?" Tonks committed.

"Wasn't even a proper public statement! He was just reassuring a few people!" stormed Bill furiously. "Rita Skeeter was the one who twisted things around, it wasn't Dad's fault. You'd think Percy would understand that."

"Bill don't…" Arthur started but was cut off by Molly.

"No, don't tell them off, he had no right to blame to you Arthur," Molly said angrily. As much as she loved her son, she just couldn't stand him criticizing Arthur for something like this.

"Besides, Rita would've just said that the Ministry is keeping things under wraps, and maybe even make it sound like the Ministry was behind the attack in the first place," said Tonks idly.

"In a way they were," Mad-Eye muttered. So even this far back, Percy Weasley was showing dangerous signs of choose the Ministry over common sense. Not good. "Most of the Death Eaters work at the Ministry and will be trying to cover everything up."

"Oh, that's just perfect!" Sirius groaned furiously. "So _that's_ why no one was ever caught! A few payoffs to the right people and the whole thing never even happened! Perfect! Glad to know!"

**"Don't you dare blame your father for what that wretched Skeeter woman wrote!" said Mrs. Weasley, flaring up at once.**

**"If Dad hadn't said anything, old Rita would just have said it was disgraceful that nobody from the Ministry had commented," said Bill, who was playing chess with Ron. **

Arthur actually chuckled at the line and looked up to say to Bill, "You know? I think that you're the only person in the family that could take Ron in a chess game and give him a real challenge. The rest of us lose in only a few rounds."

Bill grinned back. "Well, let's not forget who taught Ron how to play in the first place!"

**"Rita Skeeter never makes anyone look good. Remember, she interviewed all the Gringotts' Charm Breakers once, and called me 'a long-haired pillock'?"**

**"Well, it is a bit long, dear," said Mrs. Weasley gently. "If you'd just let me -"**

**"_No_, Mum."**

"Honestly Bill," Molly shook her head. "Why you insist on keeping it long? It's almost long enough for you to be mistaken for a girl!"

"Mum," Bill rolled his eyes. "I guarantee that no one in their right minds would mistaken me for a girl. I like it long and besides, lots of men have their hair long." He looked over at Sirius as he said that and Sirius grinned back.

"Yeah," Molly said with a dark look at Sirius. "But I would feel better if you didn't use Sirius as an example for good hair."

"What!?" Sirius roared.

The others roared with laughter—Remus especially thought that this was funny. Sirius's hair had once been his pride and joy… and now it was a tangled mess that Sirius hardly ever dealt with anymore. Sirius sat back grumpily and refused to look at anyone in the face until Arthur finally took pity on him and went on.

**Rain lashed against the living room window. Hermione was immersed in _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, _copies of which Mrs. Weasley had bought for her, Harry, and Ron in Diagon Alley. **

"That's a shocker… Hermione reading," Sirius teased.

"I will never understand why people read the textbooks for anything other than homework," Tonks said.

"That counts as studying," Molly said testily.

"There has got to be something seriously wrong with them," Sirius shook his head.

"We've been over this, Padfoot," Remus told him almost tiredly. "Some people LIKE reading."

"Yeah," Sirius rolled his eyes. "People who don't know how to go out on dates." He smirked widely as Remus's face turned crimson and suddenly became interested with a stray threat on his sleeve. Sirius began to whistle innocently and listened:

**Charlie was darning a fireproof balaclava. Harry was polishing his Firebolt, the broomstick servicing kit Hermione had given him for his thirteenth birthday open at his feet. Fred and George were sitting in a far corner, quills out, talking in whispers, their heads bent over a piece of parchment.**

"What are those two up to this time?" Molly asked wearily.

"What makes you think they're up to something?" Sirius asked with mock surprise.

"Because they always are," she retorted. "And now do you see why I have trust issues with them?"

**"What are you two up to?" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, her eyes on the twins.**

**"Homework," said Fred vaguely.**

"Because that's very believable," Bill muttered.

"That's got to be one of the worst lies I've ever heard!" Sirius laughed. "And that's including our famous trio! Come on… kids these days… can't they come up with a good excuse anymore?"

**"Don't be ridiculous, you're still on holiday," said Mrs. Weasley.**

"Yeah, why would you do homework whilst on holiday?" Tonks asked, scandalized.

"Students get homework over the holidays," Kingsley stated.

"Yeah," Tonks nodded. "But you would never do it on the last, freaking day! Most leave it for the last week or so. Besides, this is the twins we're dealing with here."

"Fair enough," Kingsley resigned.

**"Yeah, we've left it a bit late," said George.**

"Sure you did," Sirius snorted. "Come on boys, I know that you can think up better excuses than that!"

**"You're not by any chance writing out a new _order form,_ are you?" said Mrs. Weasley shrewdly. "You wouldn't be thinking of restarting _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_, by any chance?"**

"Nah, not that early in the year," Sirius smirked at Molly. "Even those two wouldn't be that stupid to do that right under your nose. They would at least wait until they're back at school to try something like that."

"Thanks for the warning, Sirius," she said darkly. She would have to send a letter to them to make sure that they were behaving themselves.

**"Now, Mum," said Fred, looking up at her, a pained look on his face. "If the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow, and George and I died, how would you feel to know that the last thing we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?"**

**Everyone laughed, even Mrs. Weasley.**

"What does it mean _even Mrs. Weasley_?" Molly asked baffled. "I have a sense of humor too."

"Yes, but I that's a side of you we rarely ever see," Bill confessed. "I mean… most of the time you're stern and telling us to clean our room."

"Well, someone has to," Molly replied with a hard look at Arthur who was chuckling. It was no secret that he was the lenient one—which is why they were perfect for each other…

**"Oh your father's coming!" she said suddenly, looking up at the clock again.**

**Mr. Weasley's hand had suddenly spun from "work" to "travelling"; a second later it had shuddered to a halt on "home" with the others, and they heard him calling from the kitchen.**

**"Coming, Arthur!" called Mrs. Weasley, hurrying out of the room. A few moments later, Mr. Weasley came into the warm living room carrying his dinner on a tray. He looked completely exhausted.**

"That has to be hard on you, Arthur," said Remus sympathetically. "They're certainly dumping a lot of pressure on you."

"And for what?" Sirius demanded. "For trying to reassure everyone else? I guess telling the truth is against the law these days…"

**"Well, the fat's really in the fire now," he told Mrs. Weasley as he sat down in an armchair near the hearth and toyed unenthusiastically with his somewhat shrivelled cauliflower.**

"Sorry, 'bout that, Molly," Arthur told her. "I was too tired to eat."

"I know…" she sighed back. She wasn't enjoying this anymore than he had…

**"Rita Skeeter's been ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry mess-ups to report. And now she's found out about poor old Bertha going missing, so that'll be the headline in the _Prophet _tomorrow. I _told_ Bagman he should have sent someone to look for her ages ago."**

"They wouldn't have found her anyway," Tonks said bitterly. "Doesn't matter even if they actually tried!"

"I still can't believe that they took her disappearance so frivolously!" Molly said, sounding angry again. "If they first noticed she was gone and tried to have done something then maybe she would still be alive…?"

But everyone could tell from her tone that she was only trying to convince herself of that—and it wasn't working.

**"Mr. Crouch has been saying it for weeks and weeks," said Percy swiftly.**

"Who cares what Mr. Crouch thinks or says?" said Sirius darkly. "I'm sick of hearing him praise Crouch… honestly, use your head."

**"Crouch is very lucky Rita hasn't found out about Winky," said Mr. Weasley irritably. "There'd be a week's worth of headlines in his house-elf being caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark Mark."**

"I hope they don't find out," Tonks said huffed. "Even if he does deserve it; what with the horrible way he treated Winky."

"Why? I thought you hated him," Sirius said testily.

"Oh, I do! Because then Winky would be devastated by the bad press her former master would get," she answered.

"I don't see why she cares so much," Sirius said.

**"I thought we were all agreed that that elf, while irresponsible, did _not_ conjure the Mark?" said Percy hotly.**

"That's right, jump in and defend him," mocked Sirius—he couldn't wait until they read about the kids going back to school. The sooner they got rid of Percy, the happier he'll be.

**"If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is very lucky no one at the _Daily Prophet_ knows how mean he is to elves!" said Hermione angrily.**

"They wouldn't care anyway, it normal wizard behavior," Kingsley said sadly. "And he wasn't even that bad… compared to most anyway."

"That's just wrong," Tonks snapped. "How can people just stand by and watch this? It's disgusting!"

**"Now look here, Hermione!" said Percy. "A high-ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves unswerving obedience from his servants -"**

"Oh, really, that's just ridiculous. Was Winky really supposed to stay and risk getting killed?" Tonks asked scathingly. "If it were him he wouldn't just sat there! Obedience?! Come on! I question Mad-Eye all the time!"

"True that," Mad-Eye said bitterly. "Though one good thing about that is that I don't have to worry about you becoming a mindless Ministry flunkie…"

"Crouch didn't need to worry," Sirius hissed to Remus. "Crouch did have a servant who obeyed his every word like it was law… Percy Weasley."

Remus could only nod sadly at that. He really hoped that they finished this chapter soon. He wasn't so sure that Sirius would have much more restraint and stop himself from cursing Percy's name with every word under the sun.

**"His slave, you mean!" said Hermione, her voice rising passionately, "because he didn't pay Winky, did he?"**

"Slavery. I thought we were over with that," Tonks growled, folding her arms tightly—sounding more like Mad-Eye than herself.

**"I think you'd all better go upstairs and check that you've packed properly!" said Mrs. Weasley, breaking up the argument. "Come on now, all of you…"**

_'One thing we learned about Granger from the last book—is that she is stubborn,'_ Mad-Eye thought with satisfaction. _'When she is convinced she is right, there is no stopping her. Thus, when she comes to the plight of house-elves, she will be equally unstoppable.'_

"Ah Mum, you've always known when to break up an argument," Bill said fondly.

"Come with experience," she answered calmly.

**Harry repacked his broomstick servicing kit, put his Firebolt over his shoulder, and went back upstairs with Ron. The rain sounded even louder at the top of the house, accompanied by loud whistling and moans from the wind, not to mention sporadic howls from the ghoul who lived in the attic. **

"A lot of darkness and storminess lately in the wizarding world…" Tonks sighed and everyone tensed at those words. Last year, the storm was only coming… the storm is here now and it was only going to get worse. They all glanced at each other—all of them hoping that they would be able to stand the storm until it passes and the sun will come out.

Arthur gulped and turned the page. He didn't know how they were going to be able to stand some of the later chapters.

**Pigwidgeon began twittering and zooming around his cage when they entered. The sight of the half-packed trunks seemed to have sent him into a frenzy of excitement.**

"That is a crazy owl," muttered Sirius.

"He sounds like you, Padfoot," Remus chuckled. "Always ready for a little adventure."

Sirius snorted loudly at that, but he was grinning. Oh, what he wouldn't give for just a small one now. A trip outside—a dangerous, life-threatening mission—anything! Just a few minutes outside every day… he'd be happy for just that!

**"Bung him some Owl Treats," said Ron, throwing a packet across to Harry. "It might shut him up."**

"Oh, give it food and it shuts up?" Bill asked. "Typical. This owl is perfect for him. It has his personality."

"And yours as well, Padfoot," Tonks added.

"Why is everyone picking on me?!" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, we just can't help it," she told him. "But if it makes you feel better, we still love ya!"

He cracked up at that and ruffled her hair. "I'll forgive you this time. But I'll take you out if you try that again."

**Harry poked a few Owl Treats through the bars of Pigwidgeon's cage, then turned to his trunk. Hedwig's cage stood next to it, still empty.**

**"It's been over a week," Harry said, looking at Hedwig's deserted perch. "Ron, you don't reckon Sirius has been caught, do you?"**

"It would have been all over the press," Bill said shaking his head.

"Well, it's strange not seeing my face in the paper these days," said Sirius with his usual bark. "Don't know why they worry though." He grinned at Kingsley, "As if they could catch me if they thought that I was in Tibet."

**"Nah, it would've been in the _Daily Prophet_," said Ron. "The Ministry would want to show they'd caught someone, wouldn't they?"**

"Have to be seen to be doing something," Arthur sighed.

"Knowing my luck, if they caught me they would probably try and pin the mark on me as well," said Sirius knowingly.

**"Yeah, I suppose…"**

**"Look, here's the stuff Mum got for you in Diagon Alley. And she's got some gold out of your vault for you… and she's washed all your socks."**

Sirius smiled half-hearted. At least someone was taking care of Harry for him—even if it felt like someone was squeezing his insides. He hated being jealous… but it was difficult not to be.

**He heaved a pile of parcels onto Harry's camp bed and dropped the money bag and a load of socks next to it. Harry started unwrapping the shopping. Apart from _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4_, by Miranda Goshawk, he had a handful of new quills, a dozen rolls of parchment, and refills for his potion-making kit - he had been running low on spine of lionfish and essence of belladonna. He was just piling underwear into his cauldron when Ron made a loud noise of disgust behind him.**

"What is it this time?" Mad-Eye groaned. He was so close to leaving now—get to some good stuff already!

**"What is _that_ supposed to be?"**

**He was holding up something that looked to Harry like a long, maroon velvet dress. It had a mouldy-looking lace frill at the collar and matching lace cuffs. **

Most of them shook their head incredulously.

"His dress robes," Bill guessed.

"Dress robes," Sirius sighed sounding appalled, shaking his head. "Hate them. I always hated them. _Mother dearest_ made us wear them at every one of her stupid parties… well, I guess that we should be grateful that we never had to wear any as bad as THAT."

"They were the best that I could find," Molly said grimly.

**There was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Weasley entered, carrying an armful of freshly laundered Hogwarts robes.**

**"Here you are," she said, sorting them into two piles. "Now, mind you pack them properly so they don't crease."**

**"Mum, you've given me Ginny's new dress," said Ron, handing it out to her.**

"You couldn't pay Ginny to wear that!" Bill laughed.

**"Of course I haven't," said Mrs. Weasley. "That's for you. Dress robes."**

"Bet that he's gonna love this," Sirius said leaning in slightly to hear more.

**"What?" said Ron, looking horror-struck.**

**"Dress robes!" repeated Mrs. Weasley. "It says on your school list that you're supposed to have dress robes this year… robes for formal occasions."**

**"You've got to be kidding," said Ron in disbelief. "I'm not wearing that, no way."**

"He doesn't have much of a choice," Remus said as he was shaking his head. "Unless he goes out and buys them on his own…"

**"Everyone wears them, Ron!" said Mrs. Weasley crossly. "They're all like that! Your father's ****got some for smart parties!"**

"They aren't all like that though," Bill said chuckling.

"Yes Molly, and mine aren't lacy," said Arthur.

"I know," Molly said quietly. "But they were the best that I could find."

**"I'll go starkers before I put that on," said Ron stubbornly.**

"Bet that would've made him popular," Sirius smirked.

"Why do I get the feeling that's something that you would've done?" Tonks asked him. He hit her on the other side of her head.

"HEY!" she called to him.

"I did warn you," he said cheerfully. Before they broke into a fight, Arthur read out loudly.

**"Don't be so silly," said Mrs. Weasley. "You've got to have dress robes, they're on your list! I got some for Harry too… show him, Harry…"**

**In some trepidation, Harry opened the last parcel on his camp bed. It wasn't as bad as he had expected, however; his dress robes didn't have any lace on them at all - in fact, they were more or less the same as his school ones, except that they were bottle green instead of black.**

"Well, what do you know?" Sirius said in surprise. "You didn't do so bad. They sound so much better than the ones I was forced to wear at least."

**"I thought they'd bring out the color of your eyes, dear," said Mrs. Weasley fondly.**

Several of them smiled at the thought and knew that it was true. No one had ever seen anyone with eyes that exact shade of green—other than Lily of course.

**"Well, they're OK!" said Ron angrily, looking at Harry's robes. "Why couldn't I have some like that?"**

**"Because… well, I had to get yours second-hand, and there wasn't a lot of choice!" said Mrs. Weasley, flushing.**

That wiped the smiles off their faces at those words—along with a fresh wave of guilt…

**Harry looked away. He would willingly have split all the money in his Gringotts vault with the Weasleys, but he knew they would never take it.**

Everyone was looking slightly awkward but also happy that Harry would do such a thing. Molly smiled slightly, glad, he was so kind and generous. It still astounded her how he could be like that, living with those Durselys.

"Thank you for the thought, Harry," said Arthur gratefully, "But we prefer to handle things ourselves. Making do with what we have rather than depending on someone else for everything."

"It's nice to see that there are families that don't value money over everything," said Remus smiling just a tiny bit.

"Unlike dear old Lucius…" growled Sirius. "To him, money means everything. Personally, I think this world would be better off without people like him."

"No one's arguing with you there," Tonks nodded.

**"I'm never wearing them," Ron was saying stubbornly. "Never."**

**"Fine," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "Go naked. And, Harry, make sure you get a picture of him. Goodness knows I could do with a laugh."**

"Ouch, that's a little harsh," said Sirius wincing.

Molly sighed miserably. She hadn't meant to say that. It's just that with everything going on, her temper had been running high and she snapped.

"I'm sorry, Molly," said Remus sadly. "We know that you have been trying your best."

"Too bad that it's not good enough," she whispered. Arthur heard this and took her hand tightly and held it.

**She left the room, slamming the door behind her. There was a funny spluttering noise from behind them. Pigwidgeon was choking on an overlarge Owl Treat.**

**"Why is everything I own rubbish?" said Ron furiously, striding across the room to unstick Pigwidgeon's beak.**

"Not everything," said Remus longingly. He just doesn't see what he has at the moment… and he hoped that Ron would learn to see it. "He has a house and a family… great friends… he just needs to learn how to see it…"

"That's the end of the chapter," Arthur said gladly. This book had been worse than the last one. He didn't know how much he could take. He shut the book and held it out. "It was a short one, who's next? And how much more are we going to read?"

"I think that we should stop soon," Kingsley said calmly as he checked his watch. "How about we go for another… two or three chapters and then call it a day?"

They all nodded at that. "I guess I'll go then," Kingsley offered. He took the book and read out, "**Chapter 11: Aboard the Hogwart Express**."

** (Yeah! Finally, this chapter was almost painful to do! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I might not be able to update until I'm done with my economics test. So until I'm through with it, please enjoy this one.)**


	14. All Aboard the Hogwarts Express

**(Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling! I own nothing)**

**Chapter 13: All Aboard the Hogwarts Express**

They all nodded at that. "I guess I'll go then," Kingsley offered. He took the book and read out, "**Chapter 11: Aboard the Hogwarts Express**." The picture this time was of a stack of trunks and bags—as well as an owl with a covering standing outside in the rain.

"Back to Hogwarts, excellent," Sirius said rubbing his hands together. Finally, no more Percy—he didn't think he could stand to listen to that pompous attitude for another second.

**There was a definite end-of-the-holidays gloom in the air when Harry awoke next morning. **

"Isn't there always?" sighed Tonks dramatically.

"I know what he means," Sirius nodded in agreement. "While I love the school, I just hated the idea of going back _to_ school. Well…" he amended slightly as he looked miserably around him. While he was still living here back in the day, he had longed for the day he would get away from this hell on earth.

**Heavy rain was still splattering against the window as he got dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt; they would change into their school robes on the Hogwarts Express.**

"Ugh, what a way to start off the year," Tonks said wrinkling her button nose. "I hate it when it decides to rain on the first day of school. Imagine having to go up to the castle in the pouring rain?"

"But the rest of the year can only get better," Remus told her.

**He, Ron, Fred, and George had just reached the first-floor landing on their way down to breakfast, when Mrs. Weasley appeared at the foot of the stairs, looking harassed.**

"What now?" Tonks sighed. What else could have happened?

"Everyone is running around looking for supplies and clothes? Of course she's harassed," Bill chuckled.

"Yes," Molly sighed. "I don't think we had been on time for the train since when you first started, Bill. There was only one person who had to pack—and even when Charlie started, things weren't so bad…"

"But once Percy and the twins started," Arthur nodded in understanding with a smile, "That's when we started the tradition of our last-minute scrambling."

_'How simple things seemed to have been back then,'_ he added to himself sadly. What he wouldn't give to go back to those days and prevent all this from happening…

**"Arthur!" she called up the staircase. "Arthur! Urgent message from the Ministry!"**

"Ah, Amos," Arthur nodded, remembering what was happening.

"Oh, not him again," Sirius said disgustedly. "Is this about him complaining about the whole World Cup?"

"No," Arthur assured him, his expression darkening as he chanced a glance at Mad-Eye. "It's much more serious than that."

**Harry flattened himself against the wall as Mr. Weasley came clattering past with his robes on back-to-front and hurtled out of sight. When Harry and the others entered the kitchen, they saw Mrs. Weasley rummaging anxiously in the drawers – **"**I've got a quill here somewhere!" – and Mr. Weasley bending over the fire, talking to –**

**Harry shut his eyes hard and opened them again to make sure that they were working properly.**

"What's the matter?" said Tonks, sounding slightly anxious. "Did Diggory do something to himself?"

"Oh!" said Arthur, laughing as he remembered. "I was talking to Amos through the Floo. Harry's just seen someone talking for the first time through fireplaces!"

"Must be a bit of a shock if you're seeing it for the first time," Bill laughed. "I'm guessing that seeing someone's head sitting in the fireplace wouldn't have been the usual thing you first see in the morning."

**Amos Diggory's head was sitting in the middle of the flames like a large, bearded egg. It was talking very fast, completely unperturbed by the sparks flying around it and the flames licking its ears.**

"Of course he won't be able to feel them," Tonks exclaimed.

"You keep forgetting that Harry's never seen anything like that before," Remus added evenly. "He doesn't know what it feels like."

"Though it is painful to have to sit there and talk," Sirius added, having done it a few times to know that it's not exactly a comfortable experience.

**"… Muggle neighbours heard bangs and shouting, so they went and called those what-d'you-call-'ems - please-men. Arthur, you've got to get over there —"**

"Of course you do," Sirius rolled his eyes. "The Ministry can't handle anything on their own."

"If you ask me, Dad. You would be the best to deal with everything," Bill said wryly and was glad to see his father blushing.

"And one other thing," Kingsley said as he flipped the page. "They're called Policemen."

**"Here!" said Mrs. Weasley breathlessly, pushing a piece of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a crumpled quill into Mr. Weasley's hands.**

**"- it's a real stroke of luck I heard about it," said Mr. Diggory's head. "I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls, and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off — if Rita Skeeter gets hold of this one, Arthur —"**

"If she continues to give the Ministry a hard time, who cares?!" snorted Sirius.

"The Ministry's had a bad couple of weeks as it is, they don't want anyone else to think that they're falling apart," Mad-Eye said. "Not that it matters. They don't need help to make a mess of things."

"Can someone please tell me what's going on here?" asked Tonks looking curious. Kingsley read on, as his way of explaining.

**"What does Mad-Eye say happened?" asked Mr. Weasley, unscrewing the ink bottle, loading up his quill, and preparing to take notes.**

"Oh," Tonks said, looking at Mad-Eye with wide eyes. She knew what had happened to her mentor last year—and she knew that they were going to be reading about it—she just didn't think that they would reach it this soon. Now, she loved poking fun at Mad-Eye and teasing, and questioning every move he made… but he was still very dear to her and she couldn't imagine what she would do if something happened to him. "They're talking about you."

"Really?" he barked back angrily. "No kidding? I never would've guessed."

**Mr. Diggory's head rolled its eyes. "Says he heard an intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the house, but was ambushed by his dustbins."**

**"What did the dustbins do?" asked Mr. Weasley, scribbling frantically.**

"Your dustbins?" Sirius asked before he could stop himself.

"How would I know?" he snapped at him. "I was already in the trunk by then!"

"But charming your dustbins to attack any intruder does sound like something you would do," Tonks nodded, hoping to take his mind off everything that happened. It didn't seem to work because he only continued to as angry as before.

**"Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell," said Mr. Diggory. "Apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the please-men turned up -"**

_'Disguised as me,' _Mad-Eye thought bitterly—wishing that he could curse someone… he glanced at Sirius… before shaking his head. Nah, he wouldn't hex Black… though it was tempting with how often he interrupted.

"It's not funny," Molly said as several of them starting laughing. "That was a Death Eater breaking in." The laughter stopped quite abruptly and they shot Mad-Eye anxious looks.

"Look at me like that one more time and you won't live to see another day," he snarled.

**Mr. Weasley groaned. **"**And what about the intruder?"**

**"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," said Mr. Diggory's head, rolling its eyes again. "Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of night? **

"It's happened before," Mad-Eye growled. "This is why you should always stay vigilant all the time! And in this case, they deserved everything they got."

"What did happen?" Bill asked anxiously.

"None of your business," he growled. He thought back to that night…

_*Flashback*_

_Alastor paused in his packing and focused on listening to his dark, silent house. He raised his wand—he could've sworn that he heard something creak. He waited, but nothing happened. He shook his head and resumed packing. Surly his wards would be more than enough protections… but then again, even too much protection isn't enough. _

_His thoughts turned toward tomorrow—he had received a letter from Dumbledore at the start of summer, explaining to him that the Triwizard Tournament was going to start again. Now normally, Mad-Eye couldn't care less about this. Why did Dumbledore write to tell him about this? When he had finished reading the rest of the letter—though he didn't come right out and say it, Alastor knew what it meant. Dumbledore wanted him to come back to school and teach for the year. _

_At first he had wrote back, telling him that he wanted no part of it. But after several more letters, and Dumbledore even dropping in and asking in person, he gave in. But only because he heard that cowardly Karkaroff__was going to be there._

_He didn't trust that rat then, and he sure as hell didn't trust him now. Albus had also explained that he had a bad feeling that the Dark Side was starting to grow stronger again… what other choice did he have but to except? But he honestly couldn't see how the stupid tournament had anything to do with it._

_Well, he needed an excuse to get out of this house anyway. After all this time of fighting Death Eater scum, he had a quiet, and boring, retirement. He hated it. If he was staying in this house any longer with nothing to do, he was going to lose what was left of his mind._

_A crooked smile creased his seamed, scarred face. So long as he didn't have to deal with another Tonks he could stomach one year of mindless teaching. And though he didn't admit it to the old man, he had also been very curious about some of the stories that Dumbledore had told him about that young Potter boy. He was interested in seeing if this kid was as special as Dumbledore said._

_He paused again, all his senses were alert. There in was again: a sharp, squeaking sound like a floorboard creaking. Rising to his feet he grasped his wand in one hand and his wooden staff in the other. Some would say that old houses like his just made noises at night—that it wasn't anything to worry about—but he didn't live this long by ignoring any sound._

_He stumped briskly downstairs until he was just outside of the sitting room and paused there to take a quick survey. His magical eye whirled and scanned the room and peered through the walls to check outside. Nothing._

_Then, he froze. His eye had detected a breach in the carefully crafted magic barrier surrounding his home. Someone had meticulously unraveled his warning sigils and created an opening just wide enough for someone to slip in without tripping the alarm._

_His eye spun, looking at everything, though it was hard to tell in the darkness, and he could see him. A man was calmly sitting in the next room. While he couldn't see the intruder's face, but he could make out the depression in the cushions of the chair that he was sitting in, weighted down by an unseen body._

_He kicked the door opened and came in._

_"Disillusioned…" he muttered."No wonder I couldn't see you right away. But, I'm on you now, you scum."_

_"Then, there's no sense in hiding any longer, is there, Moody?" the quiet yet hoarse voice responded. A slight shimmer filled the air in front of the chair, and then, a man had reappeared._

_He was a pale young man with straw-colored hair and freckles with a gaunt face… a face that he had seen before… it was a face that he had despised with every fiber of his being… a face that had destroyed the life of one of his former apprentices and his wife._

_"Crouch!" he snarled, pointing his wand dead-center on the intruder's chest. "Barty Crouch Jr.! I'd heard you'd died and were buried in Azkaban!"_

_Crouch Jr. grinned maniacally. "Now, now… Mad-Eye. I missed you to."_

_"How did you get out of Azkaban? And how did you get in here without me knowing?" he growled threateningly._

_"How? Well, I had help from people of course. But, I didn't come for small talk, Moody. I have a mission to complete, and you're the key."_

_"I can guess," he snarled back. "But, your vengeance will come with a heavy price tag, Crouch. You aren't leaving this house except in a pine box for what you did."_

_"Believe me, Moody; I would kill you right now if I had my choice for putting me in Azkaban in the firstt place. But, I'm after a grander objective and I need to keep you alive."_

_"You're as big a fool now as you were back then, Crouch," he barked back. "If you couldn't handle me with Bellatrix, Rastaban, and Rodolphus backing you up, what makes you think you're up to the task now, when you're alone?"_

_Crouch's eyes, tinged with madness, lit up at Moody's words and he laughed an insane cackle._

_"Oh, yes; because of our impatience of learning the truth, you made it your mission in life to bring us to justice at whatever the costs," he answered when he stopped laughing. "I had nearly forgotten about that little incident. So, tell me, Moody… When's the last time you saw the Longbottoms? I remember the last time I saw the two of them and I don't think I had ever seen a more pitiable sight."_

_He began to laugh as he stood up. Alastor's anger was pounding inside him at the memory of finding the two Aurors. "Sobbing… crawling on all fours like the animals they were… unable to remember who they were…"_

_But he had gone too far._

_"SHUT UP!"__ Alastor roared, striding forward and letting loose a blast from his wand._

_Barty Crouch was blown backwards by the explosion, landing in a heap on the carpet._

_"I ought to kill you right now for what you did to them," he growled, advancing on him. "Azkaban was too good for you after what you and your pals did. If I had it my way, all four of you would've been killed long ago and the rest of the world wouldn't have to deal with scum like you. Rouges like you deserved to be damned."_

_Crouch watched him approach, again laughing his hysterical cackle. "No, Moody; I've learned much more since we last met. I'm smarter and far more dangerous than when you captured us." He paused to twist his face completely up at Moody. "And you aren't actually young anymore are you? Old… but still deadly. So do you honestly think that I would've come here without some backup?"_

_Mad-Eye was so angry, that he hadn't been paying attention to anything but Crouch—and it cost him. He felt, rather than heard, a high-pitched voice behind him. "STUPIFY" it shrieked suddenly darkness overtook him._

_The last thing he heard was Crouch laugh madly and shouted "Well done, Wormtail! The master will be most pleased. Now, hurry… the authorities will be here soon."_

_As he fell to the floor, all Moody could think of was: "Caught from behind… shot in the back like some rank amateur…" Then, everything disappeared into oblivion._

_The next sensation he was aware of was dark: complete, all-encompassing, lonely dark. He couldn't see properly. Reaching up, he could feel the blank space where his magic eye should have been._

_Feeling down his left thigh, he reached the stump of his knee joint, then nothing. He was aware of the cramped, confining space that had become his world. The trunk! The bastards had him in his own trunk… and he could feel it moving._

_*End of Flashback*_

Mad-Eye could still kick himself for being caught off guard like that. His fingers gripped his staff tightly. As far as he was concerned… Crouch got everything he deserved. He brought his fate upon himself.

His eye looked at everyone's sad faces and suddenly got irritated. "What are you all looking at?!" he barked. "Get back to reading before I take you all out!"

No one wanted to deal with an even angrier Mad-Eye, and so Kingsley read on a little faster and louder than before.

**More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings. **

Tonks tried very hard not to smirk, she didn't want to annoy Mad-Eye any more than he had been already. But it was very hard… it was funny because it's true. He had a gift for permanently traumatizing others.

**But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad-Eye, he's had it **

Mad-Eye snorted. Like he'd let the Ministry tell him what to do. Everything he did or didn't do was based on his own morals, he didn't need to follow what the Ministry told him… besides, and it's not as if they could stop him if they tried.

**— think of his record — we've got to get him off on a minor charge, something in your department — what are exploding dustbins worth?"**

**"Might be a caution," said Mr. Weasley, still writing very fast, his brow furrowed. "Mad-Eye didn't use his wand? He didn't actually attack anyone?"**

"Didn't get a chance," Mad-Eye snapped. Just thinking about how they snuck up on him so easily was still painful.

**"I'll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through the window," said Mr. Diggory, "but they'll have a job proving it, there aren't any casualties."**

"Yeah, I could see that," Tonks muttered sagely. "You don't go down without a fight. You'd destroy everything in sight if you had a choice."

"If only I was able to do that that night," he hissed. He had wanted to get Crouch back after what he helped do to the Longbottoms and as soon as he was handed the chance, he screwed it up. Old age… it was nothing but grief.

**"All right, I'm off," Mr. Weasley said, and he stuffed the parchment with his notes on it into his pocket and dashed out of the kitchen again.**

**Mr. Diggory's head looked around at Mrs. Weasley.**

"He makes it sound so funny when he puts it like that," Tonks said. "Funny… or gruesome, can't tell which."

"For argument's sake let's say funny," Bill said.

"You're interrupting us for that?" Mad-Eye snapped at them. He wanted to get to the part where the imposter entered the scene. He wanted to know exactly what went on in that blasted castle for everyone to be so convinced that it was him.

**"Sorry about this, Molly," it said, more calmly, "bothering you so early and everything… but Arthur's the only one who can get Mad-Eye off, and Mad-Eye's supposed to be starting his new job today. Why he had to choose last night…"**

_'Because they wanted it to be last night,' _Sirius thought sadly. Voldemort and his lackeys have done nothing but ruin lives. Who needs them?

"Somehow I doubt he _chose _it," Remus said with a raised eyebrow.

"Emphasis on the _supposed to_ bit," Mad-Eye grumbled under his breath. "Didn't get around to teaching. Any kind of trouble those runts have would've been preferable over being locked in your own trunk for nine months."

**"Never mind, Amos," said Mrs. Weasley. "Sure you won't have a bit of toast or anything before you go?"**

**"Oh go on, then," said Mr. Diggory.**

**Mrs. Weasley took a piece of buttered toast from a stack on the kitchen table, put it into the fire tongs, and transferred it into Mr. Diggory's mouth. "Fanks," he said in a muffled voice, and then, with a small pop, vanished.**

"That's one way to eat and run," Sirius joked and a few smiles played on their mouths.

**Harry could hear Mr. Weasley calling hurried good-byes to Bill, Charlie, Percy, and the girls. Within five minutes, he was back in the kitchen, his robes on the right way now, dragging a comb through his hair.**

_'Don't know why I bother,'_ Arthur thought grimly as he ran his hand through his thinning hair.

**"I'd better hurry - you have a good term, boys," said Mr. Weasley to Harry, Ron, and the twins, fastening a cloak over his shoulders and preparing to Disapparate.**

**"Molly, are you going to be all right taking the kids to King's Cross?"**

"I'm sorry," he muttered softly into her ear. "I know that this couldn't have been easy for you."

She smiled back sadly. "It's alright," she whispered back and took his hand. "I would've liked it if you were there but it's wasn't so difficult. Especially with Bill and Charlie there."

He could only sigh as he laid his head next to hers tiredly. They listened to Kingsley deep, soothing voice, looking forward to when this chapter would start getting better.

**"Of course I will," she said. "You just look after Mad-Eye, we'll be fine."**

**As Mr. Weasley vanished, Bill and Charlie entered the kitchen.**

**"Did someone say Mad-Eye?" Bill asked. "What's he been up to now?"**

"One would think that you were a trouble maker or something, Mad-Eye," Tonks grinned at him. "With how everyone talks about you."

"You think I care what others say about me?" he asked coolly. "If I did, I would've taken a less scarred job."

**"He says someone tried to break into his house last night," said Mrs. Weasley.**

**"Mad-Eye Moody?" said George thoughtfully, spreading marmalade on his toast. **

"Who else?" Sirius asked sarcastically. "I didn't know it was such a common name."

**"Isn't he that nutter -"**

Mad-Eye grunted, and Tonks snorted loudly at that.

"Say one word," he warned her, "And you aren't going to live past this next chapter."

She grinned back innocently. "Now now… I know that you love me, Mad-Eye."

"The same way I love chewing broken glass," he growled at her.

**"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs. Weasley sternly.**

**"Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" said Fred quietly as Mrs. Weasley left the room. "Birds of a feather…"**

"_Fred…_" Molly scolded with a shake of her head.

"Mum you think its weird too," Bill reminded her. She couldn't deny that. She did think it was strange… but she at least didn't go around saying that.

Arthur didn't know what was so strange about it. "I find it fascinating," he said. "It's amazing how Muggles are able to create all these inventions without having to rely on magic."

"It's good to know that someone has a hobby," Mad-Eye said.

**"Moody was a great wizard in his time," said Bill.**

"_Was_?" Mad-Eye asked gruffly. Now he could take being insulted by his looks—honestly if he cared about how he looked he wouldn't have gotten his eye now would he? But being questioned about his talents… that was when he got angry.

"And even after you retied," Kingsley added calmly with a warm smile. "Best there ever was."

"At least you have some respect for your elders," he muttered, trying not to smile at the praise.

**"He's an old friend of Dumbledore's, isn't he?" said Charlie.**

"What? And you think that Dumbledore's normal?" said Tonks in surprise.

"Not making the best case for you, Mad-Eye," Sirius said with a chuckle. Mad-Eye was privately thinking that maybe cursing him would be worth it.

"**Dumbledore's not what you'd call normal, though, is he?" said Fred. "I mean, I know he's a genius and everything…"**

"But cracked," Sirius added under his breath, his anger at Dumbledore was still high.

**"Who _is _Mad-Eye?" asked Harry.**

"A bad-tempered, old coot that works his Aurors like dogs," Tonks offered helpfully.

The magical eye fixed itself onto her. "I would deny that I'm bad-tempered," he said coolly. "And I won't even deny that I'm old… but did you just call me a coot?"

"Ah… yep," she answered with a nod, without any signs of remorse.

"You need to be worked," he told her. "Lazy you are…"

"I resent that!" she said in a mock pout. "At least I completed my training."

"Barely," he replied.

"Ok, ok," Kingsley said waving his hands at them both. "You both can fight this out later."

**"He's retired, used to work at the Ministry," said Charlie. "I met him once when Dad took me into work with him. He was an Auror - one of the best… a Dark wizard catcher," he added, seeing Harry's blank look.**

"I keep forgetting he knows little of the magic world," Remus said with a sad look.

"No thanks to those Muggle monsters he has to live with!" said Sirius his frown coming back. It had disappeared for a moment when Mad-Eye and Tonks argued… it was always entertaining to see the two of them fight.

**"Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though… the families of people he caught, mainly… and I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards everywhere."**

"That's because they _are_ everywhere," Mad-Eye said darkly.

"Oh, please don't say things like that, it's not funny!" said Molly anxiously.

"Wasn't looking for a laugh," he answered simply.

"Where when you worked, they _were_ everywhere," Remus offered. "So I suppose that it is probably hard to adjust to the quiet life."

"More like boring," Mad-Eye confirmed. He remembered how he had slowly been going crazy sitting at home with nothing to do. In a sick way, he was almost glad that there was a war going on.

**Bill and Charlie decided to come and see everyone off at King's Cross station, but Percy, apologizing most profusely, said that he really needed to get to work.**

_'Well, we didn't want him to come anyway,'_ Sirius thought scathingly. The less he heard about the power-hungry Percy the happier he'll be.

**"I just can't justify taking more time off at the moment," he told them. "Mr. Crouch is really starting to rely on me."**

Once again at the mention of Crouch's name, Sirius's eye began to twitch horribly at the thought of the man who helped ruin his life. Remus noticed the muscle going in Sirius's temple, but didn't dare say anything. He hoped that this would be the last time they heard about Crouch for a little while. Sirius seemed to become angrier every time that his name was mentioned.

"Really, in what way?" asked Tonks with sarcastic interest. "You mean that he actually figured out his name?"

"Let's just hope that he'll be able to figure out what's truly important in his life before this is over," Arthur whispered sadly. Just thinking about his son's departure felt like a punch in the gut.

**"Yeah, you know what, Percy?" said George seriously. "I reckon he'll know your name soon."**

"Why is he even working for someone who doesn't know his name?" wondered Mad-Eye. "I would've made myself loud and clear when I first met my boss."

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Bill remarked. You couldn't help but notice the man when he entered a room—and it was almost crazy to think that he would have to answer to a boss.

"The best bit is that he won't ever learn his name. He's is too chicken to correct him," Sirius said laughing.

"Sirius that's not funny, I know Percy's overenthusiastic…" Molly began but Sirius cut her off.

"And he _would_ know if Percy had been able to stand up to him, but he just sits back and takes it." He then added in his own head, _'Because he's got no spine to stand up to authority.'_

Molly looked upset, but she didn't say anything—choosing to let this go.

**Mrs. Weasley had braved the telephone in the village Post Office to order three ordinary Muggle taxis to take them into London.**

"How do Muggle taxis find the Burrow?" Kingsley couldn't help but ask her. "It is normally findable to Muggles?"

"No," she confessed. "We all had to wait in the yard for them. They couldn't see the house, but we were on the side of the road waiting for them."

He nodded in understanding as he flipped the page.

**"Arthur tried to borrow Ministry cars for us," Mrs. Weasley whispered to Harry as they stood in the rain-washed yard, watching the taxi drivers heaving six heavy Hogwarts trunks into their cars.**

**"But there weren't any to spare… Oh dear, they don't look happy, do they?"**

"With the animals they were taking with them, I don't expect they would be," Remus replied.

"Why aren't they happy? They're keeping them employed!" cried Sirius.

"I think that it's because they probably aren't use to transporting owls, cats and who knows what else is in those trunks," Kingsley offered.

"But that's their job!" Sirius said as if it was the easiest question in the world. "They're supposed to drive people and their luggage around the country no matter how crazy they are!"

**Harry didn't like to tell Mrs. Weasley that Muggle taxi drivers rarely transported overexcited owls, and Pigwidgeon was making an earsplitting racket. **

"OK, Pigwidgeon I can understand," Sirius admitted. "But I still don't see what the problem is."

**Nor did it help that a number of Filibuster's Fabulous No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks went off unexpectedly when Fred's trunk sprang open, causing the driver carrying it to yell with fright and pain as Crookshanks clawed his way up the man's leg.**

"Fine, I get it," Sirius sighed. "Traveling with wizards has to be a pain."

"Oh dear," Molly said looking guilty.

"Bet he _really_ loved that," Mad-Eye smirked.

**The journey was uncomfortable, owing to the fact that they were jammed in the back of the taxis with their trunks. Crookshanks took quite a while to recover from the fireworks, and by the time they entered London, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all severely scratched. **

"See?" Sirius said shaking his head. "You wouldn't get that with a dog."

"We get it, Padfoot," Remus smiled at him. "You're a dog person for some reason."

"It's who I am," he grinned back.

**They were very relieved to get out at King's Cross, even though the rain was coming down harder than ever, and they got soaked carrying their trunks across the busy road and into the station.**

**Harry was used to getting onto platform nine and three-quarters by now. It was a simple matter of walking straight through the apparently solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. **

"Unless a House-Elf blocks it off," Sirius added, still slightly sore about that, but unable to bring himself to hate that little elf.

**The only tricky part was doing this in an unobtrusive way, so as to avoid attracting Muggle attention. They did it in groups today; Harry, Ron, and Hermione (the most conspicuous, since they were accompanied by Pigwidgeon and Crookshanks) went first; **

"'Course they went first," Bill laughed. "They were causing all the ruckus. Any longer and we might've been in trouble."

**they leaned casually against the barrier, chatting unconcernedly, and slid sideways through it… and as they did so, platform nine and three-quarters materialized in front of them.**

**The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam engine, was already there, clouds of steam billowing from it, through which the many Hogwarts students and parents on the platform appeared like dark ghosts. Pigwidgeon became noisier than ever in response to the hooting of many owls through the mist. **

They all looked at Sirius.

"Hey! It's not my fault that owl is crazy!" he protested. "He was the best I could find."

"It's ironic that of all the owls you found, you picked the one who resembles you," Tonks said.

"What?!" he called at her.

"She makes a fair point," Remus chuckled. Sirius gave him an betrayed look. "You choose your girl over your best friend?" Sirius asked. "I'm hurt, Moony."

If it was possible to fry an egg on someone's face, then Remus would've been able to do it. The others looked at the three sitting on the couch—some surprised, some delighted and—in Moody's case angry at the couple sitting side by side.

Remus gave Sirius an evil eye—slowly planning on destroying him later for this… he was unable to look at Tonks in the face… indeed, he didn't think that he would ever be able to do so again.

Tonks didn't mind, she was smiling widely, her own cheeks a bright red. The difference was it was from delight.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off to find seats, and were soon stowing their luggage in a compartment halfway along the train. They then hopped back down onto the platform to say good-bye to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie.**

**"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," said Charlie, grinning, as he hugged Ginny goodbye.**

"Now now Charlie, don't go giving away 'classified information,'" Sirius teased, trying hard not to think of the dragon.

"Technically he didn't tell them what it was about, so I don't see the problem," Arthur said, still smiling at Remus and Tonks. The werewolf was suddenly wishing that he was invisible.

**"Why?" said Fred keenly.**

**"You'll see," said Charlie. "Just don't tell Percy I mentioned it… it's 'classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,' after all."**

"I still don't see what was the point of bringing that tournament back in the first place," Molly said bitterly. "Students have died from it after all! Isn't that enough reason that it's a bad idea?!"

"Apparently the ones in charge just don't care," Sirius said, looking sour again.

**"Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year," said Bill, hands in his pockets, looking almost wistfully at the train.**

"I still wish that I was still going there," Bill sighed. "I mean, the most I had to worry about was getting homework done."

"They always say they can't wait to leave, but they always end up wishing they were back here," Arthur chuckled quietly at his son. It never fails. Kids want to hurry and grow up so they can leave school and start lives of their own… and once they do… they wish they were young again.

**"_Why_?" said George impatiently.**

**"You're going to have an interesting year," said Bill, his eyes twinkling. "I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it."**

Sirius's eye twitched again as he frowned. _Interesting_ was not the word that he would've used. More like dangerous and completely unnecessary.

**"A bit of _what_?" said Ron.**

"You don't want to know, Ron, believe me you're better off not knowing," Sirius put in helpfully.

**But at that moment, the whistle blew, and Mrs. Weasley chivvied them toward the train doors.**

**"Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione as they climbed on board, closed the door, and leaned out of the window to talk to her.**

**"Yeah, thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry.**

"Funny how the two of them seem to be the only ones who show appreciation," she shook her head fondly.

"Guests usually do," Sirius nodded. He remembered happily how much Mrs. Potter loved having him over—saying that it was nice to have someone who appreciated all the trouble she was put through… and then she would yell at them both for some prank they did. Those were the days…

**"Oh it was my pleasure, dears," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'd invite you for Christmas, but… well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with… one thing and another."**

**"Mum!" said Ron irritably. "What d'you three know that we don't?"**

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Kingsley asked the three Weasleys and they couldn't help laugh at that.

"I can't deny that," Molly said before she became grave. "Of course, if I had known what was going to happen that year…" she trailed off; apparently unable to finish.

"I can't argue with that," Sirius nodded, understanding the feeling of helplessness.

"I'm personally surprised that they didn't find out about the tournament sooner," Mad-Eye muttered under his breath.

**"You'll find out this evening, I expect," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling. "It's going to be very exciting - mind you, I'm very glad they've changed the rules -"**

"And they did a _fantastic_ job on that!" Sirius shouted out in his deep, sarcastic voice, clapping slowly. "Wow, it's amazing how well everything worked out you know? We should've thought to bring the tournament back sooner!"

**"What rules?" said Harry, Ron, Fred, and George together.**

"I hate it when mothers do this!" muttered Tonks irritably—her own mother was particularly fond of it. She loved to keep her guessing. "They mention something, give you all these hints, but do it in a way that you can never guess what it is!"

"It's what we do best," Molly smiled. She didn't want to ruin the surprise for them after all. If only things had worked out differently.

**"I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you… Now, behave, won't you? Won't you, Fred? And you, George?"**

"Once again," Tonks laughed. "You sound like my mother. She would say those exact same words to me—and then threaten to skin me alive if she heard that I was misbehaving."

"Well, since you're still here," Sirius laughed, "Then it must've been an empty threat. Mrs. Potter did that to me and James to. Say goodbye, tell us to behave… and by next morning she would be sending Howlers because she knew that we had done something wrong."

"Wow," Bill said with mock surprise. "Sounds like she really knew you both."

Sirius sighed a little sadly at that. "Yeah," he said. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were the parents he never had. He had come to love them more than the rest of his own miserable family combined. The two of them had died not long before Harry was born.

The two of them had been devastated when they died. Luckily they found a way to ease that pain after Harry had been born and the two of them were busy helping Lily.

**The pistons hissed loudly and the train began to move.**

**"Tell us what's happening at Hogwarts!" Fred bellowed out of the window as Mrs. Weasley, ****Bill, and Charlie sped away from them. "What rules are they changing?"**

"Don't bother," Bill laughed. "We weren't going to tell them."

**But Mrs. Weasley only smiled and waved. Before the train had rounded the corner, she, Bill, and Charlie had Disapparated.**

"That's nice," Tonks said sarcastically. "I'm sure they appreciated that!"

"We thought that it would've been better when they found out later that night," Arthur answered.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione went back to their compartment. The thick rain splattering the windows made it very difficult to see out of them. Ron undid his trunk, pulled out his ****maroon dress robes, and flung them over Pigwidgeon's cage to muffle his hooting.**

"What was he thinking? Why did he do that?" Sirius moaned in disappointment. "Any one will be able to see them."

"Wish it had been that easy to shut you up," Remus whispered, his voice a little harder than it had been before due to all the humiliation. It was almost like being stuck at school again… "Just throw a cloak over your head and everything."

"Harsh," he whispered back. "One would think that you and your girlfriend weren't getting along."

Remus's grip on his shoulder was so hard now that it was painful.

"Ok," he whispered back. "I get it. I'll shut up."

"Please do," Remus hissed, rubbing his eyes.

**"Bagman wanted to tell us what's happening at Hogwarts," he said grumpily, sitting down next to Harry. "At the World Cup, remember? But my own mother won't say. Wonder what —"**

"Because I thought that it would be a nice surprise for them when they got to school," Molly said almost firmly. "If I told them then it would ruin it when Dumbledore told them."

"It's alright, dear," Arthur assured her. "He's just a little angry that we knew something that they didn't."

**"Shh!" Hermione whispered suddenly, pressing her finger to her lips and pointing toward ****the compartment next to theirs. Harry and Ron listened, and heard a familiar drawling voice drifting in through the open door.**

"Oh, no," Bill groaned. "Not him again…"

"I forgot about him," Sirius moaned, running his hand through his hair. Typical. They get rid of Crouch and Percy only to meet up with Malfoy again.

**"… Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. **

"Yes, Malfoy and Karkaroff would know each other very well," Arthur said sourly. "I bet they were running around in masks together at the World Cup."

"I'm not sure if Karkaroff was there," Mad-Eye said. "The coward betrayed too many fellow Death Eaters to be comfortable about being around them. No, he's been on his best behavior after he was caught and turned them all in." Oh, but he would've loved one excuse to put him away.

"What's so good about Durmstrang anyway?" Bill demanded.

"The only people who know for sure are the ones who go there," Sirius said darkly. "But from the way that my old man used to talk about it, it's most famous rumor is that it teaches the Dark Arts. But hard to say for sure."

"And Durmstrang also doesn't admit Muggle-borns," Kingsley added grimly. "So I'm sure that someone like Draco would feel at home."

"Feel that he was among equals," Sirius said in disgust. "Why am I not surprise? I wish he had gone so we wouldn't have to hear about him.

**Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore - the man's such a Mudblood-lover - and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riff-raff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. **

"Dame it! We were that close to getting rid of him!" Sirius called out exasperated."Guess that I shouldn't be surprised thought. Narssia she loves family more than anything. Too bad, I'm sure Hogwarts would have been a better place without him. Curse you, Narssia!" he said sarcastically, waving his fist in the air and causing them to laugh at how ridiculous he looked.

**Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. ****Durmstrang students actually _learn_ them, not just the defense rubbish we do…"**

Sirius shrugged. "So Luicus wanted his son to learn the Dark Arts—so what else is new?"

"Defense is not rubbish," barked Mad-Eye furiously. "Just because you see no value in it!"

"And going to a school that teaches Dark Arts is the sensible idea?" snapped Bill crossly.

**Hermione got up, tiptoed to the compartment door, and slid it shut, blocking out Malfoy's voice.**

"Good girl," commented Sirius nodding vehemently, "There is only so much of a Malfoy I can stand to listen to and I used that all up in the first book."

**"So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he?" she said angrily. "I wish he _had_ gone, then we wouldn't have to put up with him."**

**"Durmstrang's another wizarding school?" said Harry.**

"Obviously," Mad-Eye said, with an almost Snape-like sneer.

"It's funny that they're mentioning other wizarding schools when they didn't have a clue that the Triwizard Tournament was going to happen," Kingsley committed.

"Yeah, I noticed that these books show a lot of foreshadowing," Mad-Eye replied, his eye spinning to look at the book. "Keep an eye out for them and you'll be able to tell what happens next."

**"Yes," said Hermione sniffily, "and it's got a horrible reputation. According to _An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe,_ it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts."**

"So in other words, the Malfoys would think of it as their home away from home," Tonks spoke up. "Yep, it's official. Mum has to have been adopted or switched at birth. Can't think of another reason."

"I often thought that myself," Sirius smiled. "It's been keeping me going till now."

**"I think I've heard of it," said Ron vaguely. "Where is it? What country?"**

"It's more Northern Europe area," Sirius responded. "It's either in Sweden or Norway, not sure which. _My father_…" he spit out those words violently, "Talked about it a lot, but who cares about what he said."

"I can see that you and your parents got along well with each other," Mad-Eye spoke up.

"Oh, yeah," Sirius responded sarcastically. "We were _real_ close. Being stuck in the same room with them couldn't have been more fun if they were ripping out my fingernails one by one."

**"Well, nobody knows, do they?" said Hermione, raising her eyebrows.**

**"Er - why not?" said Harry.**

**"There's traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets," said Hermione matter-of-factly.**

"Rather I think it's so that they can show off," Arthur laughed. "All wizarding schools do that."

**"Come off it," said Ron, starting to laugh. "Durmstrang's got to be about the same size as Hogwarts — how are you going to hide a great big castle?"**

"But Hogwarts is hidden! They've gone there for three years already and they don't know that?!" Bill said incredulously. "Don't they teach anything there anymore?"

"Sure they do," Tonks said, waving her hand at him. "They just don't pay attention in History of Magic."

"I never understood that," he answered. "I loved that class. It helped me understand and deal with Goblins on a daily basis after all…"

"Well, you somehow found that class interesting," Sirius said in mock disappointment. "Why anyone would've liked such a boring class is beyond me."

"I happen to like history," Bill responded.

"Sure," Sirius groaned. "But it's so boring…"

"Well, not everyone spent their time plotting exciting pranks every few seconds," Remus reasoned.

**But Hogwarts is hidden," said Hermione, in surprise. "Everyone knows that… well, everyone ****who's read _Hogwarts, A History_, anyway."**

"So just you," teased Sirius.

**"Just you, then," said Ron. **

Sirius' eyes went wide at saying the same thing as Ron, but after a moment he laughed. "I'm starting to like this kid more and more every time we hear about him."

"He really is a good boy," Molly said lovingly.

**"So go on - how d'you hide a place like Hogwarts?"**

**"It's bewitched," said Hermione. "If a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a mouldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE."**

"I've never seen any such sign," said Sirius.

"That's because you're a wizard, Sirius," said Remus, as though Sirius was dim. "You know? Able to use a wand and cause things to fly around…?"

"I thought you knew about the enchantments you can place on buildings," Molly said to him.

"Oh, I know that," he answered, throwing his arms out wide at the vast room in disgust. "I mean look at all the security dad put here on this dump. But the thing is, we've always been able to see Hogwarts. Even this place disappears when you step outside it. But why have we always been able to see Hogwarts even from far away?"

"I think it's because it's much more magically powerful than this house," Kingsley offered. "And it's still far away from any Muggle town so it doesn't have to be protected in that way as much."

"I still think that they should have more than that," Molly shook her head. "When a child is told not to do something, it makes them want to do it even more. If a Muggle child ever tried to explore the ruins or anything, who knows what would happen."

"Well, they were warned," Sirius admitted.

"None that I know of, there are also other spells to protect Hogwarts such as Muggle-repellant charms, and several others, making it impossible," explained Kingsley before Molly could snap at Sirius. "I don't think you need to worry, Molly."

**"So Durmstrang'll just look like a ruin to an outsider too?"**

"No, I don't think that they'd copy Hogwarts," Sirius said, waving his hand as if getting rid of a fly. "They like to pride themselves on originality."

**"Maybe," said Hermione, shrugging, "or it might have Muggle-repelling charms on it, like the World Cup stadium. And to keep foreign wizards from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable -"**

**"Come again?"**

**"Well, you can enchant a building so it's impossible to plot on a map, can't you?"**

"Like this dump," Sirius couldn't help but say.

**"Er… if you say so," said Harry.**

Several of them sniggered.

"Sure that'll convince her," Bill snorted mockingly.

**"But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the far north," said Hermione thoughtfully. "Somewhere very cold, because they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms."**

**"Ah, think of the possibilities," said Ron dreamily. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident…** **shame his mother likes him…"**

They all burst out laughing at that line.

"Well, it's not funny, really," said Molly, trying, and failing, to keep a straight face.

"I find it a downright shame," Sirius said fondly, thinking about causing a boulder to fall on Snape and making it look like he had nothing to do with it…

**The rain became heavier and heavier as the train moved farther north. The sky was so dark and the windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor, and Harry bought a large stack of Cauldron Cakes for them to share.**

"He's so sweet," Tonks cooed. "If only my friends shared with me like that."

"Probably because they were afraid you'd drop it," Sirius suggested, earning himself a punch in the arm.

**Several of their friends looked in on them as the afternoon progressed, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, extremely forgetful boy who had been brought up by his formidable witch of a grandmother. Seamus was still wearing his Ireland rosette. **

"Hasn't he taken that thing off?" Molly asked in shock.

"Wow, he's a true Irish fan," Sirius said putting his hand up to his temple in mock salute. "I salute you for that my friend."

**Some of its magic seemed to be wearing off now; it was still squeaking _"Troy! Mullet! Moran!" _but in a very feeble and exhausted sort of way. **

"Not surprising, little things like these do lose some of their magic after awhile," Remus said knowingly, still sounding like he was still a professor.

**After half an hour or so, Hermione, growing tired of the endless Quidditch talk, buried herself once more _in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, _and started trying to learn a Summoning Charm.**

**Neville listened jealously to the others' conversation as they relived the Cup match.**

"I know the feeling, Neville," Sirius sighed, knowing how Neville must've felt and wishing that he could've gone too."

"But at least he didn't have to deal with the disturbance that night," Remus reasoned. "Almost makes me glad that I didn't go."

"You'll go next time, no excuses," Sirius promised him. Kingsley had gone on before Remus could object.

**"Gran didn't want to go," he said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though."**

**"It was," said Ron. "Look at this, Neville…" He rummaged in his trunk up in the luggage rack and pulled out the miniature figure of Viktor Krum.**

**"Oh wow," said Neville enviously as Ron tipped Krum onto his pudgy hand.**

Molly smiled at her son. "Boys and their action figures…"

"Don't make fun of him," Sirius said in pretend outrage. "There are some things that little boys never grow out of."

**"We saw him right up close, as well," said Ron. "We were in the Top Box -"**

**"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley."**

"You can't go one second without being a complete git, can you, Malfoy?" Sirius groaned, getting grumpy again.

**Draco Malfoy had appeared in the doorway. Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer. **

"Strange, I don't think that'll help make them any smarter," said Bill. He had always hated people who hid behind others for protection, especially when they go around picking fights.

"Nah, I'm sure they got even stupider over the summer," Sirius said convinced.

"This guy's just pathetic," Tonks said incredulously. "Really, Harry has a lunatic after him and he doesn't go around with freaking bodyguards!"

"At least Snivellus fought us face to face on his own," Sirius grumbled. "Never thought I would hate a kid as much as I hated Snape."

**Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Dean and Seamus had left ajar.**

**"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," said Harry coolly.**

**"Weasley… what is _that_?" said Malfoy, pointing at Pigwidgeon's cage. **

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe an owl, you idiot?" said Tonks wryly. Remus on the other hand figured it out.

"Oh, no," he groaned. This wasn't going to be pleasant to hear."

**A sleeve of Ron's dress robes was dangling from it, swaying with the motion of the train, the mouldy lace cuff very obvious.**

"See, I told you that you shouldn't leave those dress robes out," Sirius said in a 'I told you' voice.

**Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Malfoy was too quick for him; he seized the sleeve and pulled.**

**"Look at this!" said Malfoy in ecstasy, holding up Ron's robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle, "Weasley, you weren't thinking of _wearing_ these, were you? I mean - they were very ****fashionable in about 1890…"**

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy!" said Bill angrily. He suddenly wished that he could've cursed that spoiled brat so badly that he had to crawl up to the hospital like the worm he was.

"Doesn't he think himself big, teasing someone for not having as much money as him," Tonks snapped angrily. "I wonder what else he does for fun. Go to Hogsmeade and trip the blind?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," Sirius growled. But then he shocked everyone by smiling.

"What?" Arthur asked him surprised at his sudden mood swing.

"I'm guessing that Dracy here never saw his father's old dress robes," he smirked widely.

"What do you mean?" Molly asked puzzled.

"The last time that I saw old Lucius was when I was sixteen and my parents made me go to this stupid party," he explained. "It was just a few days before I finally ran away. He had these really ancient dress robes. They looked like someone would've worn them in the fourteen hundreds."

That caused another round of snorts from them all, before Kingsley, chuckling, went on.

**"Eat dung, Malfoy!" said Ron, the same colour as the dress robes as he snatched them back out of Malfoy's grip. Malfoy howled with derisive laughter; Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly.**

**"So … going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? **

"The Weasleys don't need glory, they have a good reputation unlike the Malfoys," Tonks snapped and the three of them blushed gratefully at those words.

**There's money involved as well, you know… you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won…"**

**"What are you talking about?" snapped Ron.**

**"_Are you going to enter?_" Malfoy repeated. "I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?"**

"Harry doesn't show off," Molly said angrily.

"Yeah, from what I can see, _you're_ the one that's showing off, not Harry," Sirius snapped. "Harry can't help it if he's better at Quidditch than you'll ever be! Now get lost or no one will guarantee that you'll come out unscathed."

"I'm surprised he hasn't snapped yet, what with having Lily's temper," Remus mused thoughtfully. "She probably would've hexed them by now."

"I wish," Sirius sighed. "But we aren't that lucky."

**"Either explain what you're on about or go away, Malfoy," said Hermione testily, over the top of _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4._**

**A gleeful smile spread across Malfoy's pale face**

"They shouldn't have let Malfoy know that they don't know," Bill said, knowing that this was only going to make Malfoy even more arrogant.

"Well, it's not like they could've lied about it," Arthur pointed it out.

**"Don't tell me you don't_ know_?" he said delightedly. "You've got a father and brother **

"His father must have told him," Sirius said in disgust. "Typical Malfoy. Ruin it for everyone."

**at the Ministry and you don't even know? My God, _my_ father told me about it ages ago… heard it from Cornelius Fudge. **

"Yes, but hasn't your father technically broken the law when he told it because it's supposed to be Top Secret," Mad-Eye asked.

"Yes, at least you know how to do your job properly," added Remus looking at Arthur who kept turning redder and redder at every word.

"At least you have a job," Sirius smirked. "Malfoy doesn't do anything."

**But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry… Maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley… yes… they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him…"**

"Yes they do," Molly agreed proudly. "It's the Ministry's fault that they can't see it."

"Everyone knows you, Dad," Bill added turning to his father with a furious pride. "I know that you know just about everything that's going on in the Ministry, seeing as almost everyone seems to know you. At least you know a well-earned hard day's work."

"Besides," Sirius added. "Lucius is only associated with top people at the Ministry because he's got them all in his pocket. Trust me, if there was a popularity contest that wasn't fixed or threatening, you'd win—no problem."

Tonks nodded firmly as well and Arthur turned almost as red as Remus had done. "All excellent points. You should go away now, Malfoy. I'm sick of listening to you."

"Like I said there is only so much of a Malfoy that you can stand to listen to," said Sirius dryly.

**Laughing once more, Malfoy beckoned to Crabbe and Goyle, and the three of them disappeared.**

**Ron got to his feet and slammed the sliding compartment door so hard behind them that the glass shattered.**

"RON!" Molly shouted.

**"_Ron_!" said Hermione reproachfully, and she pulled out her wand, muttered "_Reparo_!" and the glass shards flew back into a single pane and back into the door.**

**"Well… making it look like he knows everything and we don't…" Ron snarled. **

"Please," Mad-Eye snorted. "That punk doesn't have a clue. I'd love to see him survive in the real world without his daddy's money."

"I think we'd all like to see that," Sirius agreed. "Oh, I hope we do."

**"_'Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry'_… Dad could've got a promotion any time… he just likes it where he is…"**

"Yes, I do," said Arthur softly. "It is very fascinating working with Muggles; and it's important as well…"

"And you will get a promotion sooner or later, dear," Molly beamed encouragingly.

**"Of course he does," said Hermione quietly. "Don't let Malfoy get to you, Ron -"**

**"Him! Get to me! As if!" said Ron, picking up one of the remaining Cauldron Cakes and squashing it into a pulp.**

"Yeah, that's not getting to you at all," Sirius said idly. "I hate to see how you would take it if he _did_ get to you."

**Ron's bad mood continued for the rest of the journey. He didn't talk much as they changed into their school robes, and was still glowering when the Hogwarts Express slowed down at last and finally stopped in the pitch-darkness of Hogsmeade station.**

"That'll be fun walking through the mud and rain up to the castle," Bill added.

**As the train doors opened, there was a rumble of thunder overhead. Hermione bundled up Crookshanks in her cloak and Ron left his dress robes over Pigwidgeon as they left the train, heads bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. The rain was now coming down so thick and fast that it was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being emptied repeatedly over their heads.**

"Hope Madame Pomfrey is up to some early colds this year," Kingsley stated softly before going on.

**"Hi, Hagrid!" Harry yelled, seeing a gigantic silhouette at the far end of the platform.**

**"All righ', Harry?" Hagrid bellowed back, waving. "See yeh at the feast if we don' drown!"**

"That's optimistic," commented Remus.

"I hope that he was joking," said Molly.

"Those poor kids," Bill said shaking his head at the thought of having to sail across the lake in the middle of a storm.

**First years traditionally reached Hogwarts Castle by sailing across the lake with Hagrid.**

"Yes, but I really don't think that it's a wise idea to do it during a storm like this one," Molly said worriedly.

"Hagrid'll take care of everyone," assured Kingsley calmly.

"I would hate to be a first year this year," Tonks shuddered. "I'm predicting that a few of them will be needing a few Pepper-Up potions by the next day."

**"Oooh, I wouldn't fancy crossing the lake in this weather," said Hermione fervently, shivering as they inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of the crowd. A hundred horseless carriages stood waiting for them outside the station. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville climbed gratefully into one of them, the door shut with a snap, and a few moments later, with a great lurch, the long procession of carriages was rumbling and splashing its way up the track toward Hogwarts Castle.**

"And that's the end of the chapter," Kingsley said with relief. "That was a pretty descent chapter all in all."

"Sure," Sirius said grimly. "Except for Malfoy ruining it of course."

"It was better than the last one," Bill tried to reason before he yawned.

"It's getting late," Arthur stated as he looked at his watch. "I think that we should have time for one more chapter and then call it a day."

"I'm game," Tonks yawned. "And I have guard duty tomorrow night to. So let me finish this up."

Since everyone was tired, no one objected as she took it and began the next chapter. "**Chapter 12: The Triwizard Tournament**."

**(Great, I'm done. It's about 3 in the morning and I'm about to pass out from exhaustion. I hope you all liked this chapter—and good news! I passed my test! Just wanted to say that. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one. Sad that Malfoy had to keep ruining things doesn't it?)**


	15. The Triwizard Tournament

******(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 14: The Triwizard Tournament**

Since everyone was tired, no one objected as she took it and began the next chapter. "**Chapter 12: The Triwizard Tournament**."

"Great," Sirius replied coldly as Tonks looked at the picture of Dumbledore standing in front of a crowd of students as if he were on stage. He had been dreading hearing about this since they started. While he knew that this was coming, it didn't make it any easier.

**Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale. **

Tonks shivered. "Oh, I really don't fancy walking through that."

"If its bad just hearing about it, imagine how they must feel," Bill told her grimly. "I especially hate to have been a first year here. It was only a little cloudy on my first night."

"For us it was almost perfect for us eh, Moony?" Sirius said fondly as he remembered how wonderful it felt to walk through those doors for the first time. For the first time, he felt as if he had just come home. "Lucky that it wasn't a full moon, right?"

Remus smiled. "I'm glad that there was no moon out that night… the castle was so beautiful."

Everyone temporary lost themselves in memories of their first night of seeing the castle. Tonks sighed dreamily before she shook her head to continue reading.

**Leaning against the window, Harry could see Hogwarts coming nearer, its many lighted windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick curtain of rain. Lightning flashed across the sky as their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps. **

"Good for them," Arthur chuckled. "But the first years won't be so lucky. They still have to sail across the lake without drowning."

"You make it sound so morbid, Arthur," Remus chuckled.

"Yeah," Tonks laughed with a turn of the page. "And that's supposed to be Mad-Eye's job."

Mad-Eye snorted. "Keep saying what you want," he told her. "But if that's the best you can do, then you're losing your touch."

"In that case, then I'll be sure to come up with something better," she added cheerfully before she went on.

**People who had occupied the carriages in front were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville jumped down from their carriage and dashed up the steps too, **

"I don't blame them," Molly said anxiously. The last thing that they needed was for them to catch cold on their first day.

**looking up only when they were safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble staircase.**

**"Blimey," said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, "if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak - ARRGH!"**

"What happened?" Kingsley asked concerned, looking up from his watch.

"It's probably Peeves," Sirius said chuckling softly. "It is always good to hear that Peeves hasn't changed much even after all this time."

"Oh, that horrible Poltergeist," Molly said exasperated.

"I happen to like Peeves," Sirius said grumpily.

"Why am I not the slightest bit surprised by that?" she asked herself.

**A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped from out of the ceiling onto Ron's head and exploded. **

Molly shook her head as the others laughed.

"Bet they didn't see that coming!" Sirius chortled. "They just got inside and they're still getting wet! Oh, it's one of the oldest pranks out there, but it still works!"

**Drenched and sputtering, Ron staggered sideways into Harry, just as a second water bomb dropped - narrowly missing Hermione, it burst at Harry's feet, sending a wave of cold water ****over his sneakers into his socks. **

Everyone laughed again while Molly started to mutter furiously about what she would like to do to that poltergeist. "Why is it always those three on the receiving end of Peeves?" she demanded.

"Just their luck?" Bill offered as Tonks giggled at the next line.

**People all around them shrieked and started pushing one another in their efforts to get out of the line of fire. **

"It's just water," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Honestly, it's not like it's filled with mud or mucus… though that does sound like it would've been a great joke to pull on someone…"

"Why do I not like the look on your face as if you were planning something horrible?" Kingsley asked lightly as Sirius pretended not to listen.

**Harry looked up and saw, floating twenty feet above them, Peeves the Poltergeist, a little man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his wide, malicious face contorted with concentration as he took aim again.**

"Really?" Bill asked. "Wouldn't it be better if he just dumped them all on their heads and then get out of there?"

"What would be the point in that?" Sirius demanded. "If you're going to cause some mayhem, don't you at least want to see who you upset? That way you could watch out for them in the future."

**"PEEVES!" yelled an angry voice. "Peeves, come down here at ONCE!"**

**Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor House, had come dashing out of the Great Hall; **

"Oh, Minerva…" Sirius sighed as he shook his head. "Always breaking up the fun."

"Someone has to," Molly muttered.

**she skidded on the wet floor and grabbed Hermione around the neck to stop herself from falling. **

"Oh…" Sirius groaned as he punched the arm of the sofa. "I wish I could've seen that. I've been trying for _years_ to prank her, but she was always one step ahead of us. And Peeves got her without even trying!"

"Something that she is sure to get back at him for," Remus reminded him calmly.

**"Ouch - sorry, Miss Granger -"**

**"That's all right, Professor!" Hermione gasped, massaging her throat.**

"Like she would say anything else to her," Tonks laughed.

**"Peeves, get down here NOW!" barked Professor McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and glaring upward through her square-rimmed spectacles.**

**"Not doing nothing!" cackled Peeves, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!" **

Tonks cackled so much like Peeves that they laughed at that.

"Glad to hear that he's having fun," Kingsley smiled.

"And he's got a fair point about them already wet too," Sirius snorted. "I mean, it's not like anyone'll notice!"

**And he aimed another bomb at a group of second years who had just arrived.**

"Peeves… how can I express my gratitude for your unwavering duty of causing mayhem and trouble?" Sirius asked, wiping a tear of laugher away.

"If you plan on asking him out…" Remus said, "I'm sure that we can arrange something."

"Yeah," Sirius whispered back to him. "We can make it a double date so that you and Tonks can come."

Remus was only grateful that Sirius hadn't said that out loud this time, but that didn't stop him from pinching his arm hard enough for him to cry out in pain.

"Sirius?" Arthur asked surprised.

"N-nothing!" he said quickly as he glared at Remus, who looked pointedly away.

Not having heard a word to what they said, Tonks went on.

**"I shall call the headmaster!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "I'm warning you, Peeves -"**

"I don't think that will work," said Remus politely as he smiled back at Sirius serenely, who continued to look a little irritable. "Dumbledore's as fond of him as well as any of us."

**Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the last of his water bombs into the air, and zoomed off up the marble staircase, cackling insanely.**

"That'll please Filch," said Tonks, grinning wickedly, as she remembered all the complaining the caretaker had to do in the second book. "With all that mopping to do. He'll be stuck there all night!"

"I love it," Sirius sighed, choosing to forget about what this chapter was called. "I think I'll call it… a touch of quiet justice… though now that I think of it, he'll be complaining the whole time so I don't think that it'll be so quiet."

**"Well, move along, then!" said Professor McGonagall sharply to the bedraggled crowd. "Into the Great Hall, come on!"**

"Like it's their fault that they were just bombed with water balloons and they're late," Bill said shaking his head incredulously.

"I think she's just embarrassed that they saw her trip like that and is quickly getting authority over them before they forget that she's a tough old bird," Sirius answered fondly. "Ha, she hasn't changed a bit either."

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione slipped and slid across the entrance hall and through the double doors on the right, Ron muttering furiously under his breath as he pushed his sopping hair off his face.**

"That must be nice," Arthur said lightly as he folded his hands comfortably. "Sitting there at a feast while you're dripping wet."

"The food'll be all soggy," Sirius gasped in horror. "What a crime!"

"Oh, yes," Molly rolled her eyes. "Getting food wet is the biggest problem here. I hope that Dumbledore at least put a few Warming Charms around them to make them dry quickly."

"Of course he has," Arthur chuckled at her motherly instincts. "He's as protective of them as you are, dear."

**The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in midair. The four long House tables were packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. It was ****much warmer in here. **

"Well, that's good," Molly added, feeling better now that she knew that there were some Warming Charms there after all.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked past the Slytherins, the Ravenclaws, and the Hufflepuffs, and sat down with the rest of the Gryffindors at the far side of the Hall, next to Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost. Pearly white and semitransparent, Nick was dressed tonight in his usual doublet, **

"Of course it's his _usual_ doublet," Bill laughed. "After all, he never changes his clothes. He's a ghost after all…"

"Yet another thing to hate about being a ghost," Tonks shuddered. "Imagine being stuck in the same clothes forever! No shopping… no new clothes… and we all know how quickly fashion goes out of style!"

**but with a particularly large ruff, which served the dual purpose of looking extra-festive, and insuring that his head didn't wobble too much on his partially severed neck.**

**"Good evening," he said, beaming at them.**

**"Says who?" said Harry, taking off his trainers and emptying them of water. "Hope they hurry up with the Sorting. I'm starving."**

"Good to see that he has his priorities sorted," joked Sirius as he put a hand to his own belly in hunger.

"I think that the Sorting's are the best part," Tonks giggled at Sirius's drooling face.

"Besides," Kingsley added. "Harry hasn't had a chance to see this since his first year. I think it would be a good change."

**The Sorting of the new students into Houses took place at the start of every school year, but by an unlucky combination of circumstances, Harry hadn't been present at one since his own. **

"Sure that Ginny was upset at that," Sirius smirked.

**He was quite looking forward to it. **

"Alright," Tonks called out sarcastically. "You're always right, Kingsley. I'll just come right out and say it."

"While that's not true," Kingsley said warmly. "It is nice to hear it anyway."

**Just then, a highly excited, breathless voice called down the table. ****"Hiya, Harry!"**

**It was Colin Creevey, a third year to whom Harry was something of a hero.**

"Well he is," Sirius said proudly. After all, how many people would have risked themselves to save others like he has? He was so proud to have someone like that boy for a godson.

**"Hi, Colin," said Harry warily.**

**"Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brother's starting! My brother Dennis!"**

"He has a brother?!" cried Sirius exasperated. "Oh, that's just perfect. I could barely stand one of them!"

"Looks like Potter is about to gain another fan," Mad-Eye said coolly. "For my sake, if nothing else, let's hope his brother isn't as nuts as he is."

"Yeah, and you're the last person to be talking about who's nuts or not eh, Mad-Eye?" Tonks asked sweetly.

**"Er - good," said Harry.**

"Why do I get the feeling that he's not as excited as he sounds like?" Sirius asked as he rolled his eyes.

**"He's really excited!" said Colin, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. "I just hope he's in Gryffindor! Keep your fingers crossed, eh, Harry?"**

"That's all he needs," said Sirius, "Two more shadows following him everywhere."

"Which is the exact opposite of what _you_ would like," Remus offered.

"Well, I had people following me around because I _wanted_ them," Sirius said smugly. "Not because I had my face in the paper all the time. These guys are just bugging Harry."

**"Er - yeah, all right," said Harry. He turned back to Hermione, Ron, and Nearly Headless Nick.**

"**Brothers and sisters usually go in the same Houses, don't they?" he said. **

"Not always," Sirius said sadly. "Me and Regulus as well as the rest of my family were in different Houses. I'm the first Black to be placed outside of Slytherin since…"

"My mum," Tonks answered proudly. "Mum was in Ravenclaw."

"Right, good for her," Sirius said nodding before adding. "I was the first Black in Gryffindor though."

**He was judging by the Weasleys, all seven of whom had been put into Gryffindor.**

"I'm only surprised that a git like Percy isn't in Slytherin," Sirius whispered to Remus. "After all, he obviously has a lot of ambition."

"I'm sure that Percy…" Remus began, but Sirius cut him off in a fierce whisper.

"I'd love to know why," Sirius said, still angry at him for just walking out when they needed him.

**"Oh no, not necessarily," said Hermione. "Parvati Patil's twin's in Ravenclaw and they're ****identical. You'd think they'd be together, wouldn't you?"**

"Funny how that works out," Bill said.

"Not really," Kingsley said. "Despite what they want us to think, Fred and George may look and act the same… but they are still two different people. Just as the Patil twins…"

**Harry looked up at the staff table. There seemed to be rather more empty seats there than usual. Hagrid, of course, was still fighting his way across the lake with the first years; Professor McGonagall was presumably supervising the drying of the entrance hall floor, but there was another empty chair too, and Harry couldn't think who else was missing.**

Mad-Eye growled—_he_ had been the one missing. It only bugged him that it took everyone almost a year to realize that.

**"Where's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Hermione, who was also looking up at the teachers.**

"Locked in his own trunk," Mad-Eye muttered darkly and they all looked a little guilty at him. He noticed that and snapped, "Enough with the sad looks! I don't need anyone's pity. Now get back to reading, I'm sick of these interruptions! I like to finish this chapter before the sun rises!"

Tonks held up her hands in mock surrender. "Fine, no need to snap at us."

**They had never yet had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who had lasted more than three terms. Harry's favorite by far had been Professor Lupin, **

"Good work Professor Moony," said Sirius clapping him on the shoulder, "You were the best one there, no doubt about it.

"Well, the Slytherin's might disagree, but who cares about them?" Tonks added with a smile.

"Well after trying to make Sirius and James do stop pulling pranks and do their work teaching a room of kids wasn't difficult at all," Remus smiled as he blushed in embarrassment.

**who had resigned last year. He looked up and down the staff table. There was definitely no new face there.**

**"Maybe they couldn't get anyone!" said Hermione, looking anxious.**

"Why would she be anxious?" Sirius asked. "I'd have been excited for a chance of not having an extra class."

"There's no such thing as being too prepared," Mad-eye barked at him.

"With teachers like Crouch who needs to go to class?" Sirius asked him bitterly—and for the first time Mad-Eye couldn't think of anything to say.

**Harry scanned the table more carefully. Tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was sitting on a large pile of cushions beside Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, whose hat was askew over her flyaway gray hair. She was talking to Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department. On Professor Sinistra's other side was the sallow-faced, hook-nosed, greasy-haired **

"Oh, great… him again," Sirius hissed. "Do we have to listen about that overgrown bad?"

"Now, Sirius," Molly said tiredly. "If you two want to make peace, one of you is going to have to grow up."

"I can't help it, just listening to him makes me angry," he said bitterly.

**Potions master, Snape - Harry's least favorite person at Hogwarts. Harry's loathing of Snape was matched only by Snape's hatred of him, a hatred which had, if possible, intensified last year, when Harry had helped Sirius escape right under Snape's overlarge ****nose – **

"That was brilliant, Harry," Sirius said affectionately as everyone laughed at the comment of 'overlarge nose'. "That's my boy…" he repeated.

"He gets that from his parents," Remus laughed. "James could think them up right on the spot as well… but Lily had been able to think up much more creative ones."

**Snape and Sirius had been enemies since their own schooldays.**

"Which is really quite childish, you know," scolded Molly. "I had hoped that after all this time, you two could've put that all behind you."

"He starts it," he answered firmly.

**On Snape's other side was an empty seat, which Harry guessed was Professor McGonagall's. Next to it, and in the very centre of the table, sat Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, his sweeping silver hair and beard shining in the candlelight, his magnificent deep green robes embroidered with many stars and moons. **

"As fancy as ever I see," Mad-Eye said.

"He certainly does know how to set the mood," Kingsley laughed.

**The tips of Dumbledore's long, thin fingers were together and he was resting his chin upon ****them, staring up at the ceiling through his half-moon spectacles as though lost in thought. **

"He's not usually like that," Molly said, sounding slightly surprised. "In the last books he was looking around at them all."

"Oh, he's been like that lately," Kingsley said softly. Almost every Order meeting, before they would discuss what was going on, he would have that exact same look on his face… it was never a good sign—showing how worried he was.

**Harry glanced up at the ceiling too. It was enchanted to look like the sky outside, and he had never seen it look this stormy. Black and purple clouds were swirling across it, and as another thunderclap sounded outside, a fork of lightning flashed across it.**

"More foreshadowing," Mad-Eye muttered—thinking about the storm that was about to come.

**"Oh hurry up," Ron moaned, beside Harry, "I could eat a Hippogriff."**

"Sounds like you Sirius," Remus said, smirking. He had noticed that about the boy when he first met them on the train. It was almost painful to watch Harry and Ron—for he saw Sirius and James so often.

"Always hungry," Molly shook her head but she was smiling. Teenage boys and their stomachs…

**The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall. If Harry, Ron, and Hermione were wet, it was nothing to how these first years looked. **

"Oh, those poor things," Molly cooed.

"I'm sure they're fine," Arthur reminded her and she blushed. "After all, this was over a year ago…"

** They appeared to have swum across the lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school – **

"Yeah, they're not having the best first day are they?" Tonks asked brightly. "Sailing across the lake in the middle of a storm and now they have to stand in front of the rest of the school soaking wet."

Sirius roared with laughter. "Nope, poor kids."

**all of them except the smallest of the lot, a boy with mousy hair, who was wrapped in what ****Harry recognized as Hagrid's moleskin overcoat. **

"The kid must've fell in the lake!" cried Sirius with laughter. "Oh, boy… what a day… bet he loved that."

**The coat was so big for him that it looked as though he were draped in a furry black circus tent. His small face protruded from over the collar, looking almost painfully excited.**

"Well," Remus said smiling. "I wonder who that is?"

"I'm guessing that must be Dennis," Arthur grinned. "Can't be anyone else who would be that excited."

**When he had lined up with his terrified-looking peers, he caught Colin Creevey's eye, gave a double thumbs-up, and mouthed, 'I fell in the lake!' He looked positively delighted about it.**

"I think I'm going to like this kid," Sirius smirked. "More than his brother anyway. I mean, how many kids do you know would be delighted that they fell into the lake during weather like this?"

"You've got to admire his enthusiasm," Arthur said

**Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty patched wizard's hat. The first years stared at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song:**

"Oh, no," Mad-Eye groaned, plugging up her ears. "Someone stop her, she's gonna start singing!"

As if to prove a point, Tonks gave him a dirty look before she opened her mouth and began to sing out in a wheezy voice:

**_A thousand years or more ago,_**

**_When I was newly sewn,_**

**_There lived four wizards of renown,_**

**_Whose names are still well known:_**

**_Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,_**

"My kind of guy," Sirius smirked. "Of course Gryffindor came from a _wild_ moor!"

**_Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,_**

**_Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,_**

"Go Hufflepuffs!" Tonks interrupted her own singing before she started up again.

**_Shrewd Slytherin, from fen._**

"Boo!" Sirius called out.

**_They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,_**

"Until Slytherin had to go and ruin everything by building a Chamber and filling it with a bloody snake before he ran off," Sirius sneered.

**_They hatched a daring plan_**

**_To educate young sorcerers_**

**_Thus Hogwarts School began._**

**_Now each of these four founders_**

**_Formed their own house, for each_**

**_Did value different virtues_**

**_In the ones they had to teach._**

**_By Gryffindor, the bravest were_**

**_Prized far beyond the rest;_**

"Couldn't agree more," Sirius said proudly.

**_For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_**

**_Would always be the best;_**

**_For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_**

**_Most worthy of admission;_**

"And that is why Hufflepuff is the best," Tonks said just as proudly. "They'll take in everyone… not just those with unique skills."

**_And power-hungry Slytherin_**

"Wow, even the Sorting Hat knows Slytherin was a power-hungry git," Sirius muttered. "You think that would've been a clue to how he would've turned out."

**_Loved those of great ambition._**

**_While still alive they did divide_**

**_Their favorites from the throng,_**

**_Yet how to pick the worthy ones_**

**_When they were dead and gone?_**

**_'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,_**

**_He whipped me off his head_**

**_The founders put some brains in me_**

**_So I could choose instead!_**

**_Now slip me snug about your ears,_**

**_I've never yet been wrong,_**

Mad-Eye snorted. Straight from the Hat's mouth—it's never been wrong yet? He couldn't agree with that even if he wanted to. In his opinion, never look a gift hat in the mouth… especially one that sings…

**_I'll have a look inside your mind_**

**_And tell where you belong!_**

"That was a rather nice song," Molly said thoughtfully.

"Better than what it apparently sang this year," Kingsley said as he told them how Albus mentioned the Sorting Hat giving them warnings.

"So you know things are bad when a _hat_ is giving you warnings," Sirius summed up for them all.

**The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished.**

**"That's not the song it sang when it sorted us," said Harry, clapping along with everyone else.**

"Of course it's never the same," Tonks said obviously. "I mean, it would get boring and predictable if it did now wouldn't it?"

"He hasn't been to a sorting since his own so he wouldn't have known," Arthur reasoned for her. "I'm more surprised that he even remembers the song for his sorting. I don't have a clue what mine said."

**"Sings a different one every year," said Ron. "It's got to be a pretty boring life, hasn't it, ****being a hat? I suppose it spends all year making up the next one."**

"It does," Sirius smirked. "And it practices…"

"How on earth do you know that?" Kingsley asked in surprised.

"Cause one time when me and James got sent to Dumbledore's office, we could hear it trying to come up with some rhymes," Sirius laughed.

"Well, I'm sure that it has to do something with all that free time," Tonks laughed.

**Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll of parchment.**

**"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," she told the first years. "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table.**

"Same old speech every year," Sirius said in disappointment. "Come on McGonagall… after all this time, I think that you could find some other way of scaring them."

**"Ackerley, Stewart!"**

**A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool.**

**"_RAVENCLAW!_" shouted the hat.**

"Could be worse," Sirius admitted.

**Stewart Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where ****everyone was applauding him. Harry caught a glimpse of Cho, **

"Ooh, Harry's crush!" Sirius said in excitement, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

**the Ravenclaw Seeker, **

"A good Quidditch Player at the same time," Sirius said approvingly. "He's got good taste."

"You think anyone who would go out with someone who is on a Quidditch team," Remus reminded him.

"Exactly, and those people have good taste," he repeated.

**cheering Stewart Ackerley as he sat down. For a fleeting second, Harry had a strange desire to join the Ravenclaw table too.**

They all laughed and Tonks cooed, "Aw, that's so cute!"

"Please tell me we hear more about Cho," Sirius asked grinning from ear to ear. "I love this…"

"You're never going to let him live that down are you?" Arthur asked knowingly.

"I like to think of it as spending some time with my godson," Sirius answered. "Besides, I'd been looking forward to teasing him about his first crush since he was born!"

"That's true," Remus nodded, remembering at how excited Sirius had been after the boy was born. He had come up with so many plans… it hurt almost like a knife wound to think that they all went up in smoke.

**"Baddock, Malcolm!"**

**"_SLYTHERIN!_"**

"BOO!" Sirius shouted, sounding like a little kid.

"Would you stop trying to blow my eardrums every chance you get, Black?" Mad-Eye barked at him irritably.

**The table on the other side of the hall erupted with cheers; Harry could see Malfoy clapping as Baddock joined the Slytherins. Harry wondered whether Baddock knew that Slytherin ****House had turned out more Dark witches and wizards than any other. **

"Probably," said Sirius bitterly.

"Well, that's necessarily true, it is merely a coincidence, because people who desire world domination, like the Dark Lord, tend to be ambitious, believe it or not. Rather than the house itself being a breeding ground for murderers," commented Kingsley said. "Dark witches and wizards have come from every House, not just Slytherin."

"Fine," Sirius said grumpily. "But it still had the most turn to Voldemort."

"That… I can't deny," Kingsley nodded.

**Fred and George hissed Malcolm Baddock as he sat down.**

Sirius smirked and applauded. "I always knew I liked those boys."

**"Branstone, Eleanor!"**

**"_HUFFLEPUFF!"_**

**"Cauldwell, Owen!"**

**"_HUFFLEPUFF!_"**

"Yeah!" Tonks cried happily. "Two new Hufflepuffs!"

**"Creevey, Dennis!"**

**Tiny Dennis Creevey staggered forward, tripping over Hagrid's moleskin, **

"Awww," Tonks cooed, yet again. "He sounds so cute."

"Like a little lost puppy," Bill laughed.

"I resent that!" Sirius said loudly.

**just as Hagrid himself sidled into the Hall through a door behind the teachers' table. About twice as tall as a normal man, and at least three times as broad, Hagrid, with his long, wild, tangled black hair and beard, looked slightly alarming – a misleading impression, for Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew Hagrid to possess a very kind nature. **

"But he doesn't have a very good idea what's safe and not," Molly reminded them all.

"Don't remind me," Sirius shuddered at the thought of Fluffy, Norbert, and Aragog.

**He winked at them as he sat down at the end of the staff table and watched Dennis Creevey putting on the Sorting Hat. The rip at the brim opened wide – **

**"_GRYFFINDOR!_" the hat shouted.**

"Whoo!" Sirius clapped proudly. "Couldn't have asked for a better House!"

"Hey!" Tonks snapped back at him warningly.

"Well, I'm glad that Colin got his wish," Arthur said quickly before they got into a duel over which House was better.

**Hagrid clapped along with the Gryffindors as Dennis Creevey, beaming widely, took off the hat, placed it back on the stool, and hurried over to join his brother.**

**"Colin, I fell in!" he said shrilly, throwing himself into an empty seat. "It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!"**

"That's pretty cool," Sirius said grinning. "I'm gonna guess that it was the giant squid. That'll be a story to tell your friends—how you were tossed into a lake and chucked back out by a squid."

**"Cool!" said Colin, just as excitedly. "It was probably the giant squid, Dennis!"**

**"Wow!" said Dennis, as though nobody in their wildest dreams could hope for more than being thrown into a storm-tossed, fathoms-deep lake, and pushed out of it again by a giant sea monster.**

"He was thrilled? I was only kidding," Sirius said startled. "I'm a little worried about this kid."

As the others laughed, Mad-Eye thought that over. Is this bravery, or is danger just not in the Creevey's dictionary? Clearly, the hat sees it as a brave and chivalrous. These little squirts have the potential to become heroes. But why are they brought up now all of a sudden? They must be given the spotlight for a reason. And though the squid might be friendly—he didn't see any proof that it was the sea monster. He smirked. He personally thought that it would've been the merpeople. If nothing else, they would've wanted him out of their territory.

**"Dennis! Dennis! See that boy down there? The one with the black hair and glasses? **

"You know, you'd think that they'd at least _try _to make sure Harry can't hear them," Remus pointed out.

"It is a little rude," Tonks admitted, "Though it's hard to stay angry with them."

**See him? _Know who he is, Dennis?_"**

"I don't know," Bill said pretending to think that over. "Harry Potter? Just my guess though."

"Great, another stalker," Sirius said in exasperation. "Come on… give the kid a break! It's only the first day back, give him a day at least before you start watching every move he makes."

**Harry looked away, staring very hard at the Sorting Hat, now Sorting Emma Dobbs.**

**The Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving one by one to the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the 'L's.**

**"Oh hurry up," Ron moaned, massaging his stomach.**

"He really has no self-control when it comes to food," Arthur smiled at his youngest son. "I'm glad that Hogwarts is looking after him now."

**"Now, Ron, the Sorting's much more important than food," said Nearly Headless Nick as "Madley, Laura!" became a Hufflepuff.**

"Depends who you ask, but you can't honestly expect a group of teenagers to think straight with empty stomachs," said Tonks reasonably.

**"Course it is, if you're dead," snapped Ron.**

"Well isn't he tactful?" asked Mad-Eye in bored amusement.

"RON!" Molly said exasperated. "How inconsiderate can you get?"

"Yeah, I'm sure that Nick loves being reminded of that," Bill added.

**"I do hope this year's batch of Gryffindors are up to scratch," said Nearly Headless Nick, applauding as "McDonald, Natalie!" joined the Gryffindor table. **

"Good girl!" Sirius said happily.

"Enough of that already!" Mad-Eye snapped, losing what was left of his sanity. "And they say that Slytherin is prejudice."

**"We don't want to break our winning streak, do we?"**

"Not really," Kingsley chuckled. "I'm sure Minerva likes having the Cup in her office."

"Something that she has been striving for years," Remus smiled.

**Gryffindor had won the Inter-House Championship for the last three years in a row.**

"Yeah ever since those three arrived at school," Sirius replied proudly.

"If you can't keep yourself from interrupting every other line, then you can leave," Mad-Eye snapped at him.

"It's my house," he reminded him.

"Yeah, and it's my patience that you should be more concerned about!" he barked.

**"Pritchard, Graham!"**

**"_SLYTHERIN!_"**

**"Quirke, Orla!"**

**"_RAVENCLAW!_"**

**And finally, with "Whitby, Kevin!" ("_HUFFLEPUFF!_"), the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away.**

**"About time," said Ron, seizing his knife and fork and looking expectantly at his golden ****plate.**

"Now, why does that suddenly remind me of you, Sirius?" asked Remus.

"Don't know what you mean," he answered coolly. "I prefer to think of myself as having a healthy appetite."

"Healthy?" Remus repeated. "You ate your eggs with mustard and every flavor beans. Does that sound healthy to you?"

"Well, you had chocolate on everything," he told him. "And you say that my diet is…"

"I had to! You know how much that chocolate helps with my transformations," Remus broke across.

"You are both this close to getting cursed within an inch of your lives!" Mad-Eye barked, ending the argument.

**Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome.**

**"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. "_Tuck in_."**

"And what appropriate words they were too," said Sirius, his mouth watering at the thought of all that food. He'd kill for a steak himself…

**"Hear, hear!" said Harry and Ron loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes.**

**Nearly Headless Nick watched mournfully as Harry, Ron, and Hermione loaded their own ****plates.**

"But he's a ghost… he may as well get used to it," Sirius spoke up logically.

"Something tells me that you would be feeling the same way if it were you as a ghost," Arthur added.

"What!?" he demanded in horror. "No chance! I would never become a ghost! All you could do was sit back and watch everyone grow old and die. I couldn't even prank them! Or worse… I couldn't…"

He stopped when he saw the furious look on Mad-Eye's face and knew that he was walking on thin ice. So he shut up.

**"Aaah, 'at's be'er," said Ron, with his mouth full of mashed potato.**

"He really should learn some table manners," commented Molly sadly, "I can't remember all the times that I told him not to talk with his mouth full."

"I don't think he bothers listening," Bill committed, knowing that this little brother better watch out the next time mum saw him.

**"You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight, you know," said Nearly Headless Nick. "There ****was trouble in the kitchens earlier."**

"Trouble?" Sirius said skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "Since when would the house-elves have trouble in the kitchen?"

"Peeves, no doubt," muttered Kingsley.

**"Why? Wha' 'appened?" said Harry, through a sizable chunk of steak.**

"Yet another one who needs to remember his table manners," Molly sighed.

**"Peeves, of course," said Nearly Headless Nick, shaking his head, which wobbled dangerously. He pulled his ruff a little higher up on his neck. "The usual argument, you know. He wanted to attend the feast - well, it's quite out of the question, you know what he's like, utterly uncivilized, can't see a plate of food without throwing it.**

"In other words, put him in the Great Hall during a feast and you are asking for destruction," Bill narrated. "I would've loved to have seen that!"

"I personally think that disaster would be the biggest understatement in the world," Remus said conversationally. "It's in his nature to start a food fight whenever he sees good food. He hates to see it go to waste by eating it."

**We held a ghost's council – the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance – but most ****wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down."**

"Ruin our fun why don't ya?" Sirius said.

"I personally think that was for the best," Molly said. She didn't think that those poor first years could stand to be pelted with food as well as almost drowning.

**The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, a gaunt and silent spectre covered in silver bloodstains. **

"I've always wondered about that," Sirius said curiously. "I've asked him a few times, but he just told me to shut up and get lost."

"I wonder why?" Remus asked sarcastically.

**He was the only person at Hogwarts who could really control Peeves.**

**"Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something," said Ron darkly. **

"Yes, so that's why he decided to go on a rampage with water balloons," said Sirius. "Yeah, that makes sense. He could've used something more creative than that!"

"How can you approve of that?" Molly demanded.

"He keeps life interesting and you on your guard!" he answered and glanced at Mad-Eye. "I'm sure that you love that idea."

He just glared at him in reply.

**"So what did he do in the kitchens?"**

**"Oh the usual," said Nearly Headless Nick, shrugging. "Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house-elves out of their wits—****"**

"Something tells me that Hermione won't take too kindly at that," Tonks committed heavily. "I can already picture her expression."

**_Clang. _**

**Hermione had knocked over her golden goblet. Pumpkin juice spread steadily over the tablecloth, staining several feet of white linen orange, but Hermione paid no attention.**

"Really… but that's more work for the house-elves," said Tonks, in mock surprise.

"I take it Hermione didn't know about all those elves at Hogwarts," Bill said.

"What?" said Sirius in amazement. "She didn't know? How could she not know?"

**"There are house-elves here?" she said, staring, horror-struck, at Nearly Headless Nick. "Here at _Hogwarts_?"**

"Well, of course there are," said Tonks, eyebrows arched.

"I know, who does she think cooks all that food?" Sirius agreed. "And does the beds, and how else are your clothes kept clean? Hogwarts may be a magical castle but it's not _that_ magical."

"I don't think that it's mentioned in _Hogwarts: A History,_" Mad-Eye smirked.

**"Certainly," said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred."**

**"I've never seen one!" said Hermione.**

"You're not supposed to," Kingsley explained, as if she was there. "That's the sign of a good house-elf."

"That means they're doing their job correctly then," Arthur added.

**"Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" said Nearly Headless Nick. **

"It's great going to the kitchens," said Sirius, a dreamy expression coming over his face. "The amount of food they give you… oh, I practically lived down there…"

"Yeah," Remus nodded. "And when you weren't there you were in detention."

"Must you be so cruel, Moony?" he asked.

**"They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning … see to the fires and so on … I mean, you're not supposed to see them, are you? That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it, that you don't know it's there?"**

**Hermione stared at him.**

**"But they get _paid_?" she said. "They get _holidays_, don't they? And - and sick leave, and ****pensions, and everything?"**

"If they did, I'm sure that Dumbledore wouldn't object. But they don't," Arthur breathed heavily. "And they wouldn't accept them even if they were offered them."

"She needs to realize that this is a different species and they see things differently than we do," Remus spoke up. "She might want to do an enough research properly before she decides to save every elf. Slavery has just been so ingrained in them that allowing them rights and freedom might be more than they can bear."

"Besides, Hogwarts is the best place for house-elves to work, at least they aren't hurt there," Tonks added as if that settled the matter.

"Strange things, house-elves," Sirius muttered.

**Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff slipped and his head flopped off, ****dangling on the inch or so of ghostly skin and muscle that still attached it to his neck.**

**"Sick leave and pensions?" he said, pushing his head back onto his shoulders and securing it once more with his ruff. "House-elves don't want sick leave and pensions!"**

"How do you know? Have you asked them recently?" said Tonks asked, raising her thick bushy eyebrows.

**Hermione looked down at her hardly touched plate of food, then put her knife and fork down upon it and pushed it away from her.**

"Talk about stubbornness," said Mad-Eye, in exasperation. "Some people just never learn and need a good hard shock before you start to get it."

"She's mad for not eating!" Sirius gasped as if letting food go to waste. "I would give anything for some of the house-elves cooking! And she's not going to eat?"

**"Oh c'mon, 'Er-my-knee," said Ron, **

"His knee?" Molly asked completely baffled at the change of subject.

Tonks laughed, "Actually, he was trying to say Hermione's name but I don't think that he can speak with all the food in his mouth."

**accidentally spraying Harry with bits of Yorkshire pudding. **

"The table manners like a pack of animals," Molly sighed.

**"Oops — sorry, 'Arry —" He swallowed. "You won't get them sick leave by starving yourself!"**

"That's an understatement," Sirius snorted. "In fact, she would just make them guilty and wonder what they did to make her not want to eat!"

"In other words, she's just making it worse," Tonks simplified. "I hope she figures that out."

**"Slave labour," said Hermione, breathing hard through her nose. "That's what made this dinner. _Slave labour_."**

**And she refused to eat another bite.**

"You've got to be kidding me; she's not going to starve herself is she?" Sirius asked incredulously. "It's not like she can go the rest of the year not eating!"

"Something tells me that's not going to last for long," Arthur assured him.

**The rain was still drumming heavily against the high, dark glass. Another clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings.**

"How could she resist?" Sirius groaned at the memories of puddings from school.

**"Treacle tart, Hermione!" said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell toward her. "Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!"**

**But Hermione gave him a look so reminiscent of Professor McGonagall that he gave up.**

"You got to give her credit for being persistent," Mad-Eye spoke up.

"But what does she think that's going to solve?" Sirius demanded as his stomach began to rumble.

**When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard.**

**"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered," ("Hmph!" said Hermione) **

"It's her own fault that she didn't eat," Sirius said, still sore that someone would ignore perfectly good food, such as what the house-elves cook.

**"I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.**

**"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."**

"Seems that the list has gotten bigger over the course of the year," commented Remus lightly.

"Now it' strange how many people forget to check that," Tonks said. "Makes you think that no one cars now doesn't it?"

"Does anyone ever read it?" asked Bill vaguely.

"I used to," Sirius grinned at the memories. "I mean, how else would I know what _not_ to bring?! And then I would always make sure that I have several of them with me… makes me wonder just how many items I am personally responsible for."

"I think it would be safe to say you and James are the cause of most of them," Bill laughed as Tonks laughed. "And Fred and George make up the other half."

"Just when I think I couldn't be any prouder of those two," Sirius said happily.

**The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched.**

"Glad to see he's getting a kick out of this," Sirius laughed and took a mock bow at them all. "And that's what we're here for. Bringing laughter to all!"

**He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.**

**"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."**

"The horror!" Tonks shuddered. "Good thing that Wood had already left or he would've had heart failure at those words."

"I rather they had just ignored the idea of the Triwizard Tournament," Sirius disagreed, his happy expression disappearing for a moment.

**"What?" Harry gasped. He looked around at Fred and George, his fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak. **

"Why not just continue on with the Quidditch?" Molly asked, thinking that it would've been better off for everyone had they decided not to go through with the tournament.

"I wish," Sirius grunted.

**Dumbledore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"**

**But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great ****Hall banged open.**

"Wow, didn't see that coming," Sirius said in surprise.

"Whoever it was, couldn't they wait another second could they?" Tonks declared.

"Either that or they really know how to make an entrance," said Mad-Eye darkly—though he already had a pretty good idea who it was.

**A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black travelling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swivelled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long ****mane of grizzled, dark grey hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table.**

"Mad-Eye," Arthur said stunned.

"I think you must be mistaken," Mad-Eye muttered through gritted teeth. "I was busy locked inside my own trunk for all that time."

"Right," Arthur muttered quietly.

**A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped.**

Mad-Eye smirked. "Why? Am I really that stunning?"

"Glad to see that you hadn't lost your sarcasm, Mad-Eye," Tonks joked. "You had me worried that you lost your sense of humor… course, you can't lose what you never had."

"Watch it, you," he warned.

**The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Harry had ever seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. **

Mad-Eye shrugged. "I've heard worse," he said simply.

"And I find it surprisingly accurate," Tonks nodded in agreement.

**But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening.**

_'I have to agree,'_ most of them all thought as they looked at the magical eye that was glaring back at them all.

**One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right ****over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.**

"Yes, you truly are handsome," Tonks said mockingly.

"Well, when they put it like that," Bill laughed. "You sound almost scary."

"I didn't live this long by being nice, Weasley," he barked him.

"Now that's an entrance…" Kingsley said deeply._ 'And that's a Dark Arts Defender,'_ he thought to himself. _'Another bang and yet another broken nose? I can only imagine what kinds of places a true Dark Arts fighter might have been sticking his nose. Wonder what kind of spell can remove part of the nose…' _he took another look at Mad-Eye's face. _'On second thought, never mind. The one thing that was really creepy was his entrance. Was that thunder and lightning effect a coincidence or a clue?"_

**The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.**

Sirius growled at that idea. He couldn't stomach having Voldemort's right hand man sitting there where Harry was so close. Why was it that everyone got to be nearer to his godson but him?

**The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark grey hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly ****around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.**

"While I know that's not you, Mad-Eye," Tonks told him. "But keeping an eye on everyone sure does sound like you."

"I always do," he answered bitterly.

**"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore ****brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."**

"Wrong one," Mad-Eye muttered, his anger growing at the thought of that scum walking around like him. If only he could've had once chance at ripping him apart…

**It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students chapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. **

"That is rather unlike Minerva, not applauding a new member of the staff," commented Arthur.

"She knows that I hate it," Mad-Eye answered. "Besides, I guess that my imposter took her by surprise."

"Which is what you do best at," Sirius murmured.

"What was that?" Mad-Eye asked.

"Nothing," Sirius said quickly.

Molly however was making silent prayers. _'Please… please, please don't let any of my children become Aurors… not if they all end up looking like that!'_

**Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him.**

"Well, you do have a gift with first impressions," Kingsley answered. "I find that they just never met someone like you."

**"Moody?" Harry muttered to Ron. "_Mad-Eye Moody_? The one your dad went to help this morning?"**

**"Must be," said Ron in a low, awed voice.**

**"What happened to him?" Hermione whispered. "What happened to his _face_?"**

"Is she trying to say something?" he asked gruffly as he ran his hand over his scared face.

"I don't know," Tonks said. "I mean, I ask that question every day but you refuse to answer."

"Only because you're still too young to know what I've been getting into," he answered coldly.

**"Dunno," Ron whispered back, watching Moody with fascination.**

"Doubt anyone would ask either," commented Remus dryly.

"You'd be crazy to do so," Mad-Eye told them all.

**Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his travelling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. **

"I'm impressed that he had been taking Polyjuice potion every hour that year," Arthur said darkly. "I don't see how anyone could've done that."

"Reason why so many ingredients have been robbed from Snape that year," Sirius reminded them all.

**As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and Harry saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.**

"Good observation," Mad-Eye noted as he moved his stiff leg, for them to see that exact same fake leg sticking out strangely.

**Dumbledore cleared his throat.**

**"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, **

"So nice to be the center of attention," Mad-Eye told them gruffly annoyed.

**"we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."**

"Possibly the worst decision ever. Who the hell decided that Hogwarts had to host it?" Sirius demanded harshly.

"Sirius," Remus warned. "We all know how you feel, but getting angry about this isn't going to change it."

"Doesn't mean that I have to just sit here and take it," he snapped back.

"What do you think that's going to solve?" Arthur asked sulkily. When Sirius opened his mouth again, Arthur went on, "My point is… it's already happened, and complaining about it isn't going to make any difference."

"Changes how I feel," Sirius hissed determinedly.

**"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly.**

"I wish," Sirius growled.

**The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.**

**"I am _not _joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar –"**

"Really, Albus that really wasn't the time," said Molly. Tonks burst out laughing at the next line.

**Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.**

Everyone snickered and chuckled at this because they knew that she would do that.

"Seems some things never change," declared Tonks. "McGonagall is the only person who can strike fear into the heart of Albus Dumbledore."

"Some people are just so boring," Sirius said sadly.

**"Er - but maybe this is not the time… no…" said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament… well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who _do_ know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely."**

Arthur laughed again and said, "Dumbledore as to be the only person I know who would actually give you permission to not pay attention to something like this."

"Dumbledore really is something else," Bill agreed quietly.

**"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry – Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. **

"_Friendly competition_?" Sirius repeated loudly disbelievingly. "If three deadly tasks is their idea of a _friendly competition_ I hate to see what they consider to be dangerous." He didn't care what anyone else said, he was angry at Dumbledore, and he was going to stay angry until that old coot gave him some answers.

**A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."**

_'The death toll became high?'_ Kingsley thought. _'Does he have a different meaning for the word friendly? If that was meant to put us on alert, it succeeded.'_

Everyone looked saddened at the mention of the death toll, as one more name had just been added to it.

**"_Death toll_?" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, and Harry himself was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago.**

"He says that now…" Mad-Eye began.

"Don't say anything," Sirius warned him. He felt as if someone was squeezing his heart just by listening to it…

**"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. **

"Or rather Dumbledore felt the need," Kingsley whispered under his breath. "And if things turned out differently—if we had caught Crouch before it was too late—then it might have worked in pulling the three schools together."

**We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.**

They all let out snorts of derision, a benefit of knowing the outcome; after all the work that had been put in Cedric had still died.

**"The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."**

"I wonder what he did with that money," Tonks asked thoughtfully. "Harry won it didn't he? What did he ever do with it?"

"No idea," Molly answered. "As far as I know, he hasn't spent it yet…"

Bill on the other hand had suddenly thought about how the twins had been inventing like crazy over the summer… could it be that…?

**"I'm going for it!" Fred Weasley hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. **

"Don't even think about it," Molly warned. If those two had honestly thought about entering that terrible tournament, she was going to give them a stern talking to when she saw them next.

**He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion. At every House table, Harry could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbors. **

"They should count themselves lucky they weren't competing!" Arthur said firmly, agreeing with Molly completely about that.

**But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.**

**"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. **

Sirius snorted. If they truly cared about the age limit, then why not have someone watching that damn goblet to make sure that no one would've been watching.

**This" — Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage ****at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious **

"I expect that line isn't going to make him popular with everyone," Kingsley guessed.

"I'll be having a word with the twins about this," Molly said, unable to grasp the fact that her boys had wanted to enter something like this. If they had… she shivered… it could've been them who had died…

**- "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them.**

"Great theory… to bad that it didn't work," Sirius said loudly.

**I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." **

"Oh, he did a real good job didn't he?" Sirius suddenly cried out sarcastically. _He personally would make sure_… what a load of rubbish!

**His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "I ****therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.**

"Nobody's going to listen to him," Tonks said.

"Yeah, he's just wasting his breath," Arthur agreed.

"I think he suspects the twins will try something," said Bill.

"Like I said," Molly whispered warningly, "They better not have even tried anything."

"Molly," Arthur said softly, "They weren't in the tournament."

"I know," she moaned, "I just can't stand hearing about how they want to. What if they had entered? It could've been one of them who was killed instead of Cedric… I know that it sounds cruel but…"

"You're their mother," Kingsley finished in a kind and understanding tone. "It's only natural for you to be concerned. But take heart in knowing that even if they had tried anything, they didn't get in. Something that I'm sure they'll just as grateful for."

Molly nodded grimly, but could still feel as if her heart was beating outside her chest at the thought of any of her children in harm's way.

**"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. **

"I think he means _they _are selected," Tonks whispered. "Hogwarts had two champions…"

**And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. **

"Sure they are," Bill talked in a sarcastic voice. "I'm certain that they would hate to miss classes."

**Bedtime! Chop chop!"**

**Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. **

"I'm not going to like hearing about him am I?" the real Mad-Eye Moody said grumpily.

"If he comes up often, then I'm going to say yes," Kingsley offered.

**There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall.**

**"They can't do that!" said George Weasley, who had not joined the crowd moving toward the door, but was standing up and glaring at Dumbledore. "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"**

"When is their birthday?" Tonks asked curiously.

"April first," Molly said shaking her head. "Appropriate isn't it?"

"April fool's day," Arthur smiled. "Yes, I can't think of a more appropriate for them to have their birthday."

"We should've been able to see right from the start that it was a bad sign," Molly sighed.

**"They're not stopping me entering," said Fred stubbornly, also scowling at the top table. **

"But Dumbledore will," Tonks said confidently.

"For them," Sirius said. "But it sure didn't stop him from allowing Harry to compete did he?"

"You really don't see it do you, Black?" Mad-Eye groaned.

"See what?" Sirius snapped back.

Mad-Eye didn't answer. Honestly, he had hoped that Black would see the reason why Dumbledore had put up that age restriction in the first place. But he was too blinded by his own anger to notice what was right in front of him.

**"The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!"**

**"Yeah," said Ron, a faraway look on his face. "Yeah, a thousand Galleons…"**

"Money isn't everything," Sirius said. He would have given anything to have been born as James's twin brother… he could care less about the money…

Mad-Eye thought that over. Since Fred and George don't even get to put their names in, we don't get to find out if either of them would have qualified. In spite of their goofing around, they seem to be very talent wizards.

**"Come on," said Hermione, "we'll be the only ones left here if you don't move."**

**Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George set off for the entrance hall, Fred and George debating the ways in which Dumbledore might stop those who were under seventeen from entering the tournament.**

**"Who's this impartial judge who's going to decide who the champions are?" said Harry.**

"A damn cup that's what!"

"Sirius," Remus said wearily. "I'm sure this chapter is almost over. Just be patient a little longer?"

"**Dunno," said Fred, "but it's them we'll have to fool. I reckon a couple of drops of Aging Potion might do it, George…"**

"They didn't actually think that would work against Dumbledore did they?" Bill laughed. "I thought that they were smarter than that."

**"Dumbledore knows you're not of age, though," said Ron.**

"It's not _them_ that he should be worried about," Sirius offered stubbornly.

**"Yeah, but he's not the one who decides who the champion is, is he?" said Fred shrewdly. "Sounds to me like once this judge knows who wants to enter, he'll choose the best from each school and never mind how old they are. Dumbledore's trying to stop us giving our names."**

"For a good reason," Molly said firmly.

"That is quite an accurate deduction," commented Remus, "However I think that they should've focused more on getting to the judge."

**"People have died, though!" said Hermione in a worried voice as they walked through a door concealed behind a tapestry and started up another, narrower staircase.**

"I'm glad that someone there is thinking things through," said Molly appreciatively.

**"Yeah," said Fred airily, "but that was years ago, wasn't it? Anyway, where's the fun without a bit of risk?**

"That sounds like something you would have said, Padfoot," Remus told him and Sirius's bad mood seemed to have disappeared for a moment.

**Hey, Ron, what if we find out how to get 'round Dumbledore? Fancy entering?"**

**"What d'you reckon?" Ron asked Harry. "Be cool to enter, wouldn't it? But I s'pose they might want someone older… Dunno if we've learned enough…"**

"Most of that other stuff had been dumb luck though," Tonks reminded everyone. "And they couldn't have done it on their own."

**"I definitely haven't," came Neville's gloomy voice from behind Fred and George. "I expect my gran'd want me to try, though. She's always going on about how I should be upholding the family honor. **

Remus frowned. Augusta really shouldn't keep putting Neville down like that. "I can see that Neville has a lot of potential. He just needs to work more on his confidence than anything."

"He's only fourteen here," Kingsley also added. "He shouldn't have to worry about that at the moment. I'm sure that Alice and Frank would've been proud of them regardless."

**I'll just have to — oops…"**

**Neville's foot had sunk right through a step halfway up the staircase. **

"He hasn't learned which ones you jump over yet?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow. "Come on, you need to learn that in your first week!"

"He was just distracted," Remus defended him.

**There were many of these trick stairs at Hogwarts; it was second nature to most of the older students to jump this particular step, but Neville's memory was notoriously poor. **

"That sounds like his mother," Mad-Eye said almost sadly. "She had a terrible memory as well."

**Harry and Ron seized him under the armpits and pulled him out, while a suit of armor at the top of the stairs creaked and clanked, laughing wheezily.**

"Oh shut up," Tonks said firmly, but then she laughed as she read the next line.

**"Shut it, you," said Ron, banging down its visor as they passed. **

"See all the trouble you save by reading instead of talking?" Mad-Eye asked her and she stuck her tongue out at him.

**They made their way up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, which was concealed behind a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.**

Sirius twitched uncomfortably at the mention of the fat lady. He severely hoped that she had forgiven him for the damage he had done the year before.

**"Password?" she said as they approached.**

**"Balderdash," said George, "a Prefect downstairs told me."**

"Ironic…" Mad-Eye sneered.

"What is?" Bill asked.

"Balderdash is a drink that combines uncomplimentary ingredients to create a disgusting taste," he answered. "We have learned that the passwords are significant, so why is this about disgusting drinks?"

They all thought that over, Kingsley got it first. "Polyjuice Potion… it's so strange how much foreshadowing there are in these stories."

**The portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall through which they all climbed. A crackling fire warmed the circular common room, which was full of squashy armchairs and tables. Hermione cast the merrily dancing flames a dark look, and Harry distinctly heard her mutter "Slave labour" before bidding them good night and disappearing through the doorway to the girls' dormitory.**

"She isn't going to let this go is she?" Tonks asked.

"Nope," Sirius said helpfully.

**Harry, Ron, and Neville climbed up the last, spiral staircase until they reached their own dormitory, which was situated at the top of the tower. Five four-poster beds with deep crimson hangings stood against the walls, each with its owner's trunk at the foot. Dean and Seamus were already getting into bed; Seamus had pinned his Ireland rosette to his headboard, and Dean had tacked up a poster of Viktor Krum over his bedside table. His old poster of the West Ham football team was pinned right next to it.**

**"Mental," Ron sighed, shaking his head at the completely stationary football players.**

"Tell me about it," muttered Tonks. She couldn't see what was so special about a bunch of people kicking a ball around when there weren't any other balls flying around trying to hit you. Seemed a bit boring to her to be honest.

**Harry, Ron, and Neville got into their pyjamas and into bed. Someone - a house-elf, no doubt - had placed warming pans between the sheets. It was extremely comfortable, lying there in bed and listening to the storm raging outside.**

**"I might go in for it, you know," Ron said sleepily through the darkness, "if Fred and George find out how to… the tournament… you never know, do you?"**

"You most certainly will _not_ Ronald Weasley," Molly said firmly. The last thing she wanted was for Ron to even think about trying out.

**"S'pose not…" Harry rolled over in bed, a series of dazzling new pictures forming in his mind's eye… He had hoodwinked the impartial judge into believing he was seventeen… he had become Hogwarts champion… he was standing on the grounds, his arms raised in triumph in front of the whole school, all of whom were applauding and screaming… he had just won the Triwizard Tournament. Cho's face stood out particularly clearly in the blurred crowd, her face glowing with admiration… **

Sirius smirked. Oh, he was going to have so much fun teasing Harry about this the next time he saw him. Finally, his godson sounds like a normal teenage boy if he's dreaming about girls…

**Harry grinned into his pillow, exceptionally glad that Ron couldn't see what he could.**

"He wanted to be champion?" Molly asked startled.

"I think it was more of a fantasy, he never really wanted it, Molly," Arthur assured her. "He's a normal teenage boy—though I think we all tend to forget that. I have no doubt that nearly everybody, even some of the girls will be fantasizing something similar whether or not they plan to enter or not."

"Well that's it," Tonks said closing the book at last.

"Good," Remus said flipping through the book at how much they had left. "We made some good progress here already."

"But look how thick this book is," Sirius groaned. "It'll take us _forever_ to finish it!"

"I'm sure you'll survive," Remus laughed as everyone stood up. Well, everyone but one person that is.

"You coming Mad-Eye?" Kingsley asked in surprise to see that he hadn't moved from his seat.

"Yeah," Mad-Eye answered gruffly. "I just wanted to take a few more minutes to think to myself. If you want to go be my guest. I want to be left alone."

They all looked at each other in surprise, but they didn't question it. They suspected that it had something to do with hearing about the imposter Moody and he just wanted to brood on that.

Everyone said good night before they headed out the door. Mad-Eye kept his magical eye on them all. He watched as the three Weasleys and Kingsley left—Sirius, Remus, and Tonks all met in the kitchen to talk for a little while before heading up to bed. Mad-Eye leaned back in his chair and looked to the door once he was sure that they were gone.

"You can come out now…" he said finally as he folded his arms and turned to the door.

And there, the shadowy form a tall man was standing there, leaning against the back wall. "Hope you enjoyed it… Dumbledore…" Mad-Eye asked.

**(So now Dumbledore is here… or has he always been there? Hope you enjoyed it. This might be the last update for awhile. I'm getting ready for finals. Thank you all!)**


	16. Like A Phoenix

**(Once again, I own nothing! Copyright is J.K. Rowling's!)**

**Chapter 15: Like A Phoenix**

And there, the shadowy form of a tall man was standing there, leaning against the back wall. "Hope you enjoyed it… Dumbledore…" Mad-Eye asked.

Albus smiled kindly at him as he stepped out of the shadows and walked forward to sit across from Alastor in the seat that Kingsley usually occupied. "I _have _been enjoying it," Albus confirmed as he got comfortable. "At least… the parts where it has been so light-hearted. The rest, such as the first chapter about that poor man—Frank Bryce—I found informative as well as sad."

Alastor smirked as he remembered the conversation in the kitchen only a few hours ago.

_*Flashback*___

_"My hearing is one of the only few things that still works," Alastor grunted to the others as he limped out of the room. "And I rather not lose it listening to you screaming like some craved Quidditch fan girls!" ___

_"What is it?" Kingsley asked when he saw the smirk on his face.___

_"Nothing," he growled and shut the door behind him. "I'll be downstairs. When you all stop screaming, I'll know that it's over."___

_"Would it kill you to have some fun once in awhile, Mad-Eye?" Tonks called after him. "I will get you to read one of these chapters! You're the only one here who hasn't!"___

_"And it's going to stay that way!" he barked back before he shut the door behind him. He headed down hall until he was out of earshot before his eye fixed itself on the shadowy corner where someone was hiding.___

_"You almost got yourself caught a few times, Dumbledore," Alastor reminded him.___

_Albus smiled as he removed the Disillusionment Charm and reappeared. "I knew that I wouldn't be able to hide from your eye for long, Alastor. I would have joined you all in there… but—I didn't think that my presence would be a good thing at the moment. And with the rest of the Ministry now after me… I want the others to be able to swear that they haven't seen me since I left the school."___

_Mad-Eye snorted as the two of them headed down to the kitchen. ___

_"I am glad that you had informed that you were starting the next book," he said to him as they reached the floor landing. "To be honest I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it."___

_"I almost missed you in the first couple chapters," Moody told him honestly and they entered through the kitchen door. "But you gave yourself away during that chapter where they were planning on going to the world cup."___

_"I assume that you're talking about the line where young Miss Weasley was talking about my hair?" he asked, a smile on his face. "And when Sirius commented on it?"___

_"That was rather reckless of you," Alastor told him as the two of them sat at the long table. Albus waved his wand and two bottles of oak-matured mead appeared. "To laugh like that? Had you been in the presence of an enemy then you realize that you could've gotten you into trouble?"___

_"I'm sorry for that," Albus replied as uncorked the end of one of the bottles. "But I just couldn't help myself. It felt so good to laugh again after all this. You see, when I heard that line, I recalled that you got me an enchanted razor for Christmas last year. Are you trying to tell me something, Alastor?"___

_"Come on, Dumbledore," Alastor snorted again. "And people say that I'm old-fashioned. That long beard look went out of style after Merlin. Just shave it all off."___

_Albus laughed a little louder at that and stroked his beard. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid that I just won't feel comfortable without it."___

_"Well, anyway, you're lucky I was here, otherwise they might've thought to check if anyone was listening," Alastor answered in a bored tone, and jerking his thump up at the ceiling. "But now that we got that out of the way, I've been meaning to talk to you. Why are you back from your travels so soon, Dumbledore? If you were listening in why wouldn't you come out before now? Are you just to upset about the Triwizard Tournament fiasco to face everyone?"___

_The smiled faded slowly from Dumbledore's face and he sighed heavily before pouring himself a glass of the mead. He took his time in answering as he slowly drank and once he finished his glass he spoke. "I didn't think that Sirius would be able to go one page without turning his anger on me."___

_Alastor laughed gruffly. "You worried about that mutt? Please, his bark is worse than his bite."___

_Albus smiled half-heartedly again before he poured himself another glass.___

_Alastor guessed what he was thinking. "Ah… you just can't stand to face his accusations."___

_"Oh, I know that Sirius says plenty of things when he gets angry," Albus sighed again and gestured politely towards the other bottle, letting Alastor know that he was free to take it if he wanted. "But all in all, I don't fancy being yelled at every few seconds… though I can hardly blame him for his frustration at me."___

_Alastor smirked as he pulled out his flask, ignoring the other bottle completely, and drank. "And then there are the monsters you call students you've got to deal with. Teenagers…" he said grumpily as soon as he pulled his flask away from his lips. "No matter what I've faced, there's nothing more frustrating to deal with than teenagers."___

_Albus chuckled lightly. "I couldn't agree with you more, Alastor."___

_They sat in silence for a short time before Alastor asked him, "Hmm, still tip-toeing around the idea of committing yourself to the fight?"___

_Albus didn't ask him what he meant—though he didn't need to. He stared at the glass of honey-colored liquid for another minute before he answered simply, "I am a fool. Even after all these years… it seems that I still haven't learnt a thing."___

_"What do you mean?" Alastor asked curiously.___

_"Fully understanding what is in another's heart is impossible," Albus said grimly. "I had convinced myself that what I was doing was for the best… but I see now that I couldn't have been more wrong."___

_"You mean leaving Potter at that house?" Alastor asked knowingly, his magical eye fixing itself on him.___

_"Not too many people know this," Albus told him, "But after Lily Evans received her Hogwarts letter, her sister Petunia has sent me one… begging that I allow her to go to school with her sister."___

_"Really?" Alastor asked in surprise. "Funny… the person I picked up from the book doesn't seem to be the type who is fond of our world."___

_"And yet it had been a world that she once longed to be a part of," Albus informed him. "And deep down, I'm sure that she still does. She begged that I would allow her to come as well so that she could watch out for her sister… I—I had hoped that she would've remembered the love she once had and would care for her sister's only child… her own nephew. So that she could have experienced at least a small part of the world that she secretly admired." He rubbed his tired eyes and set the glass down. "I knew that Harry had been unhappy there… but neglect and abuse like this? It's always the same with me. I try to wrap my mind around what I know… what I hope… but the human heart isn't like a book… you can't just open it and read what's going on…"___

_That was a lesson he discovered the hard way… he saw it long ago when Ariana had run out to try and stop the fighting between them… the fight that ended up killing her. Ariana had been so badly traumatized by the attack she suffered at the age of six… and because of that, she was unable to control her magic, which turned inwards and made her mentally and magically unstable. Most of the time, however, she had always been so kind and gentle. But during that duel he saw her charging out to try and to stop them before anyone got hurt… if that wasn't bravery, he didn't know what was. ___

_She had died in the attempt… but in that instance he knew… he knew that she was braver than he would ever be. When he and Gellert searched for the Deathly Hallows all those years ago—he had so many plans in store… but after Ariana died, they fell apart. All his intelligence and power amounted to nothing compared to that one girl's heart…___

_Alastor took several more sips of his flask as he observed Dumbledore attentively. He personally thought that his old teacher looked as if his mind was in another world.___

_"Funny how everything you've done to keep that kid alive seemed to have done more harm than good," he told him. "Why is that?"___

_"I want to see him safe, Alastor," Albus sighed miserably. "I only ever had Harry's best interests at heart… I—I never meant for this to happen." Repressed anger was pulsating through his veins. How could anyone have done that to a child? He knew that families were meant to love, care and protect each other through both the good and the bad just as his mother had done, just as Aberforth had continued until Ariana's death. Just as he hadn't learned until it was too late. ___

_Albus felt like there was a war going on inside him. He felt like an idiot. Everything that had happened to Harry, had happened because it was his fault. He had made a mistake, ignored something important, or else had planned something that endangered his life. Would he ever be able to ask for forgiveness? But he also knew that he didn't deserve it.___

_Alastor sighed and for a long time the two of them sat in silence; not bothering to talk. Until… "Eh, so even someone like you is capable of making mistakes. That's good to know," Alastor spoke up and took a long sip, draining the flask and finished, "You're only human. Humans make mistakes. You're going to keep making mistakes. It's a part of life. Doesn't mean that we have to like it…" he looked at him hard. ___

_"I may not agree with the decisions you've made regarding the kid, but I can't deny that you're the best Headmaster the school has ever had," he spoke truthfully. "You care about your students even if you don't always show it."___

_Albus smiled as he looked up at him. "That means a lot, Alastor. And I know that… I've made more than my fair share of mistakes. I know that I'm only going to make more…" he stared at the opposite wall behind him before he finished. "I only pray that no more will suffer for them."___

_Alastor's eye shot up towards the ceiling. "Well, looks like they're getting through reading about that blasted Quidditch game. Good. I wasn't going to look forward to listening anymore about that anyway." He glanced down at him. "I want to talk a little more after they all leave for the day. We should be taking another break soon… I'll check out the school for you."___

_Albus smiled again as the pair of them got up from the table. "I appreciate this Alastor. I don't know what I do if I didn't have people like you and Minerva to keep me in line."___

_Alastor grunted as they started to climb the stairs. "Don't get used to it. I still say that you're coddling that kid too much. You think that living as long as you have, you would have more common sense in that big head of yours. Don't worry though," he added as they arrived on the right floor whispered. "I'm not telling them you're here. Though I would love watching you and Black going at it. You know? I would kill for a chance to see the two of you duel and kill each other."___

_Albus chuckled. "While I have no doubt that Sirius would jump at a chance to duel me, I doubt that he would go as far as to actually kill me."___

_"Perhaps," Alastor barked a laugh. "Like I said… that mutt's bark is worse than his bite."___

_Albus faded back into the darkness as Alastor limped towards the door.___

_"They really called it," he heard Black call out. "And that's the end of that chapter! I loved that chapter! The best one yet in my opinion! Who's reading next?"___

_"Is it over with?" he growled as he opened the door in time to see them all jump at the sight of him. Yet another good thing about his face… turns heads. "When I heard the shouting die out and I figured that it would be safe to come back without having to worry." His magical eye landed on Molly's earmuffs that were in her lap, before moving to the ones still on Remus's head. "Well, glad that I missed out."___

_"What were you doing all this time?" Kingsley asked civilly.___

_"Having a chat with an old friend," he replied as if it was obvious and limped back into the room to take his seat.___

_"Really?" Arthur asked. "Who was here?"___

_"Never you mind," he said with a wave of the hand. "Just an Order member who dropped by for a moment. You don't need to worry about him now."___

_*End of Flashback*_

So now the two of them were sitting back in that little room, wondering what they were going to say.

"I checked on the school for you," Alastor said as he leaned back and yawned as Albus reached over and picked up the heavy book that was still on the table and examined it. But he was listening hard to everything that Alastor said.

"And?" he asked, fearing the worse.

"You want the laundry list or a big, fat lie that'll make you feel good inside?" Alastor asked. Albus sighed and shut his eyes—bracing himself for what he was about to hear.

"It's not pretty," he informed him. "That hag Umbridge just made herself Headmistress and is running the school like a prison. She is without a doubt _evil_—not short of a psychopath in my opinion and believe me when I say that I've seen many psychopaths in my life. She has such a blind faith in authority, that she can't believe that it could ever possibly be wrong and she is as ruthless in maintaining her power as she is in seeking it. She's determined to get complete control over everyone and everything in that castle. And to top it all off, she's resorted to cruel and unusual punishments and you don't need a magic eye to see that she's enjoying it. Come on… she had a tantrum when your gargoyle refused to let her in to your office."

Albus bit his lower lip in anger.

Alastor shrugged. "Oh, and I overheard her say that she actually hated children. The Ministry sure picked one heck of a teacher eh?"

"I was afraid of this," Albus said frowning. "And the worst part is that I can't do anything except trust my teachers to protect the students for me."

"If it makes you feel better," Alastor went on, "The rest of the school isn't making it easy for her."

Albus nodded. "That is good to hear. Though I'm not too surprised…"

"She sure seems to have it in for Potter though," Alastor added coolly. "Course that's not surprising at all… quite a few people have it in for that boy. And she wouldn't be the first teacher to do so. Honestly, Dumbledore. What are you thinking putting Snape in to teach that kid anything?"

Albus gave him a sad look. "After Harry had his vision of the attack on Arthur Weasley, it became clear to me that Voldemort and Harry have a level of access to each others' minds that is probably unheard of in wizarding history, and there's no way that Voldemort doesn't realize it by now. And given their relative magical skill, it's not hard to guess who's most likely to come out on the losing end of this one, either. I don't know yet what Voldemort might do with this level of access to Harry's mind, but it's safe to assume that no good can come from it. There's only one way to prevent this from happening. Harry _absolutely must _learn Occlumency. And he must do it before Voldemort has a chance to formulate a plan around this connection."

"But Snape?" Alastor asked him with a shake of the head. "From what I've seen, Snape isn't too interested in teaching him."

"I didn't have much other choice," Albus told him regretfully. "I know that this can't be any fun for either of them. But I can't teach Harry Occlumency myself, because I'm worried that doing so might give Voldemort all the more incentive to try something before Harry can learn it. I'm also worried about what Voldemort would do to _Harry _in the meantime. For the boy's safety, it's not an option. My very presence is a danger to him."

"If you ask me, it might be better to just simply skip the lessons altogether and warn Potter that Voldemort might try something," Alastor suggested.

"But there's a huge flaw here, too—which is that I can't tell Harry anything _without Voldemort finding out that he knows," Albus explained sadly. _"I'd be willing to bet that Voldemort has enlisted Severus to help in his plan to try and get to Harry—not that I believe that he will do so," he added at Alastor's raised eyebrows. "So if I confide my expectations to him, it will look to Voldemort like Severus has been passing me valuable information."

"And of course, it will be like serving Potter up on a platter for Voldemort. You've got to do something to at least put the boy on his guard, without making Voldemort too suspicious," Alastor nodded. "Talk about a no-win situation. Seems like this is the problem with double-agents you know? You always run into this type of situation eventually. But you know Potter well enough to know that he's not going to be an ideal student in this particular subject. You know virtually everything else about the boy, after all, right?"

"I know that if Harry can't learn Occlumency, it will only put him at an even greater risk than we can imagine," Albus acknowledged. "I can't warn him specifically of what Voldemort will try to do. But I am also relying on Harry's friendship with Hermione Granger. To help make him want to learn it…"

"Doesn't surprise me that you would think like that after you just let him in the tournament," Alastor said.

Silence filled the room.

"I assure you, the last thing that I wanted was for him to be in the competition," Albus said softly, his eyes glinting. "It is a miracle he came out of it alive."

"Course he couldn't have done it alone," Alastor told him.

"True," Albus lowered his head and surveying him over his glasses. "Almost nothing is achieved by a single person alone. Harry, as brave and resourceful as he is, could not triumph in the Triwizard Tournament by himself. Almost nothing that Harry has done in these last few years has been achieved alone; he approaches challenges with courage and a basic groundwork of skill, but the friendships and connections he has made along the way enable him to succeed…"

"Poetic as ever I see," Alastor smirked.

The corners of Albus's mouth twitched. "I've watched him prove time and time again that he is a far better man than I. He is destined for greatness no matter what."

"You always did speak highly of him," Alastor nodded. "Even when you were trying to convince me to teach before the tournament even started—and before I was ambushed—" he spoke that last part through gritted teeth, "You always talked about him like that. Shows how much you care for the boy."

Albus gave him a piercing look. "I don't know what you're…"

"Come come now Albus," Alastor said grinning wickedly. "It's obvious you care about him. You were there after he fought Quirremort in his first year. Not just any teacher would care that much to have sat with him until he woke. And then you had Fawkes to keep an eye out for him in his second year—"

At the mention of Fawkes, the beautiful bird had suddenly appeared in a ball of fire. He materialized so quickly and silently, that they didn't know what happened until Fawkes was there flying around the room.

"Blasted bird," Alastor snapped at it. Albus chuckled, as Fawkes let out a soft note of music before taking his seat on the arm of Albus's chair and blinked peacefully at them both. "Such a show off isn't he?"

Albus smiled as he stroked Fawkes's feathers. "Fawkes is special and he knows he's special…"

"Anyway," Alastor said as he rolled his eyes. "You allowed them to get into all sorts of trouble that you would never allow anyone else to get away with. And last year, your care for Potter begins to grow truly touching."

"In what way?" Albus asked politely, but also interested in what he had to say.

Mad-Eye snorted. "You may be able to fool the others, but you can't fool me. I realize that the sole reason you pushed the age-restriction rule on the Triwizard Tournament was because you wanted to protect the kid? No other Headmaster or Headmistress had ever seen a need for such a restriction—before last year, any aged student had been allowed to compete. But you knew that something was wrong."

Albus continued to stroke Fawkes—the Phoenix let out a sad song—as Alastor went on. "You sensed the danger that boy was in and was desperate to protect him, even at the risk of making yourself very unpopular. It's no wonder you were furious when his name still came out of the Goblet of Fire… and why else would you be here listening to the story if you weren't concerned?"

Albus closed his eyes and smiled. "I see that you saw right through it."

Alastor smirked and got up. "You're easy to read if you know where to look. Well… I might as well get going. It's my blasted turn to keep guard over that Prophecy."

"I would greatly appreciate it if you were to inform me when you start reading again," Albus asked him as soon as Alastor headed to the door. His friend held his hand up in understanding and left. Albus was left alone in the room—but he knew that he couldn't stay long or else risk being caught.

Albus continued to stroke the feathers as Fawkes fluttered onto his knee. He stared at the bird—lost in thoughts of phoenixes and the Order. Of all the people he had ever met, Voldemort included, Harry has the strangest and most interesting interactions with death. He is almost… phoenix-like. He remembered the words he told Harry himself nearly four years ago.

_They can carry immensely heavy loads… They make highly faithful pets… and are reborn from the ashes._

_They can carry immensely heavy loads… _when he thought of Harry, he didn't think of great physical strength. Harry is small, skinny, and practically helpless without his glasses. But he did have considerable mental strength for enduring heavy emotional loads. Living ten years with the Dursleys without becoming like them, by itself, shows enormous mental strength. One of the main reasons he believes that Harry can succeed in learning Occlumency. His firm sense of self, of what is right and wrong, shows plainly when he turned away from Draco's offered alliance, choosing Ron as a friend and insisting not Slytherin to the Sorting Hat. But even his mental strength shows cracks in it.

Great _magical _strength, yes! He mastered the Patronus charm even though it's highly advance magic and even most adult wizards never learn it. When given a powerful incentive to learn the Summoning Charm, he masters it practically overnight. And of course there are the dramatic displays of power when he battled Voldemort. Fawkes's appearance in the Chamber of Secrets… he also shows a remarkable physical resilience. Though the Basilisk poison almost finished him, he had been able to resist the effects long enough for Fawkes to reach him and heal him.

_They make highly faithful pets… _well he's nobody's pet, to be sure, but highly faithful describes his relationship with those he cares about. After all, it had been his loyalty to him that sent Fawkes to aid. He smiled sadly at that thought before he continued. Harry's friendship with his friends has helped him time and time again… even when he had only discovered who Sirius was, his first impulse when his heard that he was in danger is to rush to his aid. Harry unwaveringly stands up for Hagrid during his classes, even when he secretly believes Hagrid's teaching style is something to be desired. And that's not even counting the numerous other examples of his loyalty to his friends that endures in spite of everything that has happened.

_They are reborn from the ashes… _ah, now this quality of a phoenix that Harry shows his most obvious and most interesting phoenix-like characteristic. His survival on the fateful Halloween night at Godric's Hollow is an almost literal embodiment of the phoenix rebirth. Voldemort attacked Harry—but while Voldemort was nearly destroyed and the house blown to pieces, Harry has survived.

Harry has cheated death many occasions, too. He once fell from his broom over 50 feet, yet survived. In recovering from the Basilisk poison, he also cheated death and turned the same poison back on Tom when he stabbed the diary. He also saved himself and many others from the Dementors—the only creatures he's come across so far, to which he's vulnerable. Of course, Dementors don't just kill. They steal the soul completely… the only creatures that can destroy an immortal. It's no wonder that Tom wants them on his side.

Even more interesting and subtle than his dramatic, death-defying encounters are the symbolic interactions with death. Harry and his friends had to get past Fluffy, to get down through the trap door to save the stone. Fluffy had been borrowed from a Greek chap… just like Cerberus, the 3-headed dog who guarded the gates of Hades in Muggle mythology. By getting past Fluffy and down the trap door, Harry symbolically entered the underworld.

Another symbolic passage into death was when they were invited to Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party. To reach the chamber where the party was held, the three of them had to journey down a long passageway lit by black candles that burned with blue flames. Nick was there to greet them and held aside a thick black curtain, through which they passed to reach the party—literally a land of the dead.

The graveyard duel that they will undoubtedly read before the end of the book can also be seen as a symbolic descent into death. Harry maneuvered his way through the maze, battled dangerous monsters and was magically transported to a terrifying underworld of Death Eaters among graves where an almost dead man was resurrected. He returned after a hard battle, bearing the dead body of his companion, Cedric… Albus sighed miserably at those memories. He sat there, even long after his watch read midnight… as more thoughts continued to race in his mind. But if he stayed any longer, Sirius would be sure to find him…

Ah…

He smiled darkly as he finally got up, Fawkes fluttering up to his shoulder and the two of them headed down the stairs.

In a metaphorical sense, _Death _is Harry's guardian. Sirius takes the form of a giant black dog, the Grim, a herald of death. Although he has so little time with Harry and so few opportunities to truly help him, so in a way… death—is Harry's legal guardian.

Albus continued to think about all this even after he left the house… heading down a dark path with Fawkes and long after they disapparated.

Death… life… rebirth… and resurrection… according to the Prophecy, Harry has been marked by Voldemort as an equal, and is the only person who has the means to defeat him. And it pained Albus to no end to know that there is a chance that Harry will have to face so much more hardships before he faces Voldemort for the final time. The outcome, won't be as simple as a wand-slinging. Death and life are complex forces and it appears that Harry will have to take with them all before this adventure ends… and rises like a phoenix, from the ashes, to victory.

**Important Read:****  
****(Hope you all liked this chapter. I had only realized just how much Harry is like a Phoenix and I wanted to point out all the things that people hadn't seemed to notice. Also, I had planned on having Dumbledore there the whole time. I've been getting a lot of emails telling me to have Sirius finish him off in a duel. Don't worry, Albus and Sirius will be having a long heart to heart sometime soon. But I've also read plenty of stories out there where it had been written that Dumbledore had treated Harry like he never cared about him. I wanted to let you all know that I don't think of Dumbledore like that. I always really liked the character of Dumbledore and I don't appreciate all the complaints I've been getting about him. ******

**And for the future emails I know I will get, I wanted to tell you that I truly believed that Dumbledore had put up the age limit to protect Harry. Remember when he said that the **_**Ministry has agreed to put in an age restriction on contenders that year? **_**Why would they have to agree to it unless it hasn't been thought of before?******

**Now that I got that out of the way, don't worry, we'll be getting back to the story in the next chapter. And for all of you out there… you want me to save Sirius but are telling me that I can't have Andromeda as a Ravenclaw? Well, in my story, she's a Ravenclaw. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. I hoped you all enjoyed it and please tell me what you think about my ideas. ;-)) **


	17. MadEye Moody

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 16: Mad-Eye Moody**

It had been two more days before the others had been able to return to headquarters. Mostly because Kingsley, Arthur, Bill, and Tonks were all stuck at work—and Mad-Eye was spending long periods of time going off on his own.

But on the second morning, they all met up at Grimmauld Place—all of them ready to read. Well… almost…

"What did I tell you?" Mad-Eye snapped at Bill who blushed and shrugged. For you see, Bill brought over his newest friend to join in reading with them. "What did I tell you about bringing anyone else here?"

The tall and willowy young woman that Bill had brought was standing there with her long silvery blonde hair and deep blue eyes that shone at him reproachfully.

"I thought that it would be good for her… I mean, she's going to be in it a lot…" Bill tried to answer.

"Isn't it bad enough that we have all these people here?" he barked back, gesturing with one gnarled hand at all the people that were standing around them. "Now you bring in some random…"

"What do you mean by zat?" Fleur Delacour snapped at him. She marched forward, her hands on her hips as if daring him to finish that sentence. "Dumblzdore allowed me to join ze Order! I 'ave as much right as you to be 'ere!"

Mad-Eye was still focused on Bill, but his magical eye swirled around to keep Fleur in his sight.

"She's right you know. She does have as much right to be here as we do," Bill said stubbornly. "She deserves to know what happened to her in the tournament."

She looked at Mad-Eye hard. "Bill told me about ze books you all 'ave found. Cedric was a friend… I need to know what 'appened zat night."

"What happened to swearing not to tell anyone else?" Mad-Eye barked at Bill. Bill stood his ground and refused to back down.

"We can trust her. I know we can," he answered firmly.

Mad-Eye glared at them both—looking from Bill to Fleur and back again before glancing up at Molly and Arthur, who could only shrug in a powerless sort of way. Mad-Eye looked back to the couple before he flung his arms up over his head and said, "Fine! What do I care?! But if I find out that anyone else is here, then they'll have to talk to me."

He then limped savagely out of the room before he changed his mind. Bill smiled as he took her hand and followed. "See? That wasn't so hard."

Arthur grinned broadly, and Molly was looking irritated as they followed them. They went up to the usual room and waited for the others—Bill quickly filling Fleur in on everything else that had happened. All too soon, Tonks, Kingsley and Remus all entered and looked at Fleur in surprise.

Tonks didn't seem to mind. She smiled broadly and went over to sit next to her. The two girls had met only once before when Fleur had first joined—but otherwise had spent most of her time at the bank. But Tonks was glad for the company of more girls.

"Let me tell you," Tonks went on saying to her. "Listening to a bunch of boys argue it out is no fun." She smiled at Molly, "We've needed more girls around here."

"Et ees strange," Fleur told her with a smile at Bill. "Bill came and told me about zese books you 'ave found. I didn't believe eet at first. But 'e said zat zis is somezing I needed to 'ear."

"So that you can get a bit of closure," he answered gently. "I know that Cedric's death has been haunting you."

She sighed unhappily and swept her long hair out of her face. "I never understood why 'e 'ad to die. Et could 'ave been me zat night. But I never…" she trailed off, unable to finish. He smiled in an understanding way and took her hand. At that moment, a grim-looking Sirius Black slouched into the room.

He stopped dead when he saw Fleur sitting there and he gave her a wolf-whistle. She smiled back, her eyebrows raised—not impressed, but enjoying the attention anyway.

"What brings you here?" Sirius asked as he took his usual seat next to Remus on the couch.

"Bill brought me," she answered with yet another blinding smile at Bill. Sirius looked between them and sighed before he whispered to Remus, "Already taken… typical."

"You're more than twice her age anyway," he hissed back.

"Doesn't mean that I can't hope," he whispered. "Hey… I haven't been with a good-looking girl for over fourteen years."

"You're horrible," he rolled his eyes as Kingsley started talking.

"You were one of the Champions during the tournament?" he asked Fleur gently.

She nodded grimly, "Beauxbatons Academy of Magic Champion."

He gave her a sympathetic smile. "It must've been very hard for you. I know that you and Cedric Diggory were against each other but…"

"'E was always so polite to me…" she said. While she didn't say it out loud… she deeply liked Cedric because he took her seriously. He didn't treat her only as a pretty face and that she was a real competitor. She shifted closer to Bill. When he arrived at the bank and told her about these books during their English lessons—she thought that he was only saying it because he wanted to impress her. But…

She looked up at his face and his face just seemed to melt her heart. He wasn't like anyone else he ever met. He never once fell for her veela charms and was so—sincere. With every passing day she found herself sinking deeper and deeper in love with someone like him.

"I am 'ere for closure," she answered the room at large, but her eyes were focused only on Bill. "So I can move on as well."

Before anyone could respond to that, Mad-Eye finally reappeared. No one gave him much notice as he grumbled all the way to his seat.

"What took you so long?" Tonks asked him brightly.

"None of your business," he snapped back. Truthfully, he had sent a Patronus to Dumbledore, letting him know that they were going to be reading again. His magical eye fixed itself on the door and a twisted smile began to play on the corners of his mouth when he saw a human-sized figure appear—safe under a Disillusionment Charm. Instead of drawing attention to that figure, he gave them all dark looks before he took his favorite chair.

Bill had reached over and took the book that Sirius had brought down with him and showed it to Fleur. She stared at the cover—where her own face was still looking at her as well as the other three champions.

"Zis ees… zis ees…" she couldn't finish as she stared at it. "You really were telling me ze truth."

"Why would I lie?" he asked her smiling.

"I just didn't theenk…" she said softly. "Zat somezing like zis could be real. Where did it come from?"

"That," Remus said politely, "Is a good question. I've been asking myself that since I found them, but so far we haven't the slightest clue. However I think that we can all agree that the events recorded here are genuine."

Fleur stared for a few seconds longer at the cover before she looked up and asked, "May I read first?"

"Go ahead," Arthur said with a nod of the head. "We stopped just at chapter 13."

Fleur quickly found the right chapter and looked at the title in surprise. She then read out throatily, "**Chapter 13: Mad-Eye Moody**."

She stopped and they all looked at Mad-Eye.

"What?" he demanded.

"Well… call me crazy," Tonks informed him. "But if this chapter is called _Mad-Eye Moody_… I don't think that you need to be a genius to work it out. You must be important if you have a chapter to yourself."

Mad-Eye growled menacingly, grinding his teeth and hissed, "It's not me."

"I'm guessing that the whole Crouch Jr. incident is still a touchy subject for you?" she asked, though in a slightly softer tone.

"I can imagine," said Remus dryly.

"Well, this explains one thing," he growled at them all.

"And what ees zat?" Fleur asked confused, gazing at the picture of Mad-Eye Moody before looking up at the one sitting there with them.

He didn't bother answering to that. He leaned back and became lost in thoughts… Chapter 13… if there was something he learned about these books… it was that in chapter 13 the culprit and his fiendish plot make a cameo appearance within these chapters. This is a trend that, so far, has held true.

When he didn't answer, Fleur cleared her throat and went on.

**The storm had blown itself out by the following morning, though the ceiling in the Great Hall was still gloomy; heavy clouds of pewter grey swirled overhead as Harry, Ron, and Hermione examined their new course schedules at breakfast. **

"I'm sure that Hermione's loving that," Tonks laughed.

"I noticed 'Ermione seems to love 'er schoolwork…" Fleur said tilting her head when they all snorted.

When Bill smiled at her, she could have sworn that her heart beat just a little bit faster. "You don't know the half of it. When she was a first year, she thought that it would be better to die than get expelled."

"She said zat?" Fleur asked in astonishment. "'Ow can she theenk zat?"

"She was young…" Arthur explained. "And—ah—over eager about school back then. However, I think it's safe to assume that she lightened up a bit since then."

"Thank goodness for that," Sirius said cheerfully. He then added in an undertone, "Or else, I might not be here."

**A few seats along, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were discussing magical methods of aging themselves and bluffing their way into the Triwizard Tournament.**

"I hate to disappoint them, but I am certain that Albus has had enough experience to know how the minds of teenage boys work," declared Kingsley lightly.

In the hallway, Albus heard that and smiled broadly. While he wasn't as young as he once was, he remembered how eager he would've been if the tournament was beginning and he wasn't given the chance to compete.

"I'm afraid that nothing they come up with will be able to sneak them into the tournament," Remus raised his eyebrows.

"You mean they're actually going to try?" Molly gasped in fear. Horrible images of either one of her boys having died that night continued to haunt her mind and she had to shake her head hard to clear it. "You would think that the words _'death toll'_ would make them rethink about it!"

"They're kids, Molly," Arthur said, for once being the voice of reason. "They don't know what it's like. No one can understand what it's like unless they go through it."

"Still…" she huffed.

"Young people are stupid when it comes to death," Mad-Eye said. "They think they're invincible, too young to die. That's why governments want young people to join the army. Besides, I think 'death toll' have a strange effects on teenagers."

"Do you have to explain it like that?" Arthur asked coldly as Molly let out a strangled sob.

"Just speaking the truth," he answered.

Remus leaned forward and whispered to him, "You think that you can learn to be a little kinder about wording it?"

"Better to come out and say it instead of sugar-coating it," he said just a pitch louder so that their guest outside would be able to hear it.

Albus felt his heart pound painfully inside him at those words.

**"Today's not bad… outside all morning," said Ron, who was running his finger down the Monday column of his schedule. "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures… damn it, we're still with the Slytherins…"**

"I'm guessing, that it could be an interesting lesson in that case," commented Tonks.

Sirius rolled his eyes and said frustrated, "Whenwill Dumbledore learn that no matter how many times he puts them together they aren't going to get along. I think that he only does it so that can get into fights."

Albus smiled grimly at those words. The reason that was that it was like that was because he wanted them to try and make new friends outside their Houses—for they will have to do that once they leave school. At the very least, to try and build more acceptance and understanding; and while it has worked with the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs… but Slytherin…

"Wonder what zey're going to be learning?" Fleur asked, very curious at how different it was from Beauxbatons.

"Herbology is always a fun subject," Tonks laughed. "At least you're allowed to swear if one of the plants attacks you."

"And I'm sure that Care of Magical Creatures will be interesting to say the least," Kingsley said. "Hagrid knows a lot about animals and all. But…"

"But what?" Fleur asked.

"To put it nicely," Sirius explained, "Is that Hagrid has a different perception to what's dangerous than normal people."

"That's true, I mean look at Norbert and Fluffy," said Bill exasperated. "I never even met them, and I'm terrified at the thought of coming face to face with either one."

"Norbert and Fluffy?" repeated Fleur somewhat hesitantly.

"Great, we have another one," Mad-Eye said annoyed, his eye still giving a nasty look at Bill, who looked unabashed.

"We can talk later," Bill promised her.

**"Double Divination this afternoon," Harry groaned, looking down. **

"I can sympathize, Harry," Tonks says sympathetically remembering the third book. "I would groan to if I had to go to a class with a teacher who keeps saying that I'm going to drop dead before dinner."

"What ees zis?" Fleur asked confused before shaking her head. "On second zought, I don't want to know."

"No, you don't," Sirius said a little grumpily at the mention of Trelawney.

**Divination was his least favorite subject, apart from Potions. Professor Trelawney kept predicting Harry's death, which he found extremely annoying.**

"Now that's a bit harsh," Mad-Eye said. "Instead of your teacher telling you that you're failing, Potter gets one who tells him that he's doomed to die a painful death…"

"Why does she 'ave to act like zat?" Fleur said fiercely. "Zat is 'orrible."

"I think that she thinks it makes her more mysterious and give her a better reaction from the students," Bill said shrugging.

"Though, I'm with Harry on this one," Remus said dryly. "I think that listening to the same death predictions would get a little tiresome after a while."

"Well everyone should've known by then about his—ah past history with trouble, so I suppose she figured she would have to get lucky sometime," joked Arthur.

"Well, it is inevitable that he will die sometime," Mad-Eye shrugged. "She's just forewarning him."

"Doesn't mean that I have to like it," Sirius said while Molly, Remus, and Fleur all nodded in agreement.

**"You should have given it up like me, shouldn't you?" said Hermione briskly, buttering herself some toast. "Then you'd be doing something sensible like Arithmancy."**

"Ugh, Arithmancy has got to be the worst subject ever made," Sirius groaned.

"I happened to have liked that class," Bill said firmly and looking at Sirius with slight irritation.

"But it's the hardest subject out of all of them," Sirius said as if that explained everything.

"Just because you were too lazy to take it," Remus teased him and Sirius nudged him hard in the side.

"More importantly," Molly said thoughtfully. "Is Hermione's hunger strike over?"

"'Unger strike?" Fleur repeated.

"She found out that there were House-Elves cooking the food," Bill said quickly before Mad-Eye could snap at her. "She refused to eat anything when she did, but I guess she got hungry."

Fleur giggled at that before she went on.

**"You're eating again, I notice," said Ron, watching Hermione adding liberal amounts of jam to her toast too.**

**"I've decided there are better ways of making a stand about elf rights," said Hermione haughtily.**

Most of them rolled their eyes, knowing that this must be when she started up S.P.E.W.

**"Yeah… and you were hungry," said Ron, grinning.**

"I'm sure she was," Molly said smiling.

"I knew she would never last," Bill laughed as well. No one can resist good food forever.

**There was a sudden rustling noise above them, and a hundred owls came soaring through the open windows carrying the morning mail. Instinctively, Harry looked up, but there was no sign of white among the mass of brown and grey. **

"That's right, Harry had written to you, Sirius," Molly said, now frowning slightly.

"You sure are taking your time in replying," Bill nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Sirius said sounding surprised. "I would've thought he gotten it by now. I mean, I sent back a response at once." He suddenly remembered what he wrote in that letter and he shook his head. He wasn't going to look forward to hearing Harry's reaction to that.

**The owls circled the tables, looking for the people to whom their letters and packages were addressed. A large tawny owl soared down to Neville Longbottom and deposited a parcel into his lap - Neville almost always forgot to pack something. On the other side of the Hall Draco Malfoy's eagle owl had landed on his shoulder, carrying what looked like his usual supply of sweets and cakes from home. **

"How much do you all want to bet that he's doing that to show off?" Sirius asked in annoyance.

"No one doubts that, Padfoot," Remus assured him.

Fleur looked up at the name 'Padfoot' and looked to Bill in confusion. As if he knew what she was thinking, he grinned and said, "That was Sirius's old nickname at school."

She nodded in understanding, and flipped the page.

**Trying to ignore the sinking feeling of disappointment in his stomach, Harry returned to his porridge. Was it possible that something had happened to Hedwig, and that Sirius hadn't ****even got his letter?**

_'Sorry, about that Harry,' _Sirius thought silently, hating the feeling that he had disappointed his godson like that. He had wanted to do nothing more than write all the time… he had twelve years of time to catch up on after all, but their communication was now pretty much cut off. Not for the first time, he frowned at the thought of the two-way mirror.

He had given Harry the mirror that James had used when they were kids. Why hasn't he used it by now? For the first couple weeks after Harry left Grimmauld Place, he carried the other mirror with him all the time—expecting Harry to contact him at once. But so far, it's as if Harry hasn't even bothered. Why is that? As more weeks passed, he grew more worried—and still Harry never contacted him. Harry would surely want to be in contact with his godfather, and the two-way mirror was the only safe means of communication left for the two of them.

He wanted to know how Harry was handling Occlumency lessons with Snape. He heard about how mental invasions left the learner feeling weak, sick, and even violated. But with Harry it was sure to be worse since Snape was teaching him. Sirius's repeated attempts to contact Harry through the mirror met with no avail, and Sirius came to the conclusion that Harry must not have even opened it.

That had to be it. If Umbridge had confiscated it she would have figured out what it was eventually and Harry might've been kicked out by now… but why hasn't Harry ever thought to open it? Just thinking about his godson not wanting to talk to him made him feel like curling up in a ball and crying. He dragged himself out of his depressing thoughts as Fleur continued talking in her French accent.

**His preoccupation lasted all the way across the sodden vegetable patch until they arrived in greenhouse three, but here he was distracted by Professor Sprout showing the class the ugliest plants Harry had ever seen. Indeed, they looked less like plants than thick, black, giant slugs, protruding vertically out of the soil. Each was squirming slightly and had a number of large, shiny swellings upon it, which appeared to be full of liquid.**

"'Ow disgusting," Fleur asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Bubotubers," Remus said nodding.

"How do you know?" Molly asked him in surprise.

"I recognize the description," he shrugged simply. "And I also recall the first time I saw them with him," he answered, jerking his thumb at Sirius who was suddenly grinning broadly.

"Do we even want to know what happened?" Molly asked a little exasperated.

"Probably not," he said cheerfully.

"Trust me on this," Remus answered, "It's better off if you don't know. Why Professor Sprout decided to show us something like Bubotubers with him and James in the same room…?" he trailed off.

Outside, Albus was fighting hard not to laugh as he vaguely remembered how disgusted _he_ was when he first saw those things. But he also knew that Bubotubers has always been one of Pomona's favorite plants to start off a year with because she got a kick out of her student's reactions.

**"Bubotubers," Professor Sprout told them briskly. "They need squeezing. You will collect the pus -"**

**"The what?" said Seamus Finnigan, sounding revolted.**

"It does sound rather disgusting when you put it like that," said Tonks thinking it over and Fleur shuddered at the very thought of having something like those in a garden.

**"Pus, Finnigan, pus," said Professor Sprout, "and it's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. You will collect the pus, I say, in these bottles. Wear your dragon-hide gloves; it can do funny things to the skin when undiluted, bubotuber pus." **

**Squeezing the bubotubers was disgusting, **

"Really? Wonder why that is?" Bill muttered sarcastically, which caused Fleur to give him her tinkling laugh.

**but oddly satisfying. As each swelling was popped, a large amount of thick yellowish-green liquid burst forth, which smelled strongly of petrol. They caught it in the bottles as Professor Sprout had indicated, and by the end of the lesson had collected several pints. "This'll keep Madam Pomfrey happy," said Professor Sprout, stoppering the last bottle with a cork. "An excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne, bubotuber pus. Should stop students resorting to desperate measures to rid themselves of pimples."**

**"Like poor Eloise Midgen," said Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff, in a hushed voice. "She tried to ****curse hers off."**

"Why would anyone stick their own wand at their face?" Tonks asked herself. That's what she loved about her powers—she never once had zits.

**"Silly girl," said Professor Sprout, shaking her head. "But Madam Pomfrey fixed her nose back on in the end."**

"There's a lesson she won't soon forget," commented Mad-Eye with a snort. "You need to use a potion for acne, not a hex." But he was also interested when Sprout said Madam Pomfrey put the girl's nose back on … yep, another zapped nose reference.

**A booming bell echoed from the castle across the wet grounds, signalling the end of the lesson, and the class separated; the Hufflepuffs climbing the stone steps for Transfiguration, and the Gryffindors heading in the other direction, down the sloping lawn toward Hagrid's small wooden cabin, which stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.**

"I wonder what animal he has now…?" Tonks asks eagerly. "Hopefully, this first lesson is better than the last one…"

"Something tells me that I'm not going to like it," Molly said anxiously. Sirius could also feel himself becoming tense and started picking at a loose thread in his sleeve.

**Hagrid was standing outside his hut, one hand on the collar of his enormous black ****boarhound, Fang. There were several open wooden crates on the ground at his feet, and Fang was whimpering and straining at his collar, apparently keen to investigate the contents more closely. **

"Is it too much to hope that it's something harmless instead of some horrible monster?" Molly begged, now biting her lower lip.

"Molly," Remus said gently, "This is Hagrid we're talking about…"

"That's what I'm afraid of," she answered nervously.

**As they drew nearer, an odd rattling noise reached their ears, punctuated by what sounded like minor explosions.**

"I really don't like the sound of that," Molly whimpered. "Minor _explosions_?"

"What did Hagrid fine this time?" wondered Sirius, wondering if he could risk paying a trip to Hagrid's hut and having a few chose words with the man about what is considered a monster.

**"Mornin'!" Hagrid said, grinning at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Be'er wait fer the Slytherins, they won' want ter miss this - Blast-Ended Skrewts!"**

"Oh, not zose 'orrible creatures," Fleur shuddered. "I theenk zey might just be ze most awful zings I've ever seen."

"Are they really that bad?" Tonks asked just as Remus cried out incredulously, "What in the world are they?"

"Well, I was just about to ask you that," Sirius said, wondering what on earth the gamekeeper got himself into this time.

"Zey were in ze maze for ze Third Task," Fleur told them and had to fight back to hold the memories at bay. "I 'ad to fight one before I was stunned, and eet was like I was in a nightmare. Nozing I did would work—eet just bounced right off eet's shell."

Bill gave her a sympathetic look and took her hand so his thumb began to stroke it in a comforting way.

"Well, if no one here knows what they really are, there is only one explanation," Kingsley said in his deep, slow voice that calmed them all down.

"That Hagrid bred them," Sirius finished with a grimace. That man better hope that his godson was never hurt in that class…

**"Come again?" said Ron.**

**Hagrid pointed down into the crates.**

**"Eurgh!" squealed Lavender Brown, jumping backward. **

**"Eurgh" just about summed up the Blast-Ended Skrewts in Harry's opinion. **

"Don't let Hagrid hear you say that," Sirius teased.

**They looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, crawling over one another, bumping blindly into the sides of the boxes. **

"I'm guessing that they don't stay that size for long…?" Sirius asked Fleur, already knowing the answer.

"No," she said bitterly. "Zey get huge! Ze one I fought must 'ave been twelve feet long!"

"Terrific," Sirius snarled, now thinking about sending Hagrid something that might explode after all.

"I've never heard of anything like them," Remus said and shared a significant look with Kingsley, who was looking lost in thought. "If I had to guess… they sound like a cross between Manticores and Fire crabs."

"Wonderful," Molly said furiously. "How could Hagrid let children be around… around those… _things_?"

"Because he's Hagrid," Arthur sighed as if that explained everything—which it did.

**They were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt, and with a small _phut_, it would be propelled forward several inches.**

"Yeah, I can see why you aren't too fond of them…" Remus said as Fleur made a face.

**"On'y jus' hatched," said Hagrid proudly, "so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"**

"But if Hagrid just bred them, why would he make a project out of raising them when he doesn't know the first thing about them?" Kingsley asked.

"Is there any reason why they would want to raise them?" sneered Mad-Eye. "Other than feeding champions to them?"

"Quiet!" Fleur snapped at him before turning back to the book grumpily. Mad-Eye on the other hand looked surprised… and impressed at her for that outburst. Anyone who can stand up to him like that was ok in his book.

**"And why would we _want_ to raise them?" said a cold voice.**

"Now, I wonder who that could be?" said Sirius in a mock thoughtful voice.

"Malfoy," Tonks said at once.

"Who?" Fleur asked in mild curiosity, still giving Mad-Eye a dark look.

"A world-class git," Tonks said, her cheerful mood vanishing almost at once. "Trust me, consider yourself lucky that you don't know who he is."

**The Slytherins had arrived. The speaker was Draco Malfoy. **

"Why am I not surprised?" Tonks said disgruntled.

"This kid is really getting on my nerves," Sirius said, just as irritated. "I don't know if I can stomach listening about him for another book. Especially from a book as big as this one."

**Crabbe and Goyle were chuckling appreciatively at his words.**

**Hagrid looked stumped at the question.**

**"I mean, what do they _do_?" asked Malfoy. "What is the _point_ of them?"**

"I hate to say it, but that is a fair question," commented Mad-Eye, his eye spinning in its socket; Fleur eyeing it with disgust.

"Even if Hagrid doesn't know the answer, he should tell him to shove it and then make him work," Tonks said firmly. "Yeah, that'll teach him a thing or two…"

"We know, Dora," Remus said soothing.

"Good, as long as you know," she said shifted to a more comfortable position in her seat. "And don't call me Dora!"

**Hagrid opened his mouth, apparently thinking hard; there was a few seconds' pause, then he said roughly, "Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things - I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer - I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake - just try 'em out with a bit of each."**

"But eesn't that ellegal?" asked Fleur, interrupting herself.

"Well, let's just say that Hagrid will go to any lengths for his pets," Kingsley admitted as they all looked at each other. Each one of them was remembering Norbert and Aragog… all of them privately thinking that the world would be a better place without them.

"Of course no one has any idea what they do if Hagrid only just bred them," Arthur asked suspiciously.

"I just don't like that he's using children to help him figure all this out!" Molly cried out in frustration. "At least do that on your own before you bring them to class."

Albus nodded to himself. Yes, he really did need to have a long talk with Hagrid about what is safe for students and what isn't.

**"First pus and now this," muttered Seamus.**

"You go from squeezing out pus to Hagrid's creation that no one knows about," Sirius nodded in mock contentment. "Well, no one can say that it hasn't been a memorable first day."

**Nothing but deep affection for Hagrid could have made Harry, Ron, and Hermione pick up squelchy handfuls of frog liver and lower them into the crates to tempt the Blast-Ended Skrewts. Harry couldn't suppress the suspicion that the whole thing was entirely pointless, because the Skrewts didn't seem to have mouths.**

"Call me crazy," Tonks said nodding, "But I think that you would need to have a mouth to eat."

"Yeah, I can see the problem," Arthur agreed.

**"Ouch!" yelled Dean Thomas after about ten minutes. "It got me."**

"What does he mean by _got_ him?" Molly asked turning a little green.

**Hagrid hurried over to him, looking anxious.**

**"Its end exploded!" said Dean angrily, showing Hagrid a burn on his hand.**

"So these things _explode_?" Molly almost screamed.

"You don't know ze 'alf of it," Fleur muttered darkly, now starting to become a little tired of all the interruptions.

**"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," said Hagrid, nodding.**

"And he has a whole bunch of children near them?" Molly repeated with wide eyes. "Just what is wrong with that man?"

**"Eurgh!" said Lavender Brown again. "Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?"**

**"Ah, some of 'em have got stings," said Hagrid enthusiastically (Lavender quickly withdrew her hand from the box). **

"I really don't blame 'er," Fleur nodded resolutely.

**"I reckon they're the males … the females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies … I think they might be ter suck blood."**

"Sounds like my kind of creatures," Mad-Eye smirked.

They all looked up at him. "You know I'm really starting to worry about you, Mad-Eye," Tonks told him.

"What?" he asked coolly. "What's wrong with an older man enjoying such interesting monsters?"

They only continued to give him worried looks until Fleur got tired of waiting and continued to read the next two lines.

**"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Malfoy sarcastically. ****"Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"**

"Hagrid," everyone but Mad-Eye and Fleur said in response.

"As much as it pains me to say it… he has a point," Sirius said sounding slightly disgusted that he was agreeing with someone with _Malfoy_ in their name.

**"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione snapped. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, ****would you?"**

"While I agree completely with Hermione," said Sirius raising his eyebrows, "I have the feeling that she only said that to shut him up."

"Good enough for me," Tonks said.

"That's all very well but I highly doubt these Skrewts have any other purpose but to attack others," Remus said.

"Hopefully Hagrid will leave off with cross-breeding for awhile," Bill shrugged.

**Harry and Ron grinned at Hagrid, who gave them a furtive smile from behind his bushy beard. Hagrid would have liked nothing better than a pet dragon, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew only too well - he had owned one for a brief period during their first year, a vicious Norwegian Ridgeback by the name of Norbert. **

"'E did what?" Fleur asked startled.

"When we take a break, I'll tell you," Bill promised her. "I couldn't believe it when I first heard. I mean… I was really starting to worry about his sanity when I read the first book."

Fleur just shook her head incredulously. Now Madam Maxime had a soft spot for wild creatures such as her winged horses, but she always made sure that they were properly cared for and handled so that no one would have to worry about them getting out of hand.

**Hagrid simply loved monstrous creatures, the more lethal, the better.**

"Don't remind me," Molly said through gritted teeth.

"Truer words I never heard," Bill said smiling while his mother groaned again.

**"Well, at least the Skrewts are small," said Ron as they made their way back up to the castle for lunch an hour later.**

**"They are now," said Hermione in an exasperated voice, "but once Hagrid's found out what they eat, I expect they'll be six feet long."**

"Hagrid does have this thing for… er… I guess I should say _exotic_ beasts," Remus said, feeling that it was the kindest thing he could've said. "But for some reason, Newt Scamander doesn't list Skrewts of any kind in _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. There's a difference to being a professional and able to care for creatures, and breeding them."

"Of course you would have that book memorized," Sirius teased.

Remus shrugged in a rather helpless way and Fleur glanced up at him. She could understand how he felt—well to a certain degree anyway. After all, she was four-quarters veela, and knew what it felt like to be treated differently. She smiled a little brighter at Remus before she read out the next sentence.

**"Well, that won't matter if they turn out to cure seasickness or something, will it?" said ****Ron, grinning slyly at her.**

"As nice as a cure for sea sickness would be, I think it would be for the best if we quietly got rid of the Skrewts before they get out of control," Arthur whispered to himself.

**"You know perfectly well I only said that to shut Malfoy up," said Hermione. "As a matter of fact I think he's right. The best thing to do would be to stamp on the lot of them before they start attacking us all."**

"She _agrees_ with Malfoy?!" cried Tonks in horror. "What is the world coming to?"

"What is so wrong wiz Malfoy?" Fleur asked baffled at them.

Sirius and Tonks groaned. "He's our cousin and let's just leave it at that," Sirius said bitterly.

"That's an understatement," Tonks agreed sourly. "Thank god we don't have to go to any family reunions."

**They sat down at the Gryffindor table and helped themselves to lamb chops and potatoes. Hermione began to eat so fast that Harry and Ron stared at her.**

"So Hermione is now the one eating like it's her last mean instead of Ron?" Arthur asked with a laugh. "I wonder what this is about."

**"Er - is this the new stand on elf rights?" said Ron. "You're going to make yourself puke instead?"**

"Which would just make them feel incredibly guilty," Kingsley said dryly.

"They'd think it was their fault," Sirius added nodding.

**"No," said Hermione, with as much dignity as she could muster with her mouth bulging with sprouts. "I just want to get to the library."**

"Now that is just sad," Sirius said shaking his head. "They don't even have homework and she wants to spend her first day in the library!"

"There's nothing wrong with studying, Padfoot," Remus told him. "Better than what you got into at school."

"But, Remus at least we had fun!" he whined. "I have something to look back on and smile. Who wants to look back to their school days and remember the times that you studied? Other than you of course."

"Shut it," Remus warned, though he had to admit that he did look back with a smile on his face at all the fun times rather than the time spent in the library.

**"_What_?" said Ron in disbelief. "Hermione - it's the first day back! We haven't even got homework yet!"**

**Hermione shrugged and continued to shovel down her food as though she had not eaten for days. Then she leapt to her feet, said, "See you at dinner!" and departed at high speed.**

"Really?" Sirius laughed. "Come on Hermione. Believe it or not, the books aren't going to run away… sure they have a habit of flying away…"

**When the bell rang to signal the start of afternoon lessons, Harry and Ron set off for North Tower where, at the top of a tightly spiralling staircase, a silver stepladder led to a circular trapdoor in the ceiling, and the room where Professor Trelawney lived.**

"And another year of being told you're going to die," Tonks sighed, already feeling tired.

**The familiar sweet perfume spreading from the fire met their nostrils as they emerged at the top of the stepladder. As ever, the curtains were all closed; the circular room was bathed in a dim reddish light cast by the many lamps, which were all draped with scarves and shawls. Harry and Ron walked through the mass of occupied chintz chairs and poufs that cluttered the room, and sat down at the same small circular table.**

"Why do I feel that she's over-killing it?" Mad-Eye said wryly.

"Oh, she's just trying to get an effect so that people are more likely to believe her predictions," Molly huffed.

**"Good day," said the misty voice of Professor Trelawney right behind Harry, making him jump.**

"I don't blame him," Sirius said grimly. "And we know that you would hate to have someone behind you, Mad-Eye."

"If you have something to say, Black…" he warned.

"Sorry, can't hear you," he said loudly, drowning out his voice. Fleur looked over at Bill and whispered to him, "Ees 'e always zis way?"

He nodded in an almost helpless way. "Don't worry, you get used to it."

Fleur somehow doubted this but she just decided to go on.

**A very thin woman with enormous glasses that made her eyes appear far too large for her face, Professor Trelawney was peering down at Harry with the tragic expression she always wore whenever she saw him. **

"Dramatic isn't she?" Arthur asked serenely, and earning a few chuckles.

**The usual large amount of beads, chains, and bangles glittered upon her person in the firelight.**

**"You are preoccupied, my dear," she said mournfully to Harry. "My inner eye sees past your brave face to the troubled soul within. And I regret to say that your worries are not baseless. I see difficult times ahead for you, alas… most difficult… I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass… and perhaps sooner than you think…"**

"Actually, I feel that might be a pretty decent guess," Kingsley said slowly. "I mean Harry was forced to compete in the Triwizard Tournament and he was dreading the thought of Voldemort returning."

"Yes," Molly said stiffly, as though she was agreeing against her will. "But that could be misinterpreted in any number of ways. She isn't very clear about it."

**Her voice dropped almost to a whisper. Ron rolled his eyes at Harry, who looked stonily ****back. **

**Professor Trelawney swept past them and seated herself in a large winged armchair before the fire, facing the class. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who deeply admired Professor Trelawney, were sitting on poufs very close to her.**

"How could you admire someone like that?" Sirius asked resentfully.

"Everyone has their own tastes," Arthur suggested evenly.

**"My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars," she said. "The movements of the planets ****and the mysterious portents they reveal only to those who understand the steps of the celestial dance. Human destiny may be deciphered by the planetary rays, which intermingle…"**

"Why not just ask the centaurs?" Tonks whispered to Remus who smiled widely. "I'm sure that they would pass that easy."

**But Harry's thoughts had drifted. The perfumed fire always made him feel sleepy and dull-witted, and Professor Trelawney's rambling talks on fortune-telling never held him exactly spellbound - though he couldn't help thinking about what she had just said to him. _'I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass… '_**

"Why does 'e even bozzer worrying about what she says if she ees a fraud?" Fleur asked looking up at them in confusion.

"According to Dumbledore, she made two predictions," Remus informed her.

"Well, zat's not much to go by," Fleur told them.

Albus shook his head, he's eyes shining with sadness. How very wrong they all were.

**But Hermione was right, Harry thought irritably, Professor Trelawney really was an old fraud. He wasn't dreading anything at the moment at all… well, unless you counted his fears that Sirius had been caught… but what did Professor Trelawney know? He had long since come to the conclusion that her brand of fortunetelling was really no more than lucky ****guesswork and a spooky manner.**

"Keep up, Harry," Sirius teased. "I mean, even I knew that when we heard about the first lesson."

"What 'appened?" Fleur asked again, earning a disgruntled growl from Mad-Eye—whom she just ignored.

"She kept telling Harry that he had a grim in his tea cup," Molly said heatedly. "And ever since then, she's been predicting his death every time she saw him."

Remus on the other hand chuckled. "Though to be fair, I suppose she wasn't completely wrong about that. I mean," he looked over at Sirius and finished by saying, "You aren't exactly the friendliest dog I've ever seen."

Sirius seemed to have taken that as a personal insult and, to prove a point, transformed. While Bill had told her about Sirius, Fleur still let out a scream as the large black dog appeared on the sofa.

"Don't worry," Bill quickly assured her. "It's just Sirius."

"I know zat!" she said, sounding startled. "I just didn't see eet coming!"

"Aww," Tonks cooed and began to pet Sirius's mangy fur. "Why can't you sit like this all the time? I think I like you better as a mutt."

Even more insulted than before, Sirius transformed and gave her a peeved look. "Well…" he said offended. "If you feel that way, then fine… I'll be sticking around like this."

Tonks could only laugh as she hugged him. "Why can't you be this cheerful all the time? You're a real laugh."

"I wish I could," he told her a little sadly. He glanced up at the ceiling again, wishing now more than ever that he could be allowed to leave and try to return to some sense of self. Once Fleur got over the shock, she took several deep breaths before she could go on.

**Except, of course, for that time at the end of last term, when she had made the prediction about Voldemort rising again… and Dumbledore himself had said that he thought that ****trance had been genuine, when Harry had described it to him.**

"What?" Fleur said in surprise.

Bill quickly whispered, "Later, I promise."

**"Harry!" Ron muttered.**

**"What?"**

**Harry looked around; the whole class was staring at him. He sat up straight; he had been almost dozing off, lost in the heat and his thoughts.**

"Just like you, Sirius," Remus whispered to him under his breath. "I can't even begin to recall all the times you fell asleep in class…"

Sirius could only grin back. "I needed all the beauty sleep I could get, Moony," he whispered back.

**"I was saying, my dear, that you were clearly born under the baleful influence of Saturn," said Professor Trelawney, a faint note of resentment in her voice at the fact that he had obviously not been hanging on her words.**

**"Born under - what, sorry?" said Harry.**

"You know… Saturn, Harry," Tonks repeated as if she were speaking to a little kid. "It's the sixth planet from the sun and is the one with the rings…"

**"Saturn, dear, the planet Saturn!" said Professor Trelawney, sounding definitely irritated that he wasn't riveted by this news. "I was saying that Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your birth… your dark hair… your mean stature … tragic losses so young in life… I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in ****midwinter?"**

"More like midsummer," Sirius laughed. "She's off by around six months."

But outside Albus froze at that last paragraph. Sybill may have thought she had been describing Harry, but it sounded to him like she had described Tom Riddle… Tom once had dark hair and his mother only lived long enough to name him… and had been born at the very end of December. Is it possible that she got the wrong boy…?

"Mean stature? 'Arry?" Fleur asked with a roll of her eyes. "'E 'as always been so polite…" It only made her feel more ashamed that she had given him such a hard time before the Second Task. She shifted guiltily in her seat, and made a mental note to apologize to him again when she next saw him.

**"No," said Harry, "I was born in July."**

"You tell her Harry," said Sirius smugly. "So everyone knows she doesn't have a clue to what she's saying."

**Ron hastily turned his laugh into a hacking cough.**

**Half an hour later, each of them had been given a complicated circular chart, and was attempting to fill in the position of the planets at their moment of birth. It was dull work, requiring much consultation of timetables and calculation of angles.**

**"I've got two Neptunes here," said Harry after a while, frowning down at his piece of ****parchment, "that can't be right, can it?"**

"No, that _can't_ be right," Bill said chuckling. "Last I checked, there was only _one_ Neptune."

"Says who?" Sirius said waving at him as if getting rid of a fly. "I think it would be cool if new planets kept popping up all the time."

**"Aaaaah," said Ron, imitating Professor Trelawney's mystical whisper, "when two Neptunes appear in the sky, it is a sure sign that a midget in glasses is being born, Harry…"**

Everyone laughed again.

"Classic, Ron," Bill said fondly at the thought of his youngest brother.

**Seamus and Dean, who were working nearby, sniggered loudly, though not loudly enough to mask the excited squeals from Lavender Brown - "Oh Professor, look! I think I've got an unaspected planet! Oooh, which one's that, Professor?"**

**"It is Uranus, my dear," said Professor Trelawney, peering down at the chart.**

**"Can I have a look at Uranus too, Lavender?" said Ron.**

"Ronald Weasley!" Molly yelled while the boys laughed and the other two women, rolled their eyes. Mad-Eye sat back looking bored, while Kingsley and Remus were sitting there patiently—though admittedly there were smirks on their faces as well."

"Eet's not zat funny," Fleur agreed coldly.

"Yeah, it was a really lame joke," Sirius said shaking his head. "Come on, Ron. That gag gets old real fast and for some reason, people get offended by it."

"I see you haven't matured from the mind of a fourteen-year-old, Black," Mad-Eye growled.

"Shame to see that you still don't have a sense of humor," Sirius retorted.

**Most unfortunately, Professor Trelawney heard him, and it was this, perhaps, that made her give them so much homework at the end of the class.**

"Tut, tut, Ron," Sirius shook his head in disappointment.

"Trust Ron to get them even more homework," Bill said with a jerk of the head. "Typical… that does sound like something he would do."

**"A detailed analysis of the way the planetary movements in the coming month will affect you, with reference to your personal chart," she snapped, sounding much more like Professor McGonagall than her usual airy-fairy self. "I want it ready to hand in next Monday, and no excuses!"**

"Sure, Ron turns an easy teacher into a McGonagall…" Sirius said in horror. "What have you done, Ron?"

**"Miserable old bat," said Ron bitterly as they joined the crowds descending the staircases back to the Great Hall and dinner. "That'll take all weekend, that will…"**

**"Lots of homework?" said Hermione brightly, catching up with them. "Professor Vector didn't give us any at all!"**

"I don't think that would have helped," commented Remus dryly.

"But I think that she's enjoying it for once," Tonks teased. "She had so much work from the year before this one, she must like the chance to see them working instead."

**"Well, bully for Professor Vector," said Ron moodily.**

**They reached the entrance hall, which was packed with people queuing for dinner. They had just joined the end of the line, when a loud voice rang out behind them.**

**"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"**

"What now?" Molly sighed. Why was it they only started reading and she was already tired?

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing there, each ****looking thoroughly pleased about something.**

"Can't he just leave them alone?" Sirius groaned. "I mean, doesn't he have a life outside of following and finding ways to torment my godson?"

"I don't suppose they do," Arthur said in frustration.

**"What?" said Ron shortly.**

**"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" said Malfoy, brandishing a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and speaking very loudly, so that everyone in the packed entrance hall could hear. "Listen to this!"**

Molly glared angrily at the book as Fleur went on—her own frown becoming more pronounced and Bill was looking furious.

**_FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC_**

"Can't argue with that," said Sirius casually. "That's all the Ministry can make anymore—that or covering up their mistakes and pretending that they never happened."

**_It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end,_**** writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent_. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold _****_Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."_**

"_Arnold_?" repeated Arthur through gritted teeth.

"It's Arthur," Molly almost growled, longing to swat Skeeter like a bug.

"Does she get ze names wrong on purpoze?" Fleur asked with a heavy frown as the others were looking angry on Arthur's behalf. "Just because she knows eet'll get a rise from ozzers?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," Remus answered grimly.

"She's going to get herself in trouble one of these days if she's not careful," Kingsley said shaking his head. "One day she'll end up going too far and someone will make it personal."

"Oh, here's hoping for it," Sirius grunted and crossed his fingers.

**Malfoy looked up.**

**"Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?" he crowed.**

"Why that little…!" Tonks cried while the others let out similar shouts of anger. Molly was too angry to yell and even Albus felt the urge to lecture the boy.

**Everyone in the entrance hall was listening now. Malfoy straightened the paper with a flourish and read on:**

**_Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, _**

"Oh, I'm sure that he had plenty of dark artifacts stashed around that mausoleum of his," Sirius said remembering the second book with hatred.

"I only hope that they're nothing like the diary," Arthur whispered to himself bitterly, thinking along the same lines, as Fleur continued.

**_was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. _**

"Is that really what people think about me?" Mad-Eye asked lightly, and looking mildly interested.

"You are paranoid but you have a reason to be paranoid," Tonks said heatedly.

"Funny," he said, his eye fixing itself on her. "You say things like that all the time."

"Only _I'm_ allowed to get away with calling you mad," she said firmly. "Anyone else is just a bug."

**_Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer _****Daily Prophet_ questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene._**

"You mean the fact that he's actually doing his job, rather than trying to cover it up and say it didn't happen?" asked Sirius sarcastically. "Oh, now _that_ is a tragedy. What is the world coming to?"

**"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house - if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"**

Everyone glared at the book and this time it was Arthur who was angry. "How dare he…don't listen to a word that spoiled child says, Molly," he said darkly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a comforting way.

Bill looked just as angry as his father and took Fleur's hand again to calm himself down. While Fleur didn't really know his parents all that well, she felt herself getting worked up for insulting the people that Bill loved. She squeezed his hand back tightly, silently trying to let him know that she was there with him before she went on with a glower.

**Ron was shaking with fury. Everyone was staring at him.**

**"Get stuffed, Malfoy," said Harry. "C'mon, Ron…"**

"That's good he is trying to diffuse the situation, and avoid unnecessary confrontations," Remus said. "The last thing we need is for them to get into trouble on their first day."

"I think that with puss, Skrewts, death omens, and now Malfoy—I think that they're already in trouble," Sirius said in a grouchy way. "Why not just punch him? I think that it would make them feel better if nothing else…"

"And you wonder why you were always in detention," Remus sighed fondly.

**"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter?" sneered Malfoy. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"**

"That kid is so dead…" Mad-Eye confirmed. You can say a lot to a boy… but insulting their mother is the one thing that you don't do unless you want to get beaten to a pulp. His eye looked at Sirius—well, most boys anyway.

**"You know _your_ mother, Malfoy?" said Harry - both he and Hermione had grabbed the back of Ron's robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy - "that expression she's got, ****like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?"**

Everyone laughed rather unkindly at that.

"That's a good one," Tonks laughed. "I need to remember that."

"I thought that's a fair question," commented Sirius beaming. "She only wears that face when she's near people she doesn't like."

"So you mean that she's always like that?" Tonks asked brightly.

Mad-Eye was shaking his head again. "You think Malfoy would've learnt by now that bragging and taunting always leads to failure. Not everyone is going to sit back and take it. What did he think was going to happen?"

"That they were just going to sit back and take it?" Sirius suggested off-handed.

"Don't you ever shut up?" Mad-Eye asked him grumpily.

**Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink. "Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter."**

"Don't you dare insult ours then," Bill said glowering before shooting his parents a look of furious pride.

"Oh, so he can dish it out, but he can't take it," Sirius said scathingly.

"So 'e theenks 'e ees allowed to insult zeir parents, but 'Arry esn't allowed to insult 'is? Zat is hardly fair," commented Fleur in agreement.

"He didn't think that anyone would stand up to him because of who he is," Mad-Eye said rolling his eyes in disgust.

**"Keep your fat mouth shut, then," said Harry, turning away.**

**BANG!**

"He did not try and attack him when he was hit back turned," Mad-Eye said angrily. "He's a coward, just like his father if you ask me."

"He tried to curse him!?" Sirius roared dangerously and his claw-like hands gripped the arm of the couch so hard that he tore into the fabric. "Did he just try to hex my godson? Oh, wait until I get out of this house, I'll have him…"

"What did he do?" Molly fretted anxiously.

Kingsley shook his head. "Draco can dish it out, but he sure changes his tune when someone stands up to him doesn't he? This here is a little insight to the boy's mind. When he gets angry, it's like he's reduced to the mentality of an angry five year old who doesn't want to go to bed."

"That's what happens when you spoil your kids," Mad-Eye answered as if it was obvious. "They think that throwing a tantrum and destroying something will get them what they want."

**Several people screamed - Harry felt something white hot graze the side of his face - he plunged his hand into his robes for his wand, but before he'd even touched it, he heard a second loud BANG, and a roar that echoed through the entrance hall.**

**"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"**

"It seems your copy was nearby," commented Sirius. "I only hope he got Malfoy good…"

"Only wish _I_ could've done it myself," Mad-Eye answered coolly.

"You think that a Death Eater wouldn't attack another Death Eater's son?" Bill asked.

"You're forgetting who you're dealing with," Sirius said annoyed. "Barty Jr. thought that he was Voldemort's favorite. That all the other Death Eaters were beneath him. No, he wouldn't have a problem attacking a Malfoy."

"Well, one good point about him doesn't change my opinion about him," Mad-Eye growled.

**Harry spun around. Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase. His wand was out and it was pointing right at a pure white ferret, which was shivering on the stone-****flagged floor, exactly where Malfoy had been standing. **

Everyone stared at the book in silence. Then they all started laughing, and it was like a dam broke.

"He… turned… him… into… a ferret," Sirius choked out laughing hard. "Oh, my ribs…! I'd kill to have seen that!"

"That was bloody brilliant," Tonks gasped for air, and wiped a few tears away. The others were laughing at the touch of quiet justice that Malfoy had coming for so long.

"I know I shouldn't laugh," Fleur said giggling madly. "But I can't 'elp it."

"Don't be sorry," Sirius said waving his hand down at her. "Doing something like this to him is something I wanted to do since I first heard his name."

It took several long minutes for them all to calm down enough for Fleur to get control enough to read again.

**There was a terrified silence in the entrance hall. Nobody but Moody was moving a muscle. Moody turned to look at Harry — at least, his normal eye was looking at Harry; the other one was pointing into the back of his head.**

**"Did he get you?" Moody growled. His voice was low and gravelly.**

"He better not have!" Sirius exclaimed, his good mood and his grin fading a little at that.

**"No," said Harry, "missed."**

"Damn lucky for him," Sirius said, viciously. "If he hurt so much as one hair on his head…"

"You're actually starting to sound like some mother hen, Sirius," Tonks teased and Sirius retaliated by shoving her closer to Remus.

"Watch it," he warned. "I happen to remember a few things about you so unless you want me to spill them to everyone else…"

"Geez," Tonks said, taking a hint. "Someone's in a bad mood."

**"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted.**

"Leave what?" Molly asked confused.

"'E's not talking to 'Arry," Fleur told her and went on.

**"Leave - what?" Harry said, bewildered.**

**"Not you - him!" Moody growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Crabbe, who had just frozen, about to pick up the white ferret. It seemed that Moody's rolling eye was magical and could see out of the back of his head.**

"It can," Mad-Eye smirked and his eye spun around so that they could only see the whiteness. "Very helpful too I might add."

"But it ees also disgusting!" Fleur told him sternly before holding up the book. Mad-Eye could only smirk. He can see that as long she kept her mouth shut about any secrets, he was going to get along just fine with her.

**Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, which gave a terrified squeak ****and took off, streaking toward the dungeons.**

"This isn't going to end well," predicted Kingsley with a small smile.

**"I don't think so!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again - it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more.**

**"I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. **

"I know it's not you," Molly said as she winced. "But _is_ that something you would do to a child?"

"Child?" he grunted. "Doesn't sound like a child to me. Even if I couldn't have done it, someone had to give him a lesson he won't soon regret."

**"Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do…"**

"All in all, requirements for a Death Eater," said Tonks cheerfully, glad that Malfoy had gotten what he'd been asking for years.

"Pretty much sums the Malfoys up," Bill said.

"You have to admit, Moody," Kingsley said to him. "His guy sure plays you well."

"Be careful Kingsley," he warned grumpily. It was bad enough that he had to listen to the imposter scum go around acting like him—but why did they have to keep reminding him?

**The ferret flew through the air, its legs and tail flailing helplessly. **

**"Never - do - that - again -" said Moody, speaking each word as the ferret hit the stone floor and bounced upward again.**

**"Professor Moody!" said a shocked voice.**

**Professor McGonagall was coming down the marble staircase with her arms full of books.**

"No, now she's gonna turn Malfoy back," Tonks moaned.

"And just when it was getting good," moaned Sirius. "Come on McGonagall!"

While Molly didn't feel so bad that Malfoy was being punished, she did have to admit that this was going a little too far, and was silently relieved that Minerva put a stop to it.

**"Hello, Professor McGonagall," said Moody calmly, bouncing the ferret still higher.**

"Scary thing is," Tonks snorted, "That does sound like something you _would_ do, Mad-Eye. Yeah, I can see you turning someone into a ferret and then calmly explaining what you're doing to someone."

"Shut it or that someone will be you," he warned her again, and raised his wand threateningly.

**"What - what are you doing?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret's progress through the air.**

**"Teaching," said Moody.**

"I suppose that is one way to put it," commented Remus wryly.

Sirius grinned again. "I think Malfoy finally learned something from school. It's best not to hex someone when a teacher is looking… only took him four years to get that."

"It's something he needed to learn," Mad-Eye told them all, now wishing for the chapter to end. The less he heard about his imposter, the happier he'll be.

"Ironic that this lesson came from a Death Eater in disguise," Arthur said quietly.

"He needed to keep up appearances, Dad," Bill reminded him.

**"Teach - Moody, _is that a student_?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms.**

**"Yep," said Moody.**

"Doesn't even stop," Kingsley said with a chuckle. "Now I see why no one wanted to believe that something was wrong… because it was the 'ferret' that did it. This was how this 'Moody' won our trust, and demonstrated contempt for people who don't play fair, so we assumed he played fairly and was trustworthy."

"Don't trust everything you see," Mad-Eye said grumpily.

**"No!" cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blond hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. **

"Ha, serves him right," Sirius said triumphantly. "If he hadn't been a lowlife Death Eater, I would've shaken his hand."

"I don't think he'll be forgetting that for a long, long time," Remus nodded.

**He got to his feet, wincing.**

**"Moody, we _never_ use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"**

Kingsley shook his head fondly. No, Alastor Moody never did follow guidelines. Attack first, and ask questions later… one of the reasons he lived this long with all those enemies after him for revenge.

**"He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly, **

Albus held back a sigh as he stared at the wall in front of him. Actually, Albus had told the _real_ Alastor Moody… he never said anything otherwise to this fake… this wolf in sheep's clothing.

**"but I thought a good sharp shock -"**

**"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"**

_'Which isn't going to do much when Severus Snape is offender's Head of House,'_ Arthur thought dully. Only a handful of people can make Severus do anything, and he looked out for his Slytherins even though it would be for their best interests to be punished.

**"I'll do that, then," said Moody, staring at Malfoy with great dislike.**

**Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently ****up at Moody and muttered something in which the words "my father" were distinguishable.**

"_My father will hear about this__,_" guessed Sirius in a mocking tone as everyone but Fleur nodded in agreement. "Go head, I'd love to see him whine to daddy about this. It will only make the situation worse for him. It'll only get daddy in trouble and no one will take a kid seriously who goes and cries to someone else like a baby."

"Like his father could do anything against Moody anyway, even if it is an imposter," Tonks said, trying to hide the pride for her mentor in her voice.

"I don't care what his scum of a father thinks anyway," Moody growled. "I'm only sorry that I was in my trunk at the time. Though I can say this much…" he added proudly. "I can't be bought."

"Good for you, Moody," Fleur said as she flipped another page. "I only started 'earing about zese little boy and 'e is making me angry."

"Get used to it," Sirius grunted.

**"Oh yeah?" said Moody quietly, limping forward a few steps, the dull clunk of his wooden leg echoing around the hall. "Well, I know your father of old, boy… You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son… you tell him that from me… Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"**

**"Yes," said Malfoy resentfully.**

**"Another old friend," growled Moody.**

"I like how he used the world 'friend'," Mad-Eye growled. "Though that's being polite. I can think of many other words for him…"

**"I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape… come on, you…"**

"That won't be a pretty conversation," said Remus, wondering what on earth could've been said in the dungeon.

**And he seized Malfoy's upper arm and marched him off toward the dungeons.**

**Professor McGonagall stared anxiously after them for a few moments, then waved her wand at her fallen books, causing them to soar up into the air and back into her arms.**

"Like it never even happened…" Bill said shaking his head. "Wow."

"Just another day at Hogwarts," Sirius said shrugging.

**"Don't talk to me," Ron said quietly to Harry and Hermione as they sat down at the Gryffindor table a few minutes later, surrounded by excited talk on all sides about what had just happened.**

**"Why not?" said Hermione in surprise.**

**"Because I want to fix that in my memory forever," said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret."**

"Wish I could've seen it for real," Sirius muttered as he closed his own eyes and tried to picture it. "Damn, the one time you need Creevey and his camera around…"

**Harry and Hermione both laughed, and Hermione began doling beef casserole onto each of their plates.**

**"He could have really hurt Malfoy, though," she said. "It was good, really, that Professor McGonagall stopped it -"**

"Are you crazy?" asked Sirius in outrage and his eyes snapped open, "That is probably only one of the very few times that the prat will get what he deserved!"

"He could've also been hurt," Molly said sounding torn. "As much as I think that child needs to have some discipline, I still think that there was a chance there could've been permanent damage."

"Don't know," Sirius grumbled and added only to himself, "Don't care."

**"Hermione!" said Ron furiously, his eyes snapping open again, "you're ruining the best moment of my life!"**

"_That _was the best moment of his life?" Molly said surprised, and a little concerned. "Watching someone get turned into a ferret?!"

"I think that he meant it was the best moment he's had since he met Malfoy," Kingsley said. "I think that after a day like that one, he would be feeling like that."

Still looking concerned, but a little more satisfied, she nodded.

**Hermione made an impatient noise and began to eat at top speed again.**

"Is she going to the library again?" asked Remus, sounding surprised.

"Apparently," Kingsley answered and Fleur read a few lines ahead and nodded.

**"Don't tell me you're going back to the library this evening?" said Harry, watching her.**

**"Got to," said Hermione thickly. "Loads to do."**

"But it's the first day," protested Sirius horror-struck. "I mean, she doesn't even have homework to do! Why would she…?"

"Let me read, and we'll find out," Fleur told him coldly and he rolled his eyes. Bill had to hide the smile as she went back to where she left off, "Zere ees only 'alf a page left anyway."

**"But you told us Professor Vector -"**

**"It's not schoolwork," she said. Within five minutes, she had cleared her plate and departed. No sooner had she gone than her seat was taken by Fred Weasley.**

**"Moody!" he said. "How cool is he?"**

The real Moody smiled a little at that, but then frowned at the idea of them complemented to that liar. Tonks noticed this and trying to cheer him up by saying, "But he does act like you. So they think you're cool."

"You're really not helping," he barked at her as he glowered at the ceiling.

**"Beyond cool," said George, sitting down opposite Fred. **

"Doesn't that make you feel all warm inside?" Sirius teased him, but quickly turned away as an angry magical eye turned and fixed itself on him almost threateningly.

**"Supercool," said the twins' best friend, Lee Jordan, sliding into the seat beside George. "We had him this afternoon," he told Harry and Ron.**

**"What was it like?" said Harry eagerly.**

**Fred, George, and Lee exchanged looks full of meaning.**

**"Never had a lesson like it," said Fred.**

_'Is that a good thing?'_ Molly thought anxiously, now suddenly afraid of what they had been teaching her children.

**"He _knows_, man," said Lee.**

**"Knows what?" said Ron, leaning forward.**

**"Knows what it's like to be out there doing it," said George impressively.**

**"Doing what?" said Harry.**

**"Fighting the Dark Arts," said Fred.**

"Of course you do," said Tonks precisely and rolled her brown eyes, "You weren't the best Auror the Ministry ever had for nothing. And I doubt there are many people out there who could no more about fighting the dark arts."

"I have been for years," he said, slightly surprised that she had complemented him like that. "Nice to know that I'm loved," he added with a gagging sound.

She grinned back at him before she jumped up and hugged him. He shoved her off and snapped, "Watch it! You want someone to hug? Hug wolf-boy over there!"

Remus turned crimson as Tonks went back to her seat with a pout, but smiled vindictively when her eyes spotted Remus.

Fleur blinked in surprise before she whispered to Bill, "Are zey togezer?"

He shrugged. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "I can see that they both care a lot about each other, but Remus has always been very careful about letting people in. I don't know what their relationship is."

"Well," she said as she watched the way the red in Remus's cheeks grew when he looked at Tonks. The others were all laughing softly at them—and even Mad-Eye seemed to be fighting a smile—though his magical eye seemed to be fixed fiercely on Remus. They didn't pay much attention to what she and Bill were saying. "I theenk zat zey are so sweet togezer."

Bill chuckled at her and the others, one by one, turned their attentions back to her. She looked down and was glad to see that it was almost over.

**"He's seen it all," said George.**

"Not sure if that's a good thing," Moody said to himself.

**"Mazing," said Lee.**

**Ron dived into his bag for his schedule.**

**"We haven't got him 'til Thursday!" he said in a disappointed voice.**

"Wow, that's a first," said Bill as Fleur sighed in relief that it was done. "Ron eager for a class."

"Ze chapter's over," she said and held it out. "And zank goodness for zat. I'm not sure I like zis."

"Some chapters are better than others," Arthur told her reassuringly. "Maybe the next one will be better."

"Not sure if you can top turning Malfoy into a ferret," Sirius said brightly as Remus reached over and took the book from Fleur.

"I'll read next, shall I?" he asked the room at large.

When no one disagreed, he looked down and felt the color leave his face. "**Chapter 14: The Unforgivable Curses**."


	18. The Unforgivable Curses

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 17: The Unforgivable Curses**

When no one disagreed, he looked down and felt the color leave his face. "**Chapter 14: The Unforgivable Curses**."

There was nothing but stunned silence at that. No one dared to say a word and the silence seemed to be echoing around them. Remus stared at the image of the spider being stuck with a spell… he had a very good idea what spell it was…

"What?" Fleur said shocked that they would be hearing about the curses.

"It just means that the fake Mad-Eye will be teaching them," Kingsley assured her.

"You mean they were shown those curses in class?" Molly said shocked. "But they are only fourth years. Surely they're too young for things like that?"

"A Dark wizard won't think like that though," said Mad-Eye darkly.

**The next two days passed without great incident, unless you counted Neville melting his sixth cauldron in Potions.**

"Wow, his sixth and he's only a fourth year?" Sirius said in surprise. He glanced at Remus and said, "Even you weren't that bad."

"You were bad at a subject?" Bill asked in surprise. He had thought that he had been one of those perfect mark students.

Remus shrugged. "We can't excel in every subject. But for me, Potions had always been my worst easily. I melted at least one cauldron every year."

"Wow," Arthur said chuckling. "You learn something new about your friends every day."

**Professor Snape, who seemed to have attained new levels of vindictiveness over the summer, **

"Of course he did," Sirius said coldly, his good mood turning sour. "Though personally, I don't see how that's even possible…"

**gave Neville detention, and Neville returned from it in a state of nervous collapse, having been made to disembowel a barrel full of horned toads.**

"Eugh," Fleur said wrinkling her nose.

"Neville would probably be better in Potions if it wasn't Snape such a git," Sirius said grumpily. "If he actually did his job and didn't waste his time scaring the kid—or better yet, was taught by someone else—he would probably do much better, considering how well he's doing in Herbology."

"Poor Neville," Molly sighed. "This was probably especially hard on him."

"Snape's also the last person to be judging someone on how many cauldrons you can melt," Sirius suddenly smirked. "He loved experimenting remember, Moony? He melted a cauldron almost every month as he tried out all different ways to make potions."

"He did?" Tonks said in astonishment. "I don't believe it!"

Remus nodded. "Severus did love to try out new things…"

**"You know why Snape's in such a foul mood, don't you?" said Ron to Harry as they watched Hermione teaching Neville a Scouring Charm to remove the frog guts from under his ****fingernails.**

"Probably because he didn't get the job again and he's still sore that I escaped the dementors once again," Sirius grinned. "Other than all that, I thought that Snape was always in a foul mood." He wasn't happy… Hogwarts was meant to be a place that Harry could act like a kid and happy, not being bullied by teachers.

He didn't care what Dumbledore said, he was never going to trust Snape for his treatment of Harry. If he insisted on holding a grudge, then he should be man enough to take it out on _him_… not a kid who hasn't done a thing to deserve this kind of behavior.

**"Yeah," said Harry. "Moody."**

**It was common knowledge that Snape really wanted the Dark Arts job, and he had now failed to get it for the fourth year running. **

"It was actually thirteen years running by this point," Arthur corrected.

"Why eez 'e so 'orrible towards zem?" Fleur asked confused. "I mean, I can understand wanting a job, but why does 'e 'ave to act like zis?"

"He hates kids," Sirius told her. "It's not just Harry, Neville, and the other Gryffindors. I really think that he hates them all. He just treats those in Gryffindor, and Harry especially horrible."

"What about the Slytherins?" Tonks asked.

"Fine, he hates all kids who aren't in Slytherin," he finished.

"Zat eez 'orrible," Fleur said wrinkling her nose. "Why does 'e teach zere zen?"

"That is the million galleon question," Bill shrugged.

**Snape had disliked all of their previous Dark Arts teachers, and shown it – **

"Especially you, Remus," Tonks told him with a slight grin.

Remus grinned back, not even realizing that he was the one holding the book anymore when she smiled at him.

"Oh, I really don't think that they should count Lockhart a teacher," Arthur said firmly, "He caused more harm than good."

Fleur and Bill shared a look, Bill nodding to her—letting her know that he would tell her about it later. Remus came back to his senses and turned almost gratefully back to the book.

**but he seemed strangely wary of displaying overt animosity to Mad-Eye Moody.**

**Indeed, whenever Harry saw the two of them together - at mealtimes, or when they passed in the corridors - he had the distinct impression that Snape was avoiding Moody's eye, ****whether magical or normal.**

"Good, make him as uncomfortable as you can Moody," Sirius said before looking at the real Mad-Eye and grinned. "Sorry…"

"Moody's giving Snape the evil eye," Tonks smiled. They all groaned at that joke. "But seriously, it's nice to see Snape on the defensive for once. Although we cannot be sure that he fears Moody, he sure seems to be on his best behavior around him… even now…"

"It would be kind of difficult to avoid your eye," Sirius snorted with a glance at Mad-Eye "And I bet he is… I'm guessing it's because he's a Death Eater and Moody is the best Dark Wizard catcher of all time…"

"You can't go accusing him of anything when you have no real evidence," said Molly warningly.

"Doesn't mean that I can't do it anyway," he said doggedly.

**"I reckon Snape's a bit scared of him, you know," Harry said thoughtfully.**

**"Imagine if Moody turned Snape into a horned toad," said Ron, his eyes misting over, "and bounced him all around his dungeon…"**

"There's an idea!" said Sirius brightly and began making mental plans to how he could pull it off.

"Sirius," Molly said scolding. "I don't like how he treats the students any more than you do… but you don't want to give him anymore reason to make him worse."

"Someone needs to knock him down a few pegs," Sirius muttered grouchily.

**The Gryffindor fourth years were looking forward to Moody's first lesson so much that they arrived early on Thursday lunchtime and queued up outside his classroom before the bell had even rung. The only person missing was Hermione, who turned up just in time for the lesson.**

"Granger? Almost late for class? What is the rest of the world coming to?" Moody said irritated. He wasn't going to like hearing this…

**"Been in the -"**

"Library," everyone guessed.

"Where else has she been for the last week?" Sirius asked in mock puzzlement.

**"Library." Harry finished her sentence for her. "C'mon, quick, or we won't get decent seats."**

"They're acting like they're going to a show," Kingsley remarked lightly. "Too bad they won't feel that way after. Especially if the fake Moody has done his research on pulling off acting like the real one…"

Mad-Eye didn't bother to answer him. They all knew what he was thinking however as they saw a vein in his head threatening to pop.

**They hurried into three chairs right in front of the teacher's desk, took out their copies of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, and waited, unusually quiet. Soon they heard Moody's distinctive clunking footsteps coming down the corridor, and he entered the room, looking as strange and frightening as ever. They could just see his ****clawed, wooden foot protruding from underneath his robes.**

"Another great description of you, Mad-Eye," Tonks commented.

"It's bad enough that I have to hear this," he said through gritted teeth. "But I don't need to hear about it from you as well."

"Ha ha… sorry," she muttered abashed.

**"You can put those away," he growled, stumping over to his desk and sitting down, "those books. You won't need them."**

"You know that you're in for an interesting lesson when your teacher tells you that," Bill said smiling.

But Remus remembered the title of this chapter, and he knew that Harry would think that this lesson would be far from interesting.

**They returned the books to their bags, Ron looking excited.**

**Moody took out a register, shook his long mane of grizzled gray hair out of his twisted and scarred face, and began to call out names, his normal eye moving steadily down the list while his magical eye swivelled around, fixing upon each student as he or she answered.**

"I never liked zat eye," Fleur said looking at it. "Eet looks gruesome. 'Ow do you stand eet?"

"It helps when there's an enemy around," he barked at her. "Though I can't deny that I also like seeing the faces of people freaking out when they see it."

She didn't answer him as Remus continued. But she looked to Bill and whispered, "'E really eez mad, essn't 'e?"

He nodded gravely at that.

**"Right then," he said, when the last person had declared themselves present, "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures - you've covered Boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"**

"That sounds about right," Arthur commented.

"But the last one is thanks to Snape," Sirius said coldly. Another thing he hated about that overgrown bat. Costing his friend his dream job… and the students a wonderful teacher.

"Notice how it only says what Remus taught," Tonks mused.

"Yes, why is zat?" Fleur asked.

"Well, the other two didn't teach them a damn thing," Sirius said shaking his head in disgust.

"Yeah, aside from Remus, they've had terrible luck with Defense Against the Dark Art's teachers," Arthur agreed.

"What was so bad about zem?" she questioned. "Zey couldn't be zat bad could zey?"

"Well, one of them stuttered way too much and had Voldemort on the back of his head. The other was a lying git who was in love with his own reflection," Sirius said with venom in his voice.

"W-what?" she gasped in horror and Bill took her hand again. "I have a feeling, we're going to be having a long, long talk about all this."

She merely smiled at him, as long as she could spend time with him, she could stand anything.

"You're definitely a good teacher, Remus," Molly said approvingly. "Actually sending a letter to your 'successor' to tell them what they should cover and everything. Not just any teacher would do that."

He blushed, and just decided to keep reading to try and hide it.

**There was a general murmur of assent.**

**"But you're behind - very behind - on dealing with curses," said Moody. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach ****you how to deal with Dark -"**

"Did you only want to teach for a year, or because you knew there was a curse on the job?" Bill asked… "I mean… before all this happened?"

"I only like teaching if I think that I might have some potential learners. Dumbledore asked me to be there for a little extra security for the tournament," Moody answered.

"Extra security for the Triwizard tournament," Kingsley said. "But little did we know that he was the real imposter."

**"What, aren't you staying?" Ron blurted out.**

"I might be retired, but I'm not dead. I know better than to stay with a job with a curse," Mad-Eye said shaking his head. "That and that the scum knows that he only had to pretend to be me for a year."

**Moody's magical eye spun around to stare at Ron; Ron looked extremely apprehensive, but after a moment Moody smiled - the first time Harry had seen him do so. The effect was to make his heavily scarred face look more twisted and contorted than ever, but it was nevertheless good to know that he ever did anything as friendly as smile. **

"Well, that's true," Tonks said with a grin.

**Ron looked deeply relieved.**

**"You'll be Arthur Weasley's son, eh?" Moody said. "Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago **

Arthur frowned. He had, in reality, had really just assisted a Death Eater in impersonating Mad-Eye which angered him. He had helped Alastor Moody… only it had been the wrong one.

**… yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favour to Dumbledore… **

"Or rather his murdering master," Sirius snarled.

**one year, and then back to my quiet retirement."**

Everyone but Fleur, snorted. Mad-Eye Moody sure wasn't going to go back to a quiet retirement. After the end of this year, he pulled back into a war.

"I wouldn't have called your retirement quiet," Arthur said to him. "What with everything that happened last year."

Sirius suddenly started laughing.

"You got a problem, Black?" he snapped at him.

"I'm sorry," he sniggered, his hand over his mouth to try and hold himself back. "But I just can't imagine you ever in a _quiet _retirement," Sirius asked, grinning.

Kingsley thought this over as Mad-Eye told Sirius off. _'Was this supposed to be a slip? Does Moody or Dumbledore know something that they can't say, or did Dumbledore decide to foil the Defense Against the Dark Arts jinx rumors by purposely making it a one-year stint? Whatever it may be, it sure feels suspicious…'_

**He gave a harsh laugh, and then clapped his gnarled hands together.**

**"So - straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter-curses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. **

"Then why is he showing them now?" Molly said exasperated. Why couldn't children just stay young and innocent?

"Because even if it isn't me, they need to know what is out there so they know what they're up against and so they can protect themselves," he said. "So that they don't become locked in a trunk for nine months," he added in an undertone.

"You're… right I would rather Harry learn about them in a class room so he can have a chance to survive in the real world," Sirius said grudgingly. "I mean, he seems to be used to having to fight by himself…"

**You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, **

"Of course he does," Molly groaned, not liking where this was going.

Albus shook his head from behind the closed door. He hadn't wanted to… but he had to ensure that his students were ready for the worst. If Tom was making a comeback soon, then he had to get them all—Harry especially—ready just in case.

And with someone like Umbridge now up at the school, he was silently grateful for his choice. They were much better prepared last year with a Death Eater than with the Ministry… he gritted his teeth at that thought. All because Cornelius was so frightened and chasing shadows his students may end up paying the ultimate price.

**he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. ****How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? **

"However I think a problem with teaching the curse this early is that they're still kids. They don't always take them seriously or are fully able to understand the consequences of the curses," said Kingsley worriedly.

"I still don't like what he's doing," Molly said almost angrily. "I mean, even during the first war, the students only learned about those dark curses when they were sixteen at least."

_'That's because the school was one of the only few truly safe places left in Britain,'_ Albus thought sadly.

**A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."**

**Lavender jumped and blushed. She had been showing Parvati her completed horoscope under the desk. **

Tonks smirked at that as it reminded her of the good old days when she just started Auror training. When she found out that Mad-Eye's eye could see through objects, it sure taught her a lesson. "Well, something tells me that they're going to start paying close attention in his class now."

"Remind me how these girls made it into Gryffindor?" Sirius asked rolling his eyes and rested his head in one of his hands. "I mean, these two seem to freak out when they break a nail."

"I don't know," Tonks said. "I mean, they did just try to get away with working on their horoscopes during Moody's class… I say that's pretty gutsy by itself."

"Would you all stop talking about that fake as if it were me?" Mad-Eye snarled.

"Sorry," Tonks said, her smile fading.

**Apparently Moody's magical eye could see through solid wood, as well as out of the back of his head.**

**"So… do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"**

"The Imperius Curse, Cruciatus Curse, and Avada Kedavra," Bill recited grimly. "Whoever came up with those spells must've been serious messed up."

Sirius suddenly turned very white when Bill said that.

Kingsley was the first one to notice when he dropped his hand and seemed to have frozen. Kingsley, concerned at Sirius's expression asked, "What is it?"

"I just realized something…" he croaked out, as white as a corpse.

"What?" Molly asked frustrated. "What else could be wrong?"

"Crouch is going to show them those curses…" he said hoarsely and he ran his hands through his hair.

"Yeah, I think we figured that out," Tonks said darkly. But some of the others realized what he was saying.

"Oh, blimey," Bill said sharing a startled look with his farther.

"What?" Fleur asked, now baffled at the scared looks between them.

"Harry and Neville both lost their parents because of two of those curses," Kingsley told her. "I don't think that this will be good for either of them."

"What do you mean?" Fleur asked in a shocked tone. She knew what happened with Harry's parent's, but what did this have to do with this boy Neville? Before she got her answer however, Remus went on in a hoarse voice—as if his throat had gone dry:

**Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Ron's and Hermione's. Moody pointed at Ron, though his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender.**

**"Er," said Ron tentatively, "my dad told me about one… Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?"**

"Have you told him about it, Arthur?" Molly said in surprise, turning her brown eyes onto him. "Arthur…"

"Well…" Arthur admitted, thinking back to when Ron was old enough to walk about the dangers of dark artifacts. He explained how even normal, everyday items could be dangerous like books. But he didn't want to scare his young son too much so he left out a few details. "More like mentioned it in passing… I told him that it was a forbidden spell and it was to never ever be used… but I never got around to telling him what it could do."

Molly didn't look happy, but she nodded in agreement. That really was the best thing that he could've done.

**"Ah, yes," said Moody appreciatively. "Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius curse."**

"Were many people saying zat zey were under ze curse during ze first war?" Fleur asked the room.

Everyone but Bill and Tonks nodded—as they were still young when the war ended. "I only remember bits and pieces," he told her. "I was only ten by the time he was defeated. But I do remember how scared and worried everyone was around then." He could also remember how after the war, his dad was so furious when he heard how people like Lucius Malfoy were let off clean after all the terrible things they had done but he didn't dare say that out loud.

"People such as the Malfoy's for instance," Sirius said in disgust. "They pretty much bought their way out of trouble."

"Of course," Arthur said in an uncharacteristically bitter tone. "It can be very difficult to tell when someone was telling the truth or not. Back then, so many people were under the Imperius Curse it was almost impossible to tell who had been forced to act on their own free will or not. An easy way to get out of trouble…"

"There are slight ways to tell the difference," Kingsley said half-heatedly. "But you have to pay very close attention… especially if you know the person and can tell if they are acting strange or if they are place under a poorly cast Imperius Curse. Such as they're eyes are always glazed over…"

"Well, then we'll never be able to tell if Sirius is under the curse then," Remus tried to joke and lighten the mood. "He looked like that every time that he fell asleep in class."

It worked… he had received several laughs from that, including from Sirius. But when Remus started reading again, the smiles faded.

**Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Three large black spiders were scuttling around inside it. **

"Oh, that'll please Ron," said Bill raising his eyebrows. "He hates spiders."

**Harry felt Ron recoil slightly next to him - Ron hated spiders. **

**Moody reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders, and held it in the palm of his hand so that they could all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and muttered, "_Imperio!_"**

**The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance.**

**Everyone was laughing - everyone except Moody.**

No one in the room was laughing either; in any other situation it would have been funny but they knew the full potential how the Imperius Curse could be used for.

"Is that such a good idea? It won't help them take the curses serious," Arthur asked. "He's making it almost amusing. They might get the wrong idea…"

"I doubt he will keep it amusing for long," predicted Tonks dully. This guy sure was very good at acting like her mentor. He always had a talent for lulling you into a false sense of security before he dropped an explosion on you. She never forgot anything he said when he wanted to make a point.

**"Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"**

**The laughter died away almost instantly.**

"I don't blame zem," Fleur said with a shudder.

"Well, that's one way to shut a class up," Sirius said.

**"Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…"**

"I don't think he should've said that to Ron," Bill said as Molly shook her head.

**Ron gave an involuntary shudder.**

**"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse," said Moody, and Harry knew he was talking about the days in which Voldemort had been all-powerful. **

"Oh no, even far before that," Mad-Eye said forebodingly. "They've always been popular in war since they were first created."

"Like I said," Bill grumbled. "The people who came up with those spells were sick in the head."

**"Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will.**

"_Malfoy_!" coughed Sirius, though fooling no one.

**"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, **

"But I heard that the only way to teach them how to do that is to have it use it on them…" Molly shrieked in panic.

"You mean that my godson is going to have the Imperius curse cast on him by the Death Eater who's trying to kill him?" asked Sirius, his voice dangerously low. If he ever did, he was going to kill him… didn't matter if that bastard didn't have a soul… he didn't have one then, and he didn't have one now.

"Even if there is a Death Eater scum in charge of that classroom," Mad-Eye said as if he was forcing himself to speak. "Wouldn't you all rather he learns it in a classroom under Dumbledore's nose or rather than first hand from Voldemort himself with no idea what to do?"

"Don't talk like that," Sirius shivered, hating the idea of his godson under an Unforgiveable Curse.

**but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked, and everyone jumped.**

"Ahh… there's your catchphrase, Mad-Eye," Sirius grinned.

"I hate it when you do that, Moody," Tonks shook her head. "You always use it when no one's…"

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody predictably shouted and caused them to jump.

"Don't do that!" Tonks screamed at him. Remus, rubbing his ears, read out loudly to drown out anymore arguing.

**Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar.**

**"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"**

**Hermione's hand flew into the air again and so, to Harry's slight surprise, did Neville's. **

Those who knew Frank and Alice Longbottom, glanced at each other in sadness. This next demonstration wasn't going to be easy for the poor boy.

**The only class in which Neville usually volunteered information was Herbology which was easily his best subject. Neville looked surprised at his own daring.**

**"Yes?" said Moody, his magical eye rolling right over to fix on Neville.**

**"There's one - the Cruciatus Curse," said Neville in a small but distinct voice.**

"He was very brave to suggest that one," Molly said sadly.

"He has his own parent's courage in there," Remus said firmly. "He just needs more confidence to bring it out."

"What eez wrong?" Fleur asked, noticing the tense atmosphere.

"Neville's parents were tortured into insanity by the Cruciatus Curse by Voldemort's Death Eaters," Sirius said grimly and she looked horrified at that.

**Moody was looking very intently at Neville, this time with both eyes.**

**"Your name's Longbottom?" he said, his magical eye swooping down to check the register ****again.**

Mad-Eye growled. His hands tightened into tight fists and his nails cutting into his skin at that line. Knowing that this was Barty Crouch Jr. and one of the people who'd tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity in the first place… he had some nerve to even look at their son after what he did.

"Bastard," he whispered. He had reasons to hate those people… but his loathing for those four Death Eaters had increased ten-fold after his imprisonment.

**Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further inquiries. Turning back to the class at large, he reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it upon the desktop, where it remained motionless, apparently too scared to move.**

**"The Cruciatus Curse," said Moody. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea," he said, pointing his wand at the spider. "_Engorgio!_"**

"What if we don't want them to get the picture?" Molly asked tearfully, but no one was listening.

**The spider swelled. It was now larger than a tarantula. Abandoning all pretence, Ron pushed his chair backward, as far away from Moody's desk as possible. **

"I think he's regretting sitting in the front now," Sirius said, not even bothering to smirk at Ron's phobia.

**Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, "_Crucio_!"**

"I'm not going to listen to this part," Molly whimpered as she covered her ears; images of all the people who had been tortured like that during the war raced through her mind and she wasn't sure she could stand to hear it like this. To children who never had to see it before… it was too horrible to hear it. "Let me know when it's over."

**At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but Harry was sure that if it could have ****given voice, it would have been screaming. **

Remus read this through his teeth, thinking to how two people that he once respected so much were reduced to.

**Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently – **

"This is sick," Bill said in barely more than a whisper.

**"Stop it!" Hermione said shrilly.**

**Harry looked around at her. She was looking, not at the spider, but at Neville, and Harry, following her gaze, saw that Neville's hands were clenched upon the desk in front of him, his knuckles white, his eyes wide and horrified. **

Albus felt the need to cover his ears and block out what he was hearing as well as he felt as if a shard of ice pierced his heart. He had expected that the poor boy would react like this—in fact, he would've been astonished if he hadn't… but to hear his students suffering mentally and emotionally like this… for him was just as difficult as if they were being tortured as that spider had been.

Kingsley shook his head in sorrow for the boy who had his parents ripped away from him like this. Either Neville had no idea what was coming, or he was petrified of this curse as Ron is of the spider. Poor Neville, it hit him really hard—this could've been the first time that he had seen the spell in first hand… and knowing that it was this spell that took his parents from him… he couldn't imagine what was going through his mind when he saw that. And he couldn't help but wonder which frightened him more… Snape or this curse?

**Moody raised his wand. The spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch.**

"The curse's after shocks," Mad-Eye said acrimoniously as the rest of them sat there, feeling as if they were about to be sick. He had seen it enough times to know why it was still hurting. It was like putting salt to an open wound. The salt may be taken away, but you could still feel the burning pain.

Arthur reached over to hug Molly, silently letting her know that it was over.

**"_Reducio_," Moody muttered, and the spider shrank back to its proper size. He put it back into the jar.**

**"Pain," said Moody softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus curse… That one was very popular once too.**

_'And it will be again if we don't stop him,' _everyone thought at the same time.

**"Right… anyone know any others?"**

"Just say no," Sirius said shaking his head, no liking where this was going. There was only one spell left and it was the worst one of all.

**Harry looked around. From the looks on everyone's faces, he guessed they were all wondering what was going to happen to the last spider. Hermione's hand shook slightly as, for the third time, she raised it into the air.**

"Don't say a word, Hermione," Sirius begged.

**"Yes?" said Moody, looking at her.**

**"Avada Kedavra," Hermione whispered.**

Everyone went white and their eyes darkened at the mention of the Killing Curse.

"I don't want Harry to see this," said Sirius suddenly, blanching. He looked to the door, suddenly wondering if he should leave for this part. "That spell took his parents from him… he isn't going to take this any better than Neville did with the Cruciatus Curse."

_'Why did this… any of this have to happen?'_ thought Molly feeling that she was about to cry again. She reached up to cover her ears again, but it was too late.

**Several people looked uneasily around at her, including Ron.**

**"Ah," said Moody, another slight smile twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and worst. _Avada Kedavra _… the Killing Curse."**

**He put his hand into the glass jar, and almost as though it knew what was coming, the third spider scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar, trying to evade Moody's fingers, **

No one could blame the spider for that.

**but he trapped it, and placed it upon the desktop. It started to scuttle frantically across the wooden surface.**

**Moody raised his wand and Harry felt a sudden thrill of foreboding.**

"Harry's senses are some of the best I've ever seen," Kingsley whispered in awe, but no one heard him over Remus's voice that choked and spluttered out: **"_A-A-Ava-Avada Ke-Kedav-Kedavra_!" Moody roared.**

**There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air - instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead. **

Sirius and Remus both felt as if the world was falling away. No one dared said a word, completely lost in thought.

_'There it is… the green light… and…'_ Mad-Eye thought blinking in astonishment as he realized what this meant. _'NO MARK ON THE BODY? This was without a doubt the same curse that killed the Riddle family and Frank Bryce, for there was no marks on their bodies either. So what's with Potter's scar? How could it have left a mark? And why was the whole house destroyed?'_

**Several of the students stifled cries; Ron had thrown himself backward and almost toppled off his seat as the spider skidded toward him.** **Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor.**

"Just like he must've done to countless others," Mad-Eye fumed softly.

**"Not nice," he said calmly. "Not pleasant. And there's no counter-curse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."**

Albus had frozen in the hallway and put his his face behind one of his hands, understanding the pain that Harry must've felt.

**Harry felt his face redden as Moody's eyes (both of them) looked into his own. He could feel ****everyone else looking around at him too. **

"And Voldemort thinks that no one's more powerful than him," Sirius growled, failing to hide the anger he felt at the thought of somebody trying to kill his godson. While he doubted he could, if he ever had a chance to put an end to Voldemort himself, he would take that chance. Even if he died in the process, at least he would die happily knowing that he took Voldemort with him; taking with him the same monster who took his best friend away from him and knowing that his godson was finally safe from him.

**Harry stared at the blank blackboard as though fascinated by it, but not really seeing it at all…**

**So that was how his parents had died… exactly like that spider. **

"Oh, no. Please, Harry, don't think that way," Molly whispered quickly.

"He's going to start brooding on this now!" Sirius groaned, painfully remembering how Harry had brooded when he thought that _he_ betrayed Lily and James. He didn't want Harry to think about that light… it was bad enough he had nightmares about it…

Molly and Fleur looked like they were about to cry. Fleur sniffed, "Why must 'e theek like zat?" Now she really owed him an apology for giving him such a hard time and thinking that he never belonged in the Triwizard Tournament. He's dealt with more than she ever thought of.

**Had they been unblemished and unmarked too? Had they simply seen the flash of green ****light and heard the rush of speeding death, before life was wiped from their bodies?**

Sirius forced the terrible, terrible memory of that night from his mind. "Stop thinking like that!" Sirius all but begged. He didn't want his godson to dwell on his parents' deaths. This was torture to hear… and yet no one could seem to stop.

**Harry had been picturing his parents' deaths over and over again for three years now, ever since he'd found out they had been murdered, ever since he'd found out what had happened that night: Wormtail had betrayed his parents' whereabouts to Voldemort, who had come to find them at their cottage. How Voldemort had killed Harry's father first. **

Remus felt as if he was choking, Sirius gripped his hair as if hoping to tear it out, as he began to pant as if he just ran a mile, his heart was constricting. It felt almost as if his head would explode. He couldn't stand hearing about his best friend's final moments… to know that the last thing that he ever saw was Voldemort's face made him clamp his hand to his mouth to prevent himself from vomiting.

**How James Potter had tried to hold him off, while he shouted at his wife to take Harry and run… **

"Sounds like something he would've done," Sirius croaked out almost angrily, swallowing the bile in his mouth.

Remus felt as if every word was a slap in the face. That did sound like something James would do. He had always been that way. James would've held Voldemort at bay for as long as he could… Lily and Harry were the two most important people in his life… he would've gladly died if it meant that they were safe. But to hear it… it was almost too much for him to bear.

The sooner he read this however, the sooner it would be over.

**Voldemort had advanced on Lily Potter, told her to move aside so that he could kill Harry… how she had begged him to kill her instead, refused to stop shielding her son… **

Molly was sobbing with her face in her hands. She tried to project herself to feel what Lily Potter must have felt that night. The terrible fear, pain, and helplessness as she heard her husband murdered and to see such a monster after her baby boy, to see that horrible green light heading towards her… she shut her eyes tightly as the tears burned.

**and so Voldemort had murdered her too, before turning his wand on Harry...**

"Please stop zinking about zat," Fleur whimpered. It was been bad enough for Harry knowing how his parents died but to see the curse that killed them performed in front of him was too much…'

Sirius's entire body was shaking, Molly let out a quiet sob, muffled by Arthur's shirt as she stroked his hair. Fleur burst into tears and Bill wrapped an arm around her to comfort her. Tonks blew her nose loudly into her handkerchief, desperately trying to stop the flow of tears. Everyone bowed their heads in great respect towards the parents who fought and died as heroes.

They knew the facts of their deaths, but they had failed to have actually pieced them together like this… it was overwhelming. There wasn't a dry eye in the room… nor outside it for Albus had broken down completely.

Albus felt the tears rushing down his face… sacrificial protection is an ancient, powerful and long-lasting counter-charm that is endowed when one person sacrifices his or her own life willingly and out of love to save the life of another… Albus has long since believed that there was no greater magic…

It was because Lily had a choice. If Voldemort hadn't given her the option, Harry would have died that night. In a way… he was almost jealous of Harry to have had someone love him so dearly and unconditionally… his eyes crushed tightly—he fought hard not to remember when he first heard that his own dear mother was gone. Once again, he felt nothing but shame wash over him as he had failed her after she had sacrificed so much for her children.

Albus closed his eyes. He knew that seeing that spell for the first time would also have an effect on Harry. Albus had been certain that he had been able to convince himself that this was for the best. But now his resolved wavered. Why? He hardly ever questioned himself before… and yet this one boy was making him question _everything_.

For years, Albus had a strong idea of what Harry had to face and sacrifice and do, and he wanted him to be prepared for what his future held. He needed to teach him—but it wasn't about training him to be a dark wizard killer, it was helping him to survive. There has to be a distinction there. He had a unique relationship to Harry—so different from any other—because he watched him so closely for so many years. He saw what the boy went through and how he rallied against setbacks: he didn't watch any other student this closely. His relationship formed with Harry at first because it was circumstantial—Harry could save the world, he had to keep an eye on him…

But why did he suddenly feel that the world wasn't as important anymore? Why did his heart ache like this?

**Harry knew these details because he had heard his parents' voices when he had fought the dementors last year - for that was the terrible power of the dementors: to force their victims to relive the worst memories of their lives, and drown, powerless, in their own despair…**

"Just when I thought I couldn't hate Fudge more," Sirius growled, wiping his eyes on his sleeve furious. He shivered convulsively, feeling like he just got through a terrible sickness. "For putting those things there in the first place."

Mad-Eye shook his head. This curse hit Potter pretty hard because, even though he had been the recipient of the curse, he had never actually seen this curse performed before. The memory of it is so traumatic, however, that green light has haunted him for all these years.

**Moody was speaking again, from a great distance, it seemed to Harry. With a massive effort, he pulled himself back to the present and listened to what Moody was saying.**

**"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it - you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed. **

"I don't know about that, they are pretty powerful," Kingsley said, thinking about all the advanced magic those three had been able to pull off when they were backed into a corner.

"Well, then it's lucky for him that he didn't," Tonks said sourly.

**But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it.**

"Though if it were up to him, he would," Mad-Eye growled.

**"Now, if there's no counter-curse, why am I showing you? _Because you've got to know_. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared, and the whole class jumped again.**

Mad-Eye glared furiously at those words. Now, he had put up with a lot in his life… he has dealt with war, Death Eaters, and lost most of his body parts in the process… but stealing his catchphrase…? Oh, just one more reason to hate this guy.

**"Now… those three curses - Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus - are known as the Unforgivable Curses. **

"Unforgivable for a reason," said Remus darkly.

**The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. **

**That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice _constant, never-ceasing vigilance_. Get out your quills… copy this down…"**

**They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the bell rang - but when Moody had dismissed them and they had left the classroom, a torrent of talk burst forth. Most people were discussing the curses in awed voices –**

**"Did you see it twitch?"**

**"- and when he killed it – just like that!"**

Everyone frowned at that.

"Zey make eet sound like eet eez a show!" said Fleur, sounding shocked.

"I can't believe this," said Molly in agreement, so surprised that she didn't even realize that she was agreeing with Fleur, "They are talking about those curses like they were a side show or a performance… or—or some kind of entertainment. Have they already forgotten what they can do?"

"Yes, but they're kids," Remus reminded them sadly. "They didn't grow up during the war like most of us had. They don't think of it the same way those who had do. They are all still a bit young to fully understand how serious it is."

"Not all of them though," Albus whispered in a voice that no one but his own ears heard. Harry and Neville were the exceptions to that.

**They were talking about the lesson, Harry thought, as though it had been some sort of spectacular show, but he hadn't found it very entertaining - and nor, it seemed, had Hermione.**

"I didn't either," Molly said thickly. "I can't see how anyone would've enjoyed that.."

**"Hurry up," she said tensely to Harry and Ron.**

**"Not the ruddy library again?" said Ron.**

"Oh, come on," Sirius groaned again, some of his shock and misery easing up now that Harry had stopped thinking about Lily and James. "They weren't even given homework…"

**"No," said Hermione curtly, pointing up a side passage. "Neville." **

"Oh, no," Remus said anxiously. "He must be taking this just as hard as Harry." He then read on quickly.

**Neville was standing alone, halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with the same horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody had demonstrated the Cruciatus curse.**

"Oh no, eet sound like 'e eez taking zis very badly," Fleur said feeling sorry for the boy. Though she had seen him around the school when she had been at Hogwarts last year, she never spoke to him. But she couldn't imagine what she would've done if her parents suffered that fate.

**"Neville?" Hermione said gently.**

**Neville looked around.**

**"Oh hello," he said, his voice much higher than usual. "Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm - I'm starving, aren't you?"**

**"Neville, are you all right?" said Hermione.**

**"Oh yes, I'm fine," Neville gabbled in the same unnaturally high voice. "Very interesting dinner - I mean lesson - what's for eating?"**

"Sounds like he's in bad shape," Bill said concerned. "He's gonna be ok right isn't he?"

"Its shock," Arthur sighed sadly. "He's taking this as Harry had. I'm sure that he was thinking about his parents as well. But I'm sure that once he calms down…" he trailed off uncertainly.

"Easier said than done," Mad-Eye grumbled.

**Ron gave Harry a startled look.**

**"Neville, what -?"**

**But an odd clunking noise sounded behind them, and they turned to see Professor Moody limping toward them. All four of them fell silent, watching him apprehensively, but when he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than they had yet heard.**

"I can't stand this," Molly said angrily and hitting the arm of the couch. "How can he look Neville in the face after what he did?!"

"What?" Fleur said. "I know zat eet eez zat Crouch razzer zan Moody but…?"

Bill leaned over and whispered into her ear just what Crouch Jr. did. Her eyes then widened in horror. "Why that… that… Fils de pute!"

"I don't know what you said," Tonks said nodding, "But I agree with you."

**"It's all right, sonny," he said to Neville. "Why don't you come up to my office? Come on… we can have a cup of tea…"**

**Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody. He neither moved nor spoke. **

"I don't blame you there, Neville," said Tonks. "Even the real Moody is terrifying at the best of times."

Mad-Eye responded by poking her hard in the back of the head.

**Moody turned his magical eye upon Harry. "You all right, are you, Potter?"**

"He's certainly playing his part well," Kingsley sighed, though he said this under his breath as to not remind Alastor.

**"Yes," said Harry, almost defiantly.**

"That's my boy," Sirius whispered in barely more than a whisper.

**Moody's blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed Harry. **

**Then he said, "You've got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, _but you've got to know_. **

"I guess he has a point," said Remus grudgingly.

"But he's only a child," Molly tried to say…

"A child who has now accomplished more in just a few years than most wizards do in their entire lifetimes," Arthur said sadly.

Fleur shook her head. She wasn't so sure she wanted to know what they were talking about. Mad-Eye on the other hand had his magical eye fixed on the door. He hoped that the old man heard that.

**No point pretending… well… come on, Longbottom, I've got some books that might interest you."**

**Neville looked pleadingly at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but they didn't say anything, so Neville had no choice but to allow himself to be steered away, one of Moody's gnarled hands on his shoulder.**

They're eyes were fixed on the book in fury. Those were the very same hands that had helped torture Frank and Alice… and now they were touching their son.

**"What was that about?" said Ron, watching Neville and Moody turn the corner.**

**"I don't know," said Hermione, looking pensive.**

**"Some lesson, though, eh?" said Ron to Harry as they set off for the Great Hall. "Fred and ****George were right, weren't they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn't he? **

"Of course I do," said Mad-Eye smugly. "Can't say the same for that scum."

"Glad to see that being locked in the trunk hasn't taken away your modesty," Tonks snorted.

**When he did Avada Kedavra, the way that spider just _died_, just snuffed it right -"**

"Tactful Ron," Sirius groaned—for a moment, feeling like he would've liked to have slugged Ron for what he just said with Harry standing right there!

"Did he seriously say that?" Molly gasped; taken aback than anything that Ron had forgotten how much his best friend had lost.

"I know that he sometimes speaks before he thinks… but did he really…?" Tonks began, but Bill interrupted her.

"He really needs to learn when to speak," Bill shook his head. "Being tactful has never been one of his greater abilities."

**But Ron fell suddenly silent at the look on Harry's face and didn't speak again until they reached the Great Hall, when he said he supposed they had better make a start on Professor Trelawney's predictions tonight, since they would take hours.**

"Just make it up," said Sirius, looking a little calmer than before, but he still looked green. "That's what I would do."

"From what we heard of her so far, she certainly wouldn't notice anything," Remus agreed.

**Hermione did not join in with Harry and Ron's conversation during dinner, but ate furiously fast, **

"No, wait, let me guess," Sirius said, putting his hand up in mock puzzlement, "She went to the library, right?"

"Correct," Remus smiled, sounding more like his old self now that the lesson was over. The others were also smiling a little, as if they were coming out of stupors.

**and then left for the library again. Harry and Ron walked back to Gryffindor Tower, and Harry, who had been thinking of nothing else all through dinner, now raised the subject of the Unforgivable Curses himself.**

"But he's still brooding," Tonks groaned.

"Get used to it," Mad-Eye said annoyed, pulling out his hip flask. He needed a drink.

**"Wouldn't Moody and Dumbledore be in trouble with the Ministry if they knew we'd seen the curses?" Harry asked as they approached the Fat Lady.**

"Well, up until last year, the Ministry really didn't have too much of a say in what Hogwarts learns," Kingsley said. "They all respected Dumbledore so much…"

Albus sighed. How easily that ended the moment that fear sunk in of another war.

**"Yeah, probably," said Ron. "But Dumbledore's always done things his way, hasn't he, and Moody's been getting in trouble for years, I reckon. Attacks first and asks questions later – look at his dustbins. Balderdash."**

"Dumbledore really doesn't care what ze Ministry theenks of 'im does 'e?" Fleur asked.

Albus smiled. He preferred to think of it more along the lines of… thinking what is best for the students.

"Yeah," Tonks laughed. "And Ron was right about you, Moody. That should be your motto instead of constant vigilance."

"Yeah, like that witch that surprised you back on April Fool's Day…" Kingsley agreed before he winced as he remembered. "Did she ever get out of St Mungos?"

"She did," Arthur nodded, knowing what they were talking about. "But she still glows in the dark."

"She deserved it," Mad-Eye said grumpily. "If she was going to mess with the bull, she was going to get the horns. She tried to pull a prank on me—boom. Now she lights up at night."

"Which is why we don't dare try to do something like that," Tonks said smiling at him brilliantly.

"That was a little harsh though," Molly said hesitantly.

Fleur turned to Arthur and asked, "Do I want to know?" He smiled brightly at her and shook his head.

**The Fat Lady swung forward to reveal the entrance hole, and they climbed into the Gryffindor common room, which was crowded and noisy.**

**"Shall we get our Divination stuff, then?" said Harry.**

**"I s'pose," Ron groaned.**

**They went up to the dormitory to fetch their books and charts, to find Neville there alone, sitting on his bed, reading. He looked a good deal calmer than at the end of Moody's lesson, though still not entirely normal. His eyes were rather red.**

"Poor guy," Sirius sighed. "That must've been hard for him."

"But it sounds like he's doing a lot better," Bill pointed out.

**"You all right, Neville?" Harry asked him.**

"Harry has always been so polite," Molly said smiling. "Now if only Ron could pick up a little of that…"

**"Oh yes," said Neville, "I'm fine, thanks. Just reading this book Professor Moody lent me …"**

**He held up the book: _Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean_.**

"Oh, that's right. Neville loves Herbology doesn't he?" Molly smiled.

"Sounds dead boring to me," Sirius said in a dull tone.

"That's a good book," Remus and Kingsley both said.

"Yeah, well," he shrugged. "You're both bookworms. If it has words on it, you enjoy reading it."

Remus shoved him slightly, telling him to be nice before he continued.

**"Apparently, Professor Sprout told Professor Moody I'm really good at Herbology," Neville said. There was a faint note of pride in his voice that Harry had rarely heard there before.**

"That's because you are Neville," Remus chuckled as he interrupted himself.

"Well, he has a lot to be proud of from what I've heard," Arthur said.

**"He thought I'd like this."**

"More like plant that book on him for Potter later," Mad-Eye growled darkly.

**Telling Neville what Professor Sprout had said, Harry thought, had been a very tactful way of cheering Neville up, for Neville very rarely heard that he was good at anything. It was ****the sort of thing Professor Lupin would have done.**

Remus wasn't sure that he should take it as a compliment or an insult.

"No don't compare Remus to that phony," Sirius said, sounding angry.

"He's comparing Remus to the real Moody," Arthur responded quickly. "Crouch certainly was playing his part well."

"It's true though, Remus you are very good at helping to cheer people up, even if it is just by offering a friendly ear," said Molly fondly and smiled widely when she saw the blush.

"I agree," Tonks said beaming at him, which only caused the werewolf to blush more. Why couldn't he look at her without turning as red as a beet? He cleared his mind of the fog before he looked back to the words and hoped that the others weren't going to interrupt after the first line.

**Harry and Ron took their copies of _Unfogging the Future_ back down to the common room, found a table, and set to work on their predictions for the coming month. An hour later, they had made very little progress, though their table was littered with bits of parchment bearing sums and symbols, and Harry's brain was as fogged as though it had been filled with the fumes from Professor Trelawney's fire.**

"Why don't they just make it up," Sirius said and Remus sighed. At least they made it through one paragraph.

"Because that wouldn't be right?" Molly said admonished.

"It's not like she would ever tell the difference," he said coolly. "I mean, they could tell her anything and I'm sure that they would pass."

**"I haven't got a clue what this lot's supposed to mean," he said, staring down at a long list of calculations.**

"Neither will your teacher, so you should just write anything down," suggested Sirius as if Harry was in the room.

**"You know," said Ron, whose hair was on end because of all the times he had run his fingers through it in frustration, "I think it's back to the old Divination standby."**

**"What - make it up?"**

"And they finally catch on," Sirius grinned.

"Oh, I can't wait to hear this," Tonks said with a smile as Molly shook her head disapprovingly.

**"Yeah," said Ron, sweeping the jumble of scrawled notes off the table, dipping his pen into some ink, and starting to write.**

**"Next Monday," he said as he scribbled, "I am likely to develop a cough, owing to the unlucky conjunction of Mars and Jupiter." **

"Is that the best he can do?" Tonks asked raising an eyebrow.

**He looked up at Harry. "You know her - just put in loads of misery, she'll lap it up."**

"From what we have heard that is true," Sirius says happily. "Come on. Just a few death predictions, maybe a ill omen or two and you're set!"

Molly just shook her head, unsure of what she should say about this. While she didn't approve of cheating, deep down she knew that it was true that Sybill would lap it all up.

**"Right," said Harry, crumpling up his first attempt and lobbing it over the heads of a group of chattering first years into the fire. "Okay… on Monday, I will be in danger of- er - burns."**

**"Yeah, you will be," said Ron darkly, "we're seeing the Skrewts again on Monday. **

They all laughed at that.

_'Often some of the best indicators of what happens in the future, comes more from observation, than can be garnered from the methods of Divination,'_ Albus thought feeling happier than he had all chapter, though his eyes still stung.

"They're pretty good at this," Arthur chuckled.

"Maybe Harry does have some Seer blood in him after all," Tonks laughed.

**Okay, Tuesday, I'll… erm…"**

**"Lose a treasured possession," said Harry, who was flicking through _Unfogging the Future_ for ideas.**

**"Good one," said Ron, copying it down. "Because of… erm… Mercury. Why don't you get ****stabbed in the back by someone you thought was a friend?"**

"Wow, Ron is turning out to be a good Seer as well," Tonks said. But as Remus went on, Sirius frowned. He remembered when he had spoken with Harry that one night in the common room and how upset his godson had been. He had told him about how Ron turned against him when he found out that he became a champion. His eyes narrowed warningly at that. He was planning on having a talk with Ron about sticking up for your friends next time he saw him. He just couldn't believe that after everything that those two had gone through together, he would still turn against his best friend like that.

Betraying your friend when they needed you most…? He flinched painfully at that thought.

**"Yeah… cool…" said Harry, scribbling it down, "because… Venus is in the twelfth house."**

**"And on Wednesday, I think I'll come off worst in a fight."**

**"Aaah, I was going to have a fight. Okay, I'll lose a bet."**

**"Yeah, you'll be betting I'll win my fight…"**

**They continued to make up predictions (which grew steadily more tragic) **

"Oh, this is pathetic," Mad-Eye shook his head. "You think that they would at least learn how to come up with a good lie."

"Won't it seem obvious that they've made these up?" Molly asked exasperated.

"Probably, but Trelawney's won't pay attention to that," said Sirius coming out of his dark thoughts again. "Plus, she doesn't know enough to prove them wrong."

"Zat eez rude," Fleur told him scolding.

"She deserves it," Sirius retorted stubbornly.

"Besides, it's Divination," Mad-Eye said dismissively. "You have to lie if you aren't a Seer. Making it up's the same thing anyway."

**for another hour, while the common room around them slowly emptied as people went up to bed. Crookshanks wandered over to them, leapt lightly into an empty chair, and stared inscrutably at Harry, rather as Hermione might look if she knew they weren't doing their homework properly.**

"That's probably the Kneazle coming out in Crookshanks," Arthur chuckled. "But Harry and Ron do border on suspicious here, so they deserve what they get."

"That does sound like something Hermione would do," Bill said laughing.

"Like I said before," Tonks smirked and clapped her hands together. "People are just like their pets. Very much like Hedwig, Crookshanks has a unique personality."

**Staring around the room, trying to think of a kind of misfortune he hadn't yet used, Harry saw Fred and George sitting together against the opposite wall, heads together, quills out, poring over a single piece of parchment. It was most unusual to see Fred and George hidden away in a corner and working silently; they usually liked to be in the thick of things and the noisy centre of attention. **

"Harry knows them well," Arthur said.

"What are those two up to now?" Molly said wearily.

**There was something secretive about the way they were working on the piece of parchment, and Harry was reminded of how they had sat together writing something back at the Burrow. **

"That's true," Molly said, now frowning, _'If they're making another Order form…'_

**He had thought then that it was another order form for _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_, but it didn't look like that this time; if it had been, they would surely have let Lee Jordan in on the ****joke. He wondered whether it had anything to do with entering the Triwizard Tournament.**

"No, they would include their friend in on that one too," Sirius said thoughtfully.

**As Harry watched, George shook his head at Fred, scratched out something with his quill, and said, in a very quiet voice that nevertheless carried across the almost deserted room, "No - that sounds like we're accusing him. Got to be careful…"**

"If I find out they're doing something deceitful…" Molly warned threateningly. Arthur spoke up and told her, "Molly… we know the boys. They might step out of line for a joke once in awhile, but they wouldn't do anything serious…"

_'At least I hope they won't,'_ he added in an afterthought as Molly calmed down slight, but her eyes were still suspicious.

**Then George looked over and saw Harry watching him. Harry grinned and quickly returned ****to his predictions - he didn't want George to think he was eavesdropping.**

"Because that's not what you were doing?" Bill suggested with a grin.

Sirius laughed. "It's in his blood… Lily was the exact same way. Too curious for her own good."

"What do you mean?" Fleur asked surprised.

"Oh, sure, James was curious and he was good at eavesdropping as well but he usually lost interest pretty quickly," Sirius told her. _'Well… except for Lily of course…' _but he didn't say that. He and Remus shared a look and Remus nodded as if he knew what he was thinking.

Remus then finished for him. "Lily, on the other hand, had the real talent of finding out secrets and over-hearing conversations that shouldn't have been overheard."

Sirius laughed again. "Guess the saying's true… like mother like son."

**Shortly after that, the twins rolled up their parchment, said good night, and went off to bed. Fred and George had been gone ten minutes or so when the portrait hole opened and Hermione climbed into the common room carrying a sheaf of parchment in one hand and a box whose contents rattled as she walked in the other. **

"What eez she up too now?" Fleur asked with a sigh.

"If it is what I think it is," Remus said smiling, "I think that we're about to find out."

**Crookshanks arched his back, purring.**

**"Hello," she said, "I've just finished!"**

**"So have I!" said Ron triumphantly, throwing down his quill.**

**Hermione sat down, laid the things she was carrying in an empty armchair, and pulled Ron's predictions toward her.**

"Bet she's going to love reading that," Sirius smirked. "Though I don't know why she would care. She walked out on Divination."

"It's just the idea of cheating she doesn't like," Kingsley offered.

**"Not going to have a very good month, are you?" she said sardonically as Crookshanks curled up in her lap.**

"Well, if they're all as horrible as the first few predictions, I'm going to say no," Tonks added.

**"Ah well, at least I'm forewarned," Ron yawned.**

They all laughed at how carefree the three of them seemed here.

**"You seem to be drowning twice," said Hermione.**

Fleur raised her eyebrows slightly. Ron had been taken into the lake for the Second Task… and kept in a trance at the bottom for over an hour… so not a bad guess.

**"Oh am I?" said Ron, peering down at his predictions. "I'd better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging hippogriff."**

"No, that was Malfoy," smirked Sirius. "And he deserved that one as well."

"Good one," Bill laughed.

**"Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?" said Hermione.**

**"How dare you!" said Ron, in mock outrage. "We've been working like house-elves here!"**

"Poor choice of words…" Sirius said warningly, knowing that they were in for a lecture.

"Hermione really won't like that," Bill nodded.

"Why eez zat?" Fleur asked; now feeling stupid that she was the only person here who had no idea what they were talking about.

"To put it politely," Bill told her, ignoring Mad-Eye's irritated eyes. "She takes House-elf rights very seriously."

"More like obsessively," Mad-Eye whispered to himself.

**Hermione raised her eyebrows.**

**"It's just an expression," said Ron hastily.**

**Harry laid down his quill too, having just finished predicting his own death by decapitation.**

"Now I bet she _really_ loved that," Sirius chortled.

"Well, at least it's quick and painless," commented Tonks dryly.

"Unless you are Nearly-Headless Nick and hit in the neck with a blunt ax over and over again," replied Sirius.

"Ewwww…" Tonks said with a shudder, trying to get that image out of her mind.

**"What's in the box?" he asked, pointing at it.**

**"Funny you should ask," said Hermione, with a nasty look at Ron. She took off the lid and showed them the contents. Inside were about fifty badges, all of different colours, but all bearing the same letters: S. P. E.W.**

"Spew?" Fleur wrinkled her nose in disgust again.

**"Spew?" said Harry, picking up a badge and looking at it. "What's this about?"**

**"Not_ spew_," said Hermione impatiently. "It's S-P-E-W. **

"Which is how you spell _Spew_," said Sirius matter-of-factly.

**Stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."**

**"Never heard of it," said Ron.**

**"Well, of course you haven't," said Hermione briskly, "I've only just started it."**

"'Ermione started her own campaign for 'ouse-elves?" Fleur asked in surprise.

"Don't ask," Mad-Eye groaned before anyone could answer her. "I'm sure that we'll about to hear about it."

**"Yeah?" said Ron in mild surprise. "How many members have you got?"**

**"Well - if you two join - three," said Hermione.**

"I'm guessing that membership is just too difficult to get in?" Sirius suggested, laughter in his chest as he tried but failed to keep the smile off his face.

"Wait, she just _assumes_ they're going to join?" Arthur asked.

"No," Kingsley chuckled. "She's going to _make_ them join whether they like it or not."

**"And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying 'spew,' do you?" said Ron.**

"Sorry Hermione, I don't like the way people treat elves either, but they have a point," said Tonks. "I mean… at least pick a different name. One that's not so pukey I mean… she's not going to promote it very well with a badge that tells people to vomit."

"Thank you for the mental image," Mad-Eye said in disgust as the others laughed.

"Just brightening up the atmosphere," she said happily and leaned back to let Remus go on.

**"S-P-E-W!" said Hermione hotly. "I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status - but it wouldn't fit. So that's the heading of our manifesto."**

Albus smiled. It could have been worse—she could have named it: _W_izards for _E_lf _I_ndependence, _R_ights, and _D_ignity.

**She brandished the sheaf of parchment at them.**

**"I've been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now."**

"Because the elves are so used to it that they don't complain while the wizarding world has just learned not to care," Remus said simply.

"But I think it's because they like it! Most house-elves like their enslavement!" Sirius said but then he frowned when he realized that he hadn't seen Kreacher for awhile now. But he pushed that aside for now. who cares what Kreacher is up too?

**"Hermione - open your ears," said Ron loudly. "They. Like. It. They_ like_ being enslaved!"**

"He does have a point most house elves like being enslaved but I agree with you that they deserve to be treated better and have better work conditions at least," Kingsley said thoughtfully.

"Yes, but have you been in the kitchens?" asked Sirius as he thought back to the happy elves while he was at school. "Me and Remus have. And the elves there are so happy. They think they've got it made! I'd hate to see the look on their faces if anyone told them they were going to be set free."

"Maybe it's because it's all they've ever known," Kingsley suggested before Remus went on, glad that this chapter was almost over.

**"Our short-term aims," said Hermione, speaking even more loudly than Ron, and acting as though she hadn't heard a word, **

"I feel sorry for you those two," Arthur smiled. "Once Hermione sets her mind to something, there's no stopping her."

"It's like hitting yourself in the head with a brick over and over again," Bill agreed. "Nothing changes and you end up with nothing but a headache."

**"are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand-use,**

"They won't want it," said Remus flatly. "Well, perhaps holidays and working conditions… but wages, well… I don't think that too many would go for it."

"And besides, they don't _need_ a wand either," Bill spoke up. "I mean, they are already very powerful, just like the Goblins. They have a power that not even wizards can use."

**and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they're shockingly underrepresented."**

_'Because no one notices them,'_ Albus thought sadly.

**"And how do we do all this?" Harry asked.**

**"We start by recruiting members," said Hermione happily. "I thought two Sickles to join - that buys a badge - and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. You're treasurer, Ron - I've got you a collecting tin upstairs - and Harry, you're secretary, so you might want to write down everything I'm saying now, as a record of our first meeting."**

"Well, it was helpful that she told him to write it all down after she said everything," Sirius said shaking his head. "Wow, she's something else."

"She's expecting a lot from zem," Fleur said thinking it all over.

"Well, no one can say that she's not ambitious?" Mad-Eye suggested and the all smiled at that comment.

**There was a pause in which Hermione beamed at the pair of them, and Harry sat, torn between exasperation at Hermione and amusement at the look on Ron's face. The silence was broken, not by Ron, who in any case looked as though he was temporarily dumbstruck, but by a soft tap, tap on the window. Harry looked across the now empty common room and ****saw, illuminated by the moonlight, a snowy owl perched on the windowsill.**

"Yes," cheered Sirius, punching the air, "Finally!"

"Your reply," Kingsley nodded. "It's about time. I was starting to worry about you."

Sirius beamed, but it slowly faded as he thought to how Harry was going to take the news he was coming back.

**"Hedwig!" he shouted, and he launched himself out of his chair and across the room to pull open the window.**

**Hedwig flew inside, soared across the room, and landed on the table on top of Harry's predictions.**

**"About time!" said Harry, hurrying after her.**

**"She's got an answer!" said Ron excitedly, pointing at the grubby piece of parchment tied to Hedwig's leg.**

"Of course she does, why else would she come to Harry in the middle of the night?" Bill asked and Fleur giggled.

**Harry hastily untied it and sat down to read, whereupon Hedwig fluttered onto his knee, hooting softly.**

**"What does it say?" Hermione asked breathlessly.**

**The letter was very short, and looked as though it had been scrawled in a great hurry. **

"I was," said Sirius in a suddenly serious voice. "I was worried sick."

"You didn't do anything stupid did you?" Remus asked him.

Sirius didn't answer.

"My god, you didn't…" Remus said cautiously as he slowly realized what Sirius did.

"I was worried!"

"What?" Molly asked confused.

**Harry read it aloud:**

**_Harry -_**

**_I'm flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange _****_rumors that have reached me here. _**

"You're coming back?" Tonks questioned. "Come on cousin… not even you are _that_ crazy!"

"Sirius, that's dangerous! What if you got yourself caught?" Molly demanded. "What if they'd _seen_ you?"

Sirius sighed. "If I thought my godson was in danger, nothing was going to stop me from coming back just to see with my own eyes," he said stubbornly.

While the others argued with him, Remus smiled. _'And he doesn't see why Lily and James made him godfather. Really, after Harry was born, he couldn't have loved the boy more if he was his own son.'_

"Don't worry," Remus spoke up, but still gave Sirius a dark look. "I mean… you are good at staying out of trouble when you want to."

"I hope so," Molly said worriedly.

"I didn't know you cared," Sirius said joking.

"Of course I care, Harry would be devastated if something were to happen to you, I don't want that," she said.

"Why must you remind me?" Sirius said shaking his head. Maybe it would've been better not to have told Harry that he was coming back if it was going to make him worry.

**_If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore - they're saying he's got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is. _**

"I always do," Albus whispered softly to himself again. "As most others don't bother."

**_I'll be in touch soon. My best to Ron and Hermione. Keep your eyes open, Harry._**

**_Sirius_**

"That was too obvious," frowned Mad-Eye, his magical eye looking at Sirius in disappointment, "You're a wanted man. You could've gotten those three into trouble, if that letter was intercepted."

Sirius blinked in a startled way. He hadn't thought of that until later on… thank god that no one was checking the mail that night…

**Harry looked up at Ron and Hermione, who stared back at him.**

**"He's flying north?" Hermione whispered. "He's coming _back_?"**

"What's wrong with that?" said Sirius hotly.

"They're worried about you," Molly reminded him. "You were safer away from Britain. They didn't want you to risk getting caught."

"They, like all of you, underestimate me," Sirius retorted persistently.

**"Dumbledore's reading what signs?" said Ron, looking perplexed. "Harry - what's up?"**

"The signs that Voldemort is returning," said Mad-Eye rolling his eye. "Keep up, Weasley. Bertha Jorkins disappearing in Albania, Potter's scar hurting, the Dark Mark… these aren't just coincidences."

**For Harry had just hit himself in the forehead with his fist, jolting Hedwig out of his lap.**

**"I shouldn't've told him!" Harry said furiously.**

"Yes, you _should_ have," frowned Sirius in a would-be stern voice. He was feeling slightly hurt that Harry wasn't pleased at having him so near… "I'm glad you told me. I'm _supposed_ to worry about you. What else am I supposed to do?!"

"He's just worried that you will get caught," Remus reminded him. "If you did, he would've blamed himself."

"Well, good thing it never happened," Sirius said firmly. Even if it did—it was his choice to come back. Harry never asked him to do such a thing. If anything did happen to him, it would never have been his godson's fault. He would have to make sure that Harry knew that should something happen to him.

**"What are you on about?" said Ron in surprise.**

**"It's made him think he's got to come back!" said Harry, now slamming his fist on the table so that Hedwig landed on the back of Ron's chair, hooting indignantly. "Coming back, because he thinks I'm in trouble! And there's nothing wrong with me! **

_'But I wanted to be closer,'_ Sirius thought sadly. He wanted to be there if Harry needed him.

**And I haven't got anything for you," Harry snapped at Hedwig, who was clicking her beak ****expectantly, "you'll have to go up to the Owlery if you want food."**

"I know that you're upset, Harry," Molly said disapprovingly. "But there's no need to take it out on Hedwig!"

"Yeah," Tonks said frowning. "She has just flown miles to deliver your letter."

**Hedwig gave him an extremely offended look and took off for the open window, cuffing him around the head with her outstretched wing as she went.**

"Nice one, Hedwig," Tonks grinned.

**"Harry," Hermione began, in a pacifying sort of voice.**

**"I'm going to bed," said Harry shortly. "See you in the morning."**

"Oh, that's not good," Bill sighed. "He's just going up to think it over and brood again…"

"Ah… the joys of being a teenager," Mad-Eye said sarcastically.

**Upstairs in the dormitory he pulled on his pyjamas and got into his four-poster, but he didn't feel remotely tired.**

**If Sirius came back and got caught, it would be his, Harry's, fault. **

"No, it wouldn't be your fault at all," Sirius disagreed as he rolled his eyes at the book. "Besides, it's not like I would just let myself get caught."

"Yeah," Remus said. "You've done stupider things."

"That's right I—wait, HEY!"

Remus just went on before Sirius could start yelling. That's the one good thing when it's your turn to read.

**Why hadn't he kept his mouth shut? A few seconds' pain and he'd had to blab… if he'd just had the sense to keep it to himself.**

"Even just a few seconds' pain in your scar isn't nothing," said Arthur, shaking his head.

"You did entirely the right thing, Harry," said Molly sternly; still forgetting that Harry couldn't hear her.

"Besides, I think that it's good for him to start to open up to people," Kingsley sighed.

"He is quite the pessimist, isn't he?" commented Tonks wryly. "No wonder he's got more and more secretive over the years."

"What does zis 'ave to do with 'is scar?" Fleur asked.

"Because it hurts whenever Voldemort is around," Bill told her. He saw her eyes widen in surprise and her mouth opened to ask more questions, but said jadedly, "I'll explain more later."

"Only one more paragraph anyway," Remus said with relief. "So if you could all stay quiet for a moment longer…"

**He heard Ron come up into the dormitory a short while later, but did not speak to him. For a long time, Harry lay staring up at the dark canopy of his bed. The dormitory was completely silent, and, had he been less preoccupied, Harry would have realized that the absence of Neville's usual snores meant that he was not the only one lying awake.**

"Poor Neville," said Molly absent-mindedly.

"And that's it," Remus sighed. "And I can't tell you all just how glad I am now that it's over."

"Well, we sure read better chapters," Sirius agreed. "But we've also read worse," as he remembered with a burning anger of the Dursleys.

"How about one more and then break for lunch?" Tonks suggested. They all agreed to just go straight into the next chapter without talking anymore about the curses or about what would've happened if Sirius had been caught. This time it had been Kingsley who offered to take the book. He read in his deep and slow voice… "**Chapter 15: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang**."

**(Another chapter is done! Sorry for such a long wait. But I still had to get my tests done, and the further I go with the chapters, the harder and harder it is to write anything at all. Well, I hope this chapter was worth the wait to you all.)**


	19. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang

**(Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling! I own nothing)**

**Chapter 18: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang**

Sirius had been caught. This time it had been Kingsley who offered to take the book. He read in his deep and slow voice… "**Chapter 15: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang**."

"Looks like you'll finally be making your appearance in this chapter," Bill smiled at Fleur and she nodded excitedly.

"Zis must be when we arrived for ze tournament," she noted, thinking back to the night when she first saw Hogwarts castle. "Eet will be good to read about eet."

"This should be a good chapter then," Remus added, his interest also peaked. At least they wouldn't have to worry about death and any threats from Voldemort here… at least he hoped not.

"Well," Fleur said with a dazzling grin. "If we are going to show up for a big event, why not do eet in style?"

"I think I like this girl," Sirius whispered to Remus who punched his shoulder. "She's already taken, remember?" he hissed back and jerked his head towards Bill who was smiling at her. Once Kingsley was done admiring the picture, this time of the large ship rising out of the lake, he continued.

**Early next morning, Harry woke with a plan fully formed in his mind, as though his sleeping brain had been working on it all night.**

Kingsley stopped for a moment so that he could chuckle. "I'm afraid that it might not be that simple, Harry."

"Yeah, I noticed it as well," Remus agreed with a rather grim smile. "Harry works best under pressure. He has some of the best instincts that I've ever seen and thinks fast on his feet."

"All he needs is to be pushed into a life-threatening situation and he pulls off a miracle," Mad-Eye agreed, already bored.

Sirius glared at him. While he knew that he was kidding, he didn't like that thought one bit.

**He got up, dressed in the pale dawn light, left the dormitory without waking Ron, and went back down to the deserted common room. Here he took a piece of parchment from the table upon which his Divination homework still lay and wrote the following letter:**

**_Dear Sirius,_**

Sirius frowned, quickly figuring out where this was going.

"What ees eet?" asked Fleur, noticing Sirius's sullen face.

"He wants to write and talk me out of coming back," Sirius sighed unhappily. But then he cheered up slightly and said, "Not that I'll fall for it of course. I planned on going back whether he wanted me to or not."

"I don't think there's a force on earth that can stop you if you put your mind to it," Arthur told him.

_'Except for Lily,'_ Remus thought fondly at how the red-head once struck fear into Sirius Black's heart. Especially that one time when she caught Sirius taking Harry out for a ride on his motorcycle… he honestly thought that she was going to kill him when they got back. Though probably the only reason that he wasn't dead was because Sirius was still holding Harry when she caught them…

**_I reckon I just imagined my scar hurting,_**

"Did he really think I would fall for that?" Sirius burst out laughing and shook his head. "Really, Harry you can do better than that. I would've thought that you would've come up with some better stories after all this time. You're speaking to a Marauder for crying out loud."

Fleur tilted her head baffled. "A Marauder?" she repeated. "What you rob and steal?"

"No I'm…" Sirius began.

Mad-Eye cleared his throat and Remus said, "It's just a nickname we had when we were in school. Though with Sirius that's not a bad guess…"

"Oi!" he shouted and slapped the back of head. "Watch it! I know a few skeletons in your closet as well, Moony. You wouldn't like it if I let a few things lip would you."

"What's the point? You embarrass me every chance you get," he responded, not noticing that Moody was shaking his head in exasperation. What on earth did he do to deserve this?

**_I was half asleep when I wrote to you last time. There's no point coming back, everything's fine here. Don't worry about me, my head feels completely normal._**

**_Harry_**

"Sorry, Harry. But I had a feeling that you'd try and come up with something like that to keep me safe," Sirius said tiredly—to be honest, was actually quite hurt that Harry was trying to trick him like that. He had always wanted to be a person that Harry could trust… someone who he would feel comfortable enough to tell him when something was bothering him. To hear this was starting to become painful… but he did his best to hide it and tried to make a joke. "While I am touched that you care so much for me, I'm almost insulted at the same time that you would think that I fall for such a horrible lie."

"He obviously cares about you a great deal, Sirius," Arthur stated, seeing right through his efforts of humor. "He just doesn't want anything to happen to you. He wants to know that you're safe… he's afraid that you would get hurt or caught because of him."

"I know," Sirius responded, though he couldn't stop the pleased smile that appeared when he heard the fact expressed out loud. Soft warmth began to spread throughout his heart—touched that Harry was willing to do this for him.

**He then climbed out of the portrait hole, up through the silent castle (held up only briefly by Peeves, who tried to overturn a large vase on him halfway along the fourth-floor corridor), **

"Zat 'orrible Poltergeist again," Fleur said shaking her head. She remembered seeing him a few times before… the first time he had poured an entire inkpot of ink onto her head. After that, she made a habit of cursing him every time she was unfortunate enough to see him in the halls.

**finally arriving at the Owlery, which was situated at the top of West Tower.**

**The Owlery was a circular stone room, rather cold and drafty, because none of the windows had glass in them. The floor was entirely covered in straw, owl droppings, and the regurgitated skeletons of mice and voles.**

"Don't they clean that place?" Tonks asked casually.

"About once a month," Remus told her, careful to avoid looking at her. Tonks noticed this and frowned slightly—feeling a little hurt that he didn't want to look at her. "If they do it any later than that, then it would just become an impossible mess."

"Well," Arthur said, also starting to feel the tense atmosphere between the two of them and trying to lighten it up. "I guess that we can now understand why Filch hates cleaning so much."

Sirius burst out laughing and said loudly, "But the kids and owls are keeping him employed! You think that he'd be more grateful for them going out of their way to make messes for him to take care of!"

"I think that its students like you that have made him hate his job," Remus said to him, a bright smile now on his face as well. "You seemed to have made it your mission in life to give him a hard time."

"He was a git!" Sirius said waving his hand at him unconcerned. "He hated us and we hated him. It only made sense to give him a reason to hate us."

**Hundreds upon hundreds of owls of every breed imaginable were nestled here on perches that rose right up to the top of the tower, nearly all of them asleep, though here and there a round amber eye glared at Harry. **

"That has to be creepy," Tonks said, and looked up at Moody. She remembered when she first met him and the feeling of constantly being watched. But she's gotten used to it. Now she likes to think that he's constantly looking out for her. She smiled merrily at him and he raised his eyebrows at her grumpily at her.

"What?" he asked coldly.

She grinned a little wider and turned her attention back to the book. "Oh… nothing…" she said. Ahhhh, she loved Mad-Eye. What would they do without him?

**He spotted Hedwig nestled between a barn owl and a tawny, and hurried over to her, sliding a little on the dropping-strewn floor.**

"Good luck with that," Tonks said forebodingly. "If I were her, I would just tell him to bug off."

"But she's too proud to allow him to use another owl," Arthur reminded her. "So I think that she deliver it anyway even if she's angry at him."

Bill laughed. "Now that is loyalty."

**It took him a while to persuade her to wake up and then to look at him, as she kept shuffling around on her perch, showing him her tail. She was evidently still furious about ****his lack of gratitude the previous night. **

"Owls have always been very proud creatures, and each one has a different personality," commented Remus with a chuckle. "But Hedwig is certainly one of a kind."

Fleur smiled at the thought of that white owl. She had seen her a few times last year and had always thought that she was one of the prettiest owls she had ever seen.

"She sounds like Harry," Bill spoke up. "That sounds like something he would do. If he's angry at someone, he'll ignore them until he calms down. You were right about that Tonks… pets do take after their owners."

She shrugged in a knowing way. "My dear old Mum says you can learn a lot about someone from their pets."

"You mean like Hagrid and his Blast-Ended Skrewts?" Bill asked with his eyebrows raised.

"No," she said happily. "I mean with Fang. He may look big and scary… but he's a big teddy bear really."

"Can't argue with that," Molly sighed. "I just wished that Hagrid had more pets like Fang."

**In the end, it was Harry suggesting she might be too tired, and that perhaps he would ask Ron to borrow Pigwidgeon, that made her stick out her leg and allow him to tie the letter to ****it.**

They all burst out laughing at Hedwig.

"Seems that Harry knows how to handle her when she's in a bad mood," commented Remus again chortling again.

"That's right, use her vanity against her," Sirius laughed. "That's brilliant!"

"I have never seen a prouder owl," Kingsley smiled as well as he played with the corner of the page. "Though I think it's because she doesn't want Harry to think that there are better owls out there."

"She's like that clingy girlfriend who thinks that he's hers and all others should back off," Sirius roared with laughter and soon the others joined in as well. Kingsley took a few deep breaths and had been able to calm them all down for him to go on.

**"Just find him, all right?" Harry said, stroking her back as he carried her on his arm to one of the holes in the wall. "Before the Dementors do."**

"Like I would _let_ them _find_ me," Sirius said waving his hand. "Give me some credit."

**She nipped his finger, perhaps rather harder than she would ordinarily have done, but ****hooted softly in a reassuring sort of way all the same. **

"Yeah," Sirius smirked. "It's hard to stay angry at him for long. Wish I knew how he does it."

"It's called being polite," Molly pointed out. "It's hard to hate someone who's like a gentleman."

Sirius pretended to think that over and said, "Really? That's all it takes? Geez, wish I thought of that back in school."

"You and the rest of the student population," Remus said in an undertone; remembering all the different girlfriends that Sirius had. Because of his humor and natural good looks it wasn't too difficult for him to get a girl's attention. Though it did becoming very irritating to be around him after he starting snogging them.

**Then she spread her wings and took off into the sunrise. Harry watched her fly out of sight with the familiar feeling of unease back in his stomach. He had been so sure that Sirius's ****reply would alleviate his worries rather than increasing them.**

"Sorry, Harry, but I'd rather be there, where I can jump into action if you need me too," said Sirius—half joking, half serious. "You should really start worrying about your neck than mine."

"Zat ees sweet," Fleur said fondly. "To 'ave someone care about you zat much."

Sirius went a little bit red at her words, but she didn't notice it because her eyes found Bill's and a silvery blush went across her own cheeks when he smiled back.

**"That was a _lie,_ Harry,"** **said Hermione** **sharply over breakfast, when he told her and Ron ****what he had done. "You didn't imagine your scar hurting and you know it."**

"I hope that he listens to her just this once," Molly said anxiously. "To let him know that it's ok to open up to others and he doesn't have to feel responsible for everything."

"He's a guy," Tonks reminded her dryly with a hard look at Remus. "Sometimes you have to hit them over the head for them to listen."

**"So what?" said Harry. "He's not going back to Azkaban because of me."**

"Did they suddenly forget that I'm an adult who can make up his mind on what he wants to do and what he doesn't?" Sirius asked in a suffering tone of voice.

"Can you blame him?" Arthur suddenly teased. "Most of the time you seem to forget it yourself."

Despite the chuckles, Sirius ignored him and went on, "He really should give me some more credit, I managed to escape from Azkaban and been in hiding for over a year so far. He really shouldn't think that I would be careless enough to be caught after all that." Sirius took a deep breath and said, "While I am touched you care Harry, you're more important than my freedom."

"Awww," Fleur said again and he blushed one more time. "You really should be like zat more often," she told him. "Zough, maybe you should tell 'im zat face-to-face? I theenk 'e would appreciate that."

Sirius nodded. It was one thing to talk about it—but saying to that person is another thing.

"Besides, as much of an idiot Sirius can be, he's unstoppable—still not sure if that's a good thing," Remus said in a joking voice.

"Yeah, so he should—hey!" Sirius called out. They rest of them watched them fondly, smiling at how carefree the two of them seemed to become whenever they were poking fun at the other.

**"Drop it," said Ron sharply to Hermione as she opened her mouth to argue some more, and for once, Hermione heeded him, and fell silent.**

"Why?" asked Arthur curiously. In all the books, he couldn't ever remembering a time when Hermione to just listen to Ron without questions.

"Maybe because there's no point," Kingsley pointed out. "The letter's sent and they can't do anything about it."

**Harry did his best not to worry about Sirius over the next couple of weeks. **

"Couple of weeks," Sirius repeated slowly, not liking the sound of that. He didn't want his godson to be dwelling on him like this for that long. Damn it, he should've known that Harry would react like that! He should've made it sound more reassuring… let him know that he wasn't in danger… why didn't he?

"Everyone turned out alright," Remus pointed out calmly, masking his own slight worry. "You were safe that whole year. Everyone still thought that you were abroad… and knowing you, if you were as worried as I think, then you had to been flying almost non-stop."

"Yeah," Sirius admitted sadly. "But I don't like that he still worried over me like that. He should've been focusing on having fun with his friends… while he still could."

"Must you depress us all now?" Bill asked sullenly.

"I can't help it," Sirius sighed back.

**True, he could not stop himself from looking anxiously around every morning when the post owls arrived, nor, late at night before he went to sleep, prevent himself from seeing horrible visions of Sirius, cornered by Dementors down some dark London street, **

Sirius bit his lower lip at the fact that his godson had nightmares about him. "To be fair," Mad-Eye said, "You're face does cause nightmares."

It worked. Sirius spluttered in outrage and began hurling insults back at Moody before he blinked in surprise at what just happened. He folded his arms and leaned back with a pout on his face—though a slight smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth and everyone laughed again.

**but between times he tried to keep his mind off his godfather. He wished he still had Quidditch to distract him; nothing worked so well on a troubled mind as a good, hard training session.**

"I can see that," Bill admitted and thought it over. "It's hard to dwell on dark thoughts when you're exhausted."

"See?" Sirius said to Molly smugly. "Quidditch is more than just a sport!"

She choose not to give him the satisfaction of answering, forcing her ears to listen to Kingsleys deep voice.

**On the other hand, their lessons were becoming more difficult and demanding than ever before, particularly Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts.**

Mad-Eye was looking at the opposite wall—refusing to move, but his magic eye was fixed on the book. He wasn't going to like this, he could feel it.

"Well, if he's really good at pretending to be you, Mad-Eye, he'll work them like dogs…" Tonks said wisely. "Or worse… like trained Aurors!"

"Seems I was too easy on you during training," he growled at her and she looked aghast that he would say that.

"You really are mad aren't you?" she asked with a hand over her heart as if she was having a heart attack. "You worked me within an inch of my life!"

"Hopefully, that thick skull of yours might've learned something after all that," he said crossly. Arthur nudged Kingsley's foot with his own, asking him to continue before any fights broke out.

**To their surprise, Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of them in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects.**

"What?" Molly and Sirius yelled in horror.

"That's going too far!" Molly screamed, grasping her husband's hand while the others looked astonished. "That's illegal!" she went on.

"Molly, it _was_ a Death Eater teaching them," Arthur pointed out but was also shocked that these kids were placed under and Unforgivable.

Kingsley went on in a slightly faster tone.

**"But - but you said it's illegal, Professor," said Hermione uncertainly as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said - to use it against another human was -"**

"Exactly!" Molly said firmly, agreeing wholeheartedly with Hermione.

**"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swiveling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. **

"Now Dumbledore supposedly wants them taught what the Imperius Curse feels like?" Arthur repeated looking up at Kingsley, hoping that he heard wrong.

He shrugged back. "If that's true, then Dumbledore must've been worried that danger was close."

Albus felt his conscience turn with guilt. It was true. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before Tom returned, and when that happened… then Harry _had_ to be ready for whatever Tom had to throw at him. And not just Harry… everyone. Better that they know how to throw off the curse in the company of someone who they could trust then under a Death Eater and not stand a chance.

"Why would Dumbledore want the Imperius Curse done on them?" Molly demanded. She suddenly wished the Headmaster was here so that she could give him a piece of her mind. How dare he…?

"So they can learn what it feels like and how to fight it. Or rather… so Potter could learn to fight it," Mad-Eye said, watching through the wall Albus's self-hating expression and guessing what it meant.

"But zat ees still going too far," Fleur said worriedly. They never would've had this at Beauxbatons!

"Actually," Tonks said thoughtfully. "Now I think about it… it is a good idea for them to be exposed to it. I mean, if Voldemort was getting stronger even this early, then they're going to have to be prepared for the worst."

"Looks like Mad-Eye is rubbing off on you at last," Bill said grinning and even Moody looked surprised. But he got over it quickly before he continued.

"It's good that they were placed under it like this," he said casually, sitting back comfortable. "No point in coddling them when something could happen at any time. They're going to find out eventually, anyway. The sooner they know, the sooner they can prepare for whatever may come."

"But they aren't Aurors!" Molly argued, her eyes flashing. "They shouldn't have to…"

Mad-Eye shrugged unconcernedly. "Shouldn't… but will have to whether we like it or not. What does it matter anyway? They're all going to have to fight at some point, because Voldemort and his Death Eaters don't care who they torture or kill. If you aren't wearing the Dark Mark, then you're no better than a slug. You aren't a living person to a Death Eater… just targets. Besides, I'm not the one teaching them am I?"

No one could think of anything to say. Albus was just glad that he wasn't in the room though he knew he would have to answer to that later on.

**"If you'd rather learn the hard way - when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely - fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."**

"Like Hermione will leave an important lesson like this," Sirius tried to smirk. "I'd love to see the look on her face after a comment like that."

"That does sound like something you would say and do though Mad-Eye," Tonks added, remembering all the times that he had used that trick on her.

"Only against someone who's completely hopeless like you," Moody said darkly.

**He pointed one gnarled finger toward the door. Hermione went very pink and muttered something about not meaning that she wanted to leave. Harry and Ron grinned at each other. They knew Hermione would rather eat bubotuber pus than miss such an important lesson.**

"Yeah, that sounds like her," Tonks nodded and they all laughed at that.

**Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. Harry watched as, one by one, his classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel.** **Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state. **

"At least they're small things…" Arthur said softly.

"But he's doing the same thing he was with the spiders," Remus pointed out worriedly. "He's making it seem humorous."

"What do you expect? He's a Death Eater," Sirius reminded him sourly, "Of course he would think it's humorous."

"Not completely," Kingsley admitted reluctantly. "By making them do these ridiculous things, it shows just how deeply the curse ensnares its victim and how they wouldn't like this happening to them. Shows them just how easily it is to control someone like that."

**Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.**

"But they're only kids," said Remus, frowning, "What does he expect to happen?"

"I don't think he was expecting anything," Arthur declared.

"Yeah, well… if there is anybody that can do it, it's Harry," Sirius said proudly.

"I don't know about that, it's a very hard curse to throw off," Arthur said unsure. "But then again, Harry has a gift for surprising us doesn't he?"

"I theenk so too," Fleur agreed with Sirius. Remus, Kingsley, and Tonks all nodded in agreement, while Molly, Mad-Eye, and Bill were still on the fence about it. Sure Harry wasn't like most people—but finding someone who can resist such a powerful curse is acceptably rare.

"You'll see," Sirius said stubbornly with a grateful nod towards Fleur.

**"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."**

Sirius sat up straighter. Glad he was that Harry was getting such intense teaching, he was still nervous that a Dark curse was being performed in his godson. Though he just knew that he would be able to fight it… he could just feel it…

**Harry moved forward into the middle of the classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Harry, and said, _"Imperio!"_**

**It was the most wonderful feeling. Harry felt a floating sensation as every thought and worry in his head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. **

"Ees zat what eet feels like?" Fleur asked surprised. She had thought that it would feel terrible—like you would be under someone's control like a puppet—that you could see everything happening, but you would be helpless to do anything but watch.

"Yep," Mad-Eye said grimly. "It almost wipes everything in your mind away… and it's easy to manipulate someone when they're a blank slate."

**He stood there feeling immensely relaxed, only dimly aware of everyone watching him.**

"Looks like he's given into it," Mad-Eye said in disappointment.

Albus smiled and shook his head. Wait for it…

**And then he heard Mad-Eye Moody's voice, echoing in some distant chamber of his empty brain: _Jump onto the desk… jump onto the desk…_**

**Harry bent his knees obediently, preparing to spring.**

"See what it means by complete control? You feel compelled to follow the voice, because in your head it is the only thing that matters," explained Remus to the room. "You feel duty-bound to do whatever the voice tells you…"

"Well, it's not over yet," Sirius repeated strongly.

**_Jump onto the desk…_**

**Why, though? Another voice had awoken in the back of his brain. Stupid thing to do, really, said the voice.**

Suddenly, they were all staring at the book fixedly, realizing that Harry was trying to fight the curse on just the first try.

"He's resisting it?" Molly asked in apparent shock, her eyes widening in wonder.

"He's fighting it," Moody confirmed in a impressed voice.

"On his first try," breathed Sirius, with a note of awe and pride in his voice. Thank god… if it was confirmed that Harry could throw off the Imperius Curse, then it would be a load of his shoulders; it would be just one less thing for him to worry about happening to Harry in this war. "Yes! He's fighting it! Just on his first try?! Come on! Most fully trained Aurors can't even do that! They have to train for ages before they can even hope to fight it! My godson is awesome!"

"A strong mind and a stubborn will," Mad-Eye said in approval. You would think that if the kid could fight one of the Unforgiveable Curses, he would've learned Occlumency by now. "Maybe some of you slackers can learn a thing or two from this."

Albus was smiling with pride. While he can throw off the curse as well, it took himself a lot of concentration to get that little 'voice'. He knew that if there was anyone who would be able to throw it off it this quickly, it would've been Harry. But…

The smiles slowly faded away. This test won't be like the real situation. Tom was most famous for his use of the Dark Arts, and as far as Albus's knew, no one had ever been able to throw off his Imperius Curse before. But there was always a chance that someone will… he shook himself out from the depths of his mind and back to listening.

**_Jump onto the desk…_**

**No, I don't think I will, thanks, said the other voice, a little more firmly… no, I don't really want to.**

"That's right," Sirius grinned with smugness. "Don't let anyone tell you what to do… fight them off…

"Is that really what it's like?" Molly asked, bemused despite herself. "An argument inside your head?"

"Sometimes," Kingsley said calmly. "It's a fight for control. Your own inner voice against the one that is filling your mind and controlling you—it really all depends on which is stronger."

**_Jump! NOW!_**

**The next thing Harry felt was considerable pain.**

"What happened?" Molly said shocked and Sirius looked angry.

**He had both jumped and tried to prevent himself from jumping - the result was that he'd smashed headlong into the desk knocking it over, and, by the feeling in his legs, fractured ****both his kneecaps.**

"Told you he could throw it off," Sirius said self-righteously.

"He was able to fight it, but not throw it off," Tonks reminded him lightly and he glared at her.

"Better than what you did on your first try," Mad-Eye reminded her and she blushed with embarrassment.

Remus looked up startled. "You mean…?" he began but Tonks explained.

"It's needed for Auror training," she informed them. "Just to see who has what it takes to fight the curse and who should be extra careful when you sent out on missions. At first I hadn't had too much luck when Mad-Eye started training me." But she brightened up and said, "But I learned it in the end!"

"Took you almost a year to do so," he reminded her and she glared darkly at him.

"Can't you ever complement me? Just once?" she asked. "Like a 'good job'? or 'Not bad'? Something?"

"Nope," he answered drinking from his flask. "It would go straight to your head."

Tonks rolled her now violet eyes. "There is no pleasing you is there?"

**"Now, that's more like it!" growled Moody's voice, and suddenly, Harry felt the empty, echoing feeling in his head disappear. He remembered exactly what was happening, and the pain in his knees seemed to double.**

**"Look at that, you lot… Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! **

"Well done!" said Sirius, clapping. "Knew you had it in you, Harry! Just when I thought I can't be any prouder…"

**We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention - watch his eyes, that's where you see it - very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling _you_!"**

"Good," said Sirius in firm relief, "At least that's one less thing to worry about!"

"Well…" Molly began slowly, "I suppose… though I hope I never have to hear he needs to use it…"

"You and me both," Sirius said, but the smile was still there. But suddenly Arthur started to chuckle as if he just realized something.

"What is it Arthur?" Kingsley asked, looking up from the book to see the small smirk on his friend's face.

"Oh," Arthur said with a shrug. "I just thought that it was ironic that it had been a Death Eater who taught him how to throw it off in the first place. So now, not even other Death Eaters would be able to control him."

"Well," Mad-Eye confirmed as they all looked at each other in realization. "He needed to play my part well. And I don't suppose that scum ever thought that Potter would be strong enough to fight his master."

Albus nodded at that logic—however it was also because of his orders. He had told the imposter Alastor to keep test Harry on that curse. Like Sirius said, knowing that Harry could fight it would be just one less thing to worry about.

**"The way he talks," Harry muttered as he hobbled out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class an hour later (Moody had insisted on putting Harry through his paces four times in a row, until Harry could throw off the curse entirely),**

"HA! Told you," Sirius cried out in triumph.

"Eet ees probably nozzing, but 'as anyone else noticed zat 'Arry 'as resisted veelas, Imperius Curses, and even ze Killing Curse?" Fleur asked with a note of awe in her tone.

Sirius let out a low whistle, "That is brilliant, that boy is something else."

Albus nodded in agreement at Sirius's statement. That is quite an achievement for anyone, especially for a fourteen-year-old boy on his fourth try.

**"you'd think we were all going to be attacked any second."**

"It's better to be prepared," Mad-Eye said, feeling repulsed that he was agreeing with the filth that attacked him.

"**Yeah, I know," said Ron, who was skipping on every alternate step.** **He had had much more difficulty with the curse than Harry, though Moody assured him the effects would wear off by lunchtime.**

"Most people do have a great deal of trouble with it," Arthur acknowledged in an unfortunate tone. "I've never heard of someone with such raw ability…"

"That," Tonks said, "Or Ron is more of a suggestible person."

"That might be why he seemed to have a worse reaction to veela," Kingsley said thoughtfully.

**"Talk about paranoid …" Ron glanced nervously over his shoulder to check that Moody was definitely out of earshot and went on. "No wonder they were glad to get shot of him at the Ministry. Did you hear him telling Seamus what he did to that witch who shouted 'Boo' behind him on April Fools' Day? **

"So you really are still telling that story?" Kingsley asked incredulously. "You know, Alastor, you scare people senseless after they hear something like that."

"She should've known better than to sneak up on me," he growled back.

Fleur looked to Bill and asked, "What 'appened to 'er?"

He shrugged and whispered, "While I have a few ideas, I think we're better off not knowing."

**And when are we supposed to read up on resisting the Imperius Curse with everything else we've got to do?"**

"Ron, the real Alastor Moody was one of the best Aurors," Arthur said with a nod to Moody, who didn't seem bothered; as if hearing how great he was wasn't worth his time.

"Yeah, but now he's nuttier than a fruit cake," Tonks added in an undertone.

**All the fourth years had noticed a definite increase in the amount of work they were required to do this term. Professor McGonagall explained why, when the class gave a particularly loud groan at the amount of Transfiguration homework she had assigned.**

"Don't moan," Sirius moaned himself. "That only makes her want to give out more homework!"

**"You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" she told them, her eyes glinting dangerously behind her square spectacles. "Your Ordinary Wizarding ****Levels are drawing closer —"**

**"We don't take O.W.L.s till fifth year!" said Dean Thomas indignantly.**

"He has earned my respect," said Tonks with a snigger. "Answering McGonagall back like that. I can see why he's in Gryffindor—only someone truly brave or dumb would do that."

"Bravery is often mistaken for stupidity," Moody spoke up.

**"Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get! Miss Granger remains the only person in this class who has managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. I might remind you that your pincushion, Thomas, still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!"**

"That's cold…" Tonks winced sympathetically.

**Hermione, who had turned rather pink again, seemed to be trying not to look too pleased with herself.**

"I'm sure that worked out real well," Mad-Eye said through gritted teeth. This was so dull! Get to some good stuff already… something even remotely exciting…?

**Harry and Ron were deeply amused when Professor Trelawney told them that they had received top marks for their homework in their next Divination class.**

They all began to laugh, and while Molly looked slightly disapproving she was also smiling—and in the hall, Albus's eyes began to twinkle again.

"I'm sorry?" Fleur asked incredulously. "Are we sure zat she read ze same predictions we saw zem making up last chapter?"

"So much for immediately knowing that they were fake," Remus said, a little bemused.

"She must really be stupid," Sirius said shaking his head.

**She read out large portions of their predictions, commending them for their unflinching acceptance of the horrors in store for them –**

"Well, Ron said it before… they're forewarned," Sirius pointed out laughing.

**but they were less amused when she asked them to do the same thing for the month after next; both of them were running out of ideas for catastrophes.**

"On second thought maybe she did know that they made it up," Kingsley chuckled. "She's making them pay by doing more homework."

"That's cruel," Tonks said, though she personally thought that Trelawney was a sap.

**Meanwhile Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had them writing weekly essays on the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century. Professor Snape was forcing them to research antidotes. They took this one seriously, as he had hinted that he might be poisoning one of them before Christmas to see if their antidote worked.**

"He wouldn't!" cried an outraged Molly, looking murderous; she already had plenty of other reasons to be angry at Severus, but if he poisoned a student…

"I wouldn't put it past him," Sirius hissed, growling at the mention of Snape—his fingers twitched horribly as he imagined placing them around Snape's oily throat. "But for his sake, he better not!"

"Maybe it's just an empty threat," Remus suggested softly, "To scare them into doing their work?" He highly doubted that Severus would truly poison anyone… he didn't like his style of teaching.

**Professor Flitwick had asked them to read three extra books in preparation for their lesson on Summoning Charms.**

**Even Hagrid was adding to their workload. The Blast-Ended Skrewts were growing at a remarkable pace given that nobody had yet discovered what they ate. Hagrid was delighted, and as part of their "project," suggested that they come down to his hut on alternate evenings to observe the Skrewts and make notes on their extraordinary behavior.**

"That is not the kind of extra work that I want them to be doing," Molly said, shuddering at the thought of her children anywhere near those things.

"I love Hagrid, I really do," Tonks muttered, "But those creatures creep me out. And I haven't even seen them! Though I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that the students don't want to be anywhere near them."

"I couldn't agree more," agreed Bill. As much as he liked Hagrid, he wished he understood that not everyone is as strong or tough as he is. Only nutters like Charlie would be interested in monsters like these.

**"I will not," said Draco Malfoy flatly when Hagrid had proposed this with the air of Father Christmas pulling an extra-large toy out of his sack. **

"Oh, I don't think they asked Santa Claus for that," Tonks said. But that suddenly made her think up a song…

_'Oh, Santa… take away these blues…_

_Bring me something good this year bring me some good news._

_My mother hates me, and I an't got no home…_

_My baby left me; I've got no one to phone…_

_Oh, Santa, I've been a bad girl you know… _

_But give me some loving under the mistletoe…_

She began laughing at the lyrics, causing everyone to look at her in concern. "Sorry," she whispered, a warm blush on her face. "I just thought of something… it's nothing."

"Right," Kingsley said, though was still looking at her curiously, he continued.

**"I see enough of these foul things during lessons, thanks."**

**Hagrid's smile faded off his face.**

**"Yeh'll do wha' yer told," he growled, "or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book… ****I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy."**

Everyone burst out laughing.

"That's it, Hagrid," said Sirius, brandishing a fist at the book, liking this chapter so much better than the last one. "You show the little git that he's not as special as he thinks he is!"

"About time he grew a spine," Mad-Eye growled to himself.

**The Gryffindors roared with laughter. Malfoy flushed with anger, but apparently the memory of Moody's punishment was still sufficiently painful to stop him from retorting. Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned to the castle at the end of the lesson in high spirits; seeing Hagrid put down Malfoy was particularly satisfying, especially because Malfoy had done his very best to get Hagrid sacked the previous year.**

"But why would 'e do zat?" Fleur asked in surprise. "I mean… what ees ze point?"

"It was Hagrid's first lesson and they were studying hippogriffs, Hagrid warned them all that they are all very proud creatures and to never insult them. However Malfoy hadn't been paying attention, insulted one of the hippogriffs, Buckbeak, and he was attacked. Even after his arm was healed, he faked his injury for months and he tried to use the incident caused by his own stupidity to get Hagrid sacked. Though in the end it didn't work out," explained Bill before Mad-Eye could say anything.

Fleur stared at him. "But 'ow…?"

"That's another story for another time," he told her and patted her hand, both of them feeling as if an electric shock was going through their bodies when they touched.

**When they arrived in the entrance hall, they found themselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron, the tallest of the three, stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them and read the sign aloud to the other two:**

**_TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT_**

**_THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS_**

Fleur smiled excitedly. It would be so good to hear about Madame Maxime and her friends again… while she did love her new life here in England, she often felt a little homesick.

**_AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY –_**

**"Brilliant!" said Harry. "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"**

"If he wants to live to see tomorrow, he better not have even tried," Sirius pointed out, threateningly.

**_STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST._**

**"Only a week away!" said Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff, emerging from the crowd, his eyes gleaming. "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him…"**

**"Cedric?" said Ron blankly as Ernie hurried off.**

**"Diggory," said Harry. "He must be entering the tournament."**

Everyone looked sadly at the book at the mention of Cedric and Fleur sniffed loudly.

**"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?" said Ron as they pushed their way through the chattering crowd toward the staircase.**

Albus tried to stay composed, but Cedric was one of the first victims of the war and just the thought of his former student was painful and felt like a punch in the gut.

"He was not an idiot, he was picked for the Tournament," Arthur said angry at his son for saying that.

"I zought 'e was a very good Champion," Fleur said tearfully, pulling out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes. "Eet's just not fair."

Bill wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I know," he said sadly, now regretting bringing her hear and forcing her to hear this. "And it was a terrible thing that happened… but if we knew that stupid cup was a portkey, we never would've let it happen."

She sniffled and leaned into his warm embrace, feeling as if a heavy burden was slowly lifting from inside her, the longer she was there with him.

**"He's not an idiot. You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch," said Hermione.** **"I've heard he's a really good student - _and_ he's a Prefect."**

"He was a good student," Remus murmured sadly, nodding in agreement. He was one of the best and brightest he'd seen when he taught there.

**She spoke as though this settled the matter.**

**"You only like him because he's _handsome_," said Ron scathingly.**

"Is somebody jealous?" Sirius asked lightly, his lips twitching at Ron. Everyone who knew the two of them couldn't help but smile at how natural these two were with each other.

**"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" said Hermione indignantly.**

"Oh, yeah, right," muttered Tonks teasingly. At that age, a young girl can easily fall for a pretty face.

"What about Lockhart?" Bill asked smirking, remembering how she had outlined Lockhart's classes with hearts.

**Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like "Lockhart!"**

Everyone laughed at that once again, their spirits lifting.

**The appearance of the sign in the entrance hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where Harry went: the Triwizard Tournament. Rumors were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the tournament would involve, how the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from themselves.**

"Well," Fleur said, "We all zought ze same thing when we arrived. When we got to 'Ogwarts, everything was different; nothing like 'ome."

"What is Beauxbatons like anyway?" Tonks asked curiously.

"Oh," Fleur said excitedly, a dreamy expression on her face. "Eet ees near Cannes in southern France! Eet ees a lot like 'Ogwarts zough more… newer. Eet eesn't as old; only about seven hundred years or so and eet ees more like a palace instead of a castle. A great glittering palace brighter zan ze 'Ogwarts castle and…" she suddenly realized that she was babbling and stopped as Bill and the others laughed.

"That sounds like it's beautiful," Bill said to her. "I'd—love to see it someday."

She smiled back in embarrassment. "Well, we'll 'ave to… I'd love to show you around."

**Harry noticed too that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. **

"They would like to make a good impression on their guests," Arthur laughed.

**Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces. The suits of armor were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, **

"Ah, come on, leave them at least a little grimy," Sirius said with great amusement. "I think it gives the old place character."

**and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics. **

"Now that was uncalled for," Molly said coldly, wishing she could have a few words with that man.

**Other members of the staff seemed oddly tense too.**

**"Longbottom, kindly do _not_ reveal that you can't even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!" Professor McGonagall barked**

"And that was also quite rude," Molly said shaking her head.

"I'm sure she had reason," Remus offered lightly.

"But that still harsh," Bill said.

**at the end of one particularly difficult lesson, during which Neville had accidentally transplanted his own ears onto a cactus.**

"That's a good one," said Sirius. "I have to say that I've never heard of someone doing that before. Sounds like that would be a good prank though."

"I guess she did have a reason…" Bill mused.

"Funny. I seem to recall that in book 1, McGonagall described Transfiguration as _'complex magic'_… so is a '_simple Switching Spell'_ really simple?" Mad-Eye asked.

"For someone who isn't skilled in Transfiguration," Kingsley said. "It is very difficult. But for those have a talent for it such as James did, then it really is easy."

**When they went down to breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October, they found ****that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor,**

Sirius cheered proudly.

**blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, **

This time it was Tonks who cheered proudly.

**and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. **

Instead of cheering, both Sirius and Tonks booed loudly and held their thumbs down.

**Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H.**

"Well, it would be united if they got rid of the serpent," muttered Sirius. Albus had heard that though and sighed. While he agreed that Slytherin House was the least accepting of the four… the other Houses weren't innocent either.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down beside Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. Once again, and most unusually, they were sitting apart from everyone else and conversing in low voices. Ron led the way over to them.**

**"It's a bummer, all right," George was saying gloomily to Fred. "But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever."**

"Wonder what they're up to this time?" said Bill, frowning in thought.

"Dunno, but I don't like the sound of it," said Sirius. "Sounds like someone's cheated them out of something…"

"If I hear that they were gambling again…" Molly warned, shooting her husband a dark look—who in turn became very interested in a crack in the wall.

**"Who's avoiding you?" said Ron, sitting down next to them.**

**"Wish you would," said Fred, looking irritated at the interruption.**

**"What's a bummer?" Ron asked George.**

**"Having a nosy git like you for a brother," said George.**

"George!" Molly said scolding. No wonder Ron had such confidence issues… if his brothers treated him like this…

**"You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" Harry asked. "Thought any more ****about trying to enter?"**

**"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling," said George bitterly. **

"I bet she wasn't," said Sirius grimly, not liking where this was going. "Why am I not surprised?"

"What did you expect?" Remus asked politely. "Minerva would rather die than tell a secret."

"One of the main reasons we love her I suppose," Tonks said cheery.

**"She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."**

"Always so polite and friendly, McGonagall is," Sirius laughed. "She said the exact same thing to me on a daily basis… ah the memories…"

"Well, you talked so much in class she sometimes had to put a Silencing Charm on you so that she could finish the lesson," Remus nodding in reminisce. "I think the only reason she never kicked you or James out was because you both were so skilled in that class."

"Yeah," Sirius nodded. "We were good in all our classes. I think that's why they took us back every year."

**"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" said Ron thoughtfully. "You know, I bet we could do them, Harry. We've done dangerous stuff before…"**

"That isn't something that you should be boasting about," said Molly in a sad tone, biting her lip and trying very hard not to remember incidents like the spiders in the forest or the Dementors. "Far too dangerous that anyone should ever get into."

"Those three get more action in a week then most wizards get in a lifetime," Mad-Eye added.

"That's not really comforting, Mad-Eye," Tonks sighed. "Remind me never to go to you if I need comfort."

**"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't," said Fred. "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks."**

**"Who are the judges?" Harry asked.**

**"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel," said Hermione, and everyone looked around at her, rather surprised,** **"because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage."**

"Don't tell me…" Arthur said smiling again. "She got it from a book."

"Of course," Remus laughed. "She's not the brightest witch of her age for nothing."

**She noticed them all looking at her and said, with her usual air of impatience that nobody else had read all the books she had,** **"It's all in _Hogwarts: A History_. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable.**

"Wow… all of a sudden she's saying that a book isn't reliable," Sirius said in revelation.

"No, she said not _entirely_ reliable," Kingsley corrected him coolly.

**A Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more accurate title. Or A Highly Biased and ****Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School."**

**"What are you on about?" said Ron, though Harry thought he knew what was coming.**

"House-elves, of course," Bill said, also knowing what Hermione was about to say.

**"House-elves!" said Hermione, her eyes flashing. "Not once, in over a thousand pages, does _Hogwarts: A History _mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!"**

"Hermione, the house-elves at Hogwarts are some of the best treated in the entire wizarding world," said Remus politely as if the girl was sitting there with them.

"They aren't really slaves; they love their job," Sirius said in a bored tone.

"Slaves to their work perhaps," Albus whispered as he thought that over.

**Harry shook his head and applied himself to his scrambled eggs. His and Ron's lack of enthusiasm had done nothing whatsoever to curb Hermione's determination to pursue justice for house-elves.**

**True, both of them had paid two Sickles for a S.P.E.W. badge, but they had only done it to keep her quiet.**

"Yeah, but now she'll think they're actually interested," Sirius sighed, rolling his eyes.

**Their Sickles had been wasted, however; if anything, they seemed to have made Hermione more vociferous. She had been badgering Harry and Ron ever since, first to wear the badges, then to persuade others to do the same, and she had also taken to rattling around the Gryffindor common room every evening, cornering people and shaking the collecting tin ****under their noses.**

"Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think that's the best way to collect money for a cause, Hermione," Tonks pointed out. "Maybe if you didn't come on as strongly…?"

"Yes, pestering people until they agree to what you say isn't the best way to go about it," Arthur mused.

"Like I said before," Sirius said in a tone as if he thought no one was listening, "Change the name! Who wants to walk around with a badge that says _spew_ anyway?"

**"You do realize that your sheets are changed, your fires lit, your classrooms cleaned, and your food cooked by a group of magical creatures who are unpaid and enslaved?" she kept saying fiercely.**

_'Of course I would pay them if they wanted me to,'_ Albus thought to himself.

"Now, I'm sure that Dumbledore would pay them if they asked for it," Molly declared and Albus felt gratitude towards her.

**Some people, like Neville, had paid up just to stop Hermione from glowering at them. A few seemed mildly interested in what she had to say, but were reluctant to take a more active role in campaigning. Many regarded the whole thing as a joke.**

"Which is what it is," Sirius said.

"Sirius!" Molly snapped at him.

"I agree that she should focus more on receiving better treatment," Kingsley said. "But I doubt that they will ever want freedom… maybe in the far future…?" he trailed off his train of thought and back to the book.

**Ron now rolled his eyes at the ceiling, which was flooding them all in autumn sunlight, and Fred became extremely interested in his bacon (both twins had refused to buy a S.P.E.W. badge).**

**George, however, leaned in toward Hermione.**

**"Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione?"**

**"No, of course not," said Hermione curtly, "I hardly think students are supposed to -"**

"That doesn't mean they don't do it anyway," Arthur reminded everyone. "It is Hogwarts after all."

"I can't believe it!" Sirius cried in horror. "Prong's only son is in his fourth year and has never been to the kitchens?"

"Have you seen them go to the kitchens?" Mad-Eye stated annoyed.

"That's just wrong," Sirius said, shaking his head. He was adding this to his list of things that he would have to talk to Harry about.

**"Well, we have," said George, indicating Fred, "loads of times, to nick food.**

"Fred, George," Molly said in a forewarning tone.

"Of course, we did it too," said Remus, grinning at Sirius who could only grin back.

"I wouldn't really call it nicking food though," Sirius laughed. "I mean… they're only too happy to give it away."

**And we've met them, and they're _happy_. They think they've got the best job in the world -"**

**"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed!" Hermione began hotly, **

"I guess I could agree with brainwashing," Bill said slowly, "But calling them uneducated is going a too far. Just because the rest of the wizarding world doesn't take them seriously doesn't mean that they're uneducated. They're really clever them elves."

**but her next few words were drowned out by the sudden whooshing noise from overhead, which announced the arrival of the post owls. Harry looked up at once, and saw Hedwig soaring toward him. **

"Oh, good," Tonks said happily, "She's back."

**Hermione stopped talking abruptly; she and Ron watched Hedwig anxiously as she fluttered down onto Harry's shoulder, folded her wings, and held out her leg wearily.**

"I don't blame her," Fleur said. "She must be tired."

**Harry pulled off Sirius's reply and offered Hedwig his bacon rinds, which she ate gratefully. **

Tonks suddenly giggled. "Wow, Hedwig really is a clever owl isn't she? Have you notice that even when she is coming from a long distance, she tries to time her deliveries for the Great Hall so she can get a treat?"

"I've always wondered how owls do that," Arthur said happily. "Just one of those little mysteries isn't it?"

**Then, checking that Fred and George were safely immersed in further discussions about the Triwizard Tournament, Harry read out Sirius's letter in a whisper to Ron and Hermione.**

**_Nice try, Harry._**

"Try as you may, you couldn't fool me," Sirius said with a small smirk planted on his face. "And for my sake try to believe that, Harry."

"He was only trying to keep you from getting thrown back into Azkaban," Arthur said.

"Look, I'm _his_ godfather, and it's _my_ job to protect _him_, not the other way around!" Sirius's tone was suddenly serious. "I hate the fact that he seems to worry over me more than I do for him!"

**_I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself. Don't forget what I said about your scar._**

**_Sirius_**

"I saw right through what he was trying to do," Sirius murmured jokingly.

"Can't believe Harry actually thought it would work," Tonks said with a yawn.

**"Why d'you have to keep changing owls?" Ron asked in a low voice.**

"Honestly Ron, Hedwig is a snowy, white owl, don't you think she might attract attention?" Bill asked exasperated.

"I don't think Hedwig'll like zat zough," Fleur said anxiously. The book showed that Harry's owl was extremely prideful and she won't appreciate that he suddenly trusts other owls to do her job.

**"Hedwig'll attract too much attention," said Hermione at once. "She stands out. A snowy owl that keeps returning to wherever he's hiding… I mean, they're not native birds, are they?"**

**Harry rolled up the letter and slipped it inside his robes, wondering whether he felt more or ****less worried than before. He supposed that Sirius managing to get back without being caught was something. He couldn't deny either that the idea that Sirius was much nearer was reassuring; **

Sirius's face lit up at those words—hoping that he hadn't heard wrong this time. Although Harry might not believe it worth it, for Sirius, Harry's feeling of safety and security was well worth anything that life had to throw at him. He wasn't planning on being caught anytime soon anyway.

**at least he wouldn't have to wait so long for a response every time he wrote.**

**"Thanks, Hedwig," he said, stroking her. She hooted sleepily, dipped her beak briefly into his goblet of orange juice, then took off again, clearly desperate for a good long sleep in the Owlery.**

"I don't blame her she's been busy," Tonks said.

"At least he's being more grateful to his owl this time," Molly settled.

**There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang;** **even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. **

"I think that any class that's shorter is a little more bearable," Sirius pointed out.

**When the bell rang early, Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.**

**The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.**

**"Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."**

**Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait.**

"Don't see why they would mind," Tonks said. "I mean, it's not like they're going to be looking at every single person there."

"Says the girl with pink hair," Mad-Eye grunted.

**"Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall. "First years in front … no pushing …"**

**They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Harry, standing between Ron and Hermione in the fourth row from the front, saw Dennis Creevey positively shivering with anticipation among the other first ****years.**

"That was the kid who fell into the lake, right?" Sirius asked suddenly. "And was so happy that he was rescued by what could've been the Giant Squid?"

Remus nodded and Sirius laughed again.

"Dennis doesn't seem normal does he?" Tonks asked happily.

"Guess that's why we like him," Kingsley chuckled. "He's not fazed by anything, and is excited about everything that comes at him—good or bad."

"Well, when you put it like that," Sirius said, still laughing, and then maybe we need more people like him in the world. If nothing else, at least it'll make it more interesting."

**"Nearly six," said Ron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"**

Fleur snorted and looked at Arthur. "Didn't 'e listen to what you said at ze World Cup? We like to show off and make a good first impression."

**"I doubt it," said Hermione.**

**"How, then? Broomsticks?" Harry suggested, looking up at the starry sky.**

"That would be a nightmare," Fleur shivered at the thought. She hated flying—and if she had to fly straight from France to Hogwarts she would've just stayed home.

**"I don't think so… not from that far away…"**

**"A Portkey?" Ron suggested. "Or they could Apparate - maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"**

"No," Fleur said with a roll of her eyes. "Ze age limit ees seventeen no matter where you are anyway."

"Besides," Bill added an air of exhaustion. "You can't apperate into Hogwarts, Ron. When are you going to learn that?"

**"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" said ****Hermione impatiently.**

"How did you get there?" Remus asked curiously, but Fleur only smiled back mysteriously.

**They scanned the darkening grounds excitedly, but nothing was moving; everything was still, silent, and quite as usual. Harry was starting to feel cold. He wished they'd hurry up… maybe the foreign students were preparing a dramatic entrance… he remembered what Mr. Weasley had said back at the campsite before the Quidditch World Cup: "Always the same - we can't resist showing off when we get together…"**

"Well, at least I know that one of them was listening," Arthur said delightedly.

**And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers - "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"**

Fleur leaned in, eager to hear about their entrance with detail.

**"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.**

**"There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest.**

**Something large, much larger than a broomstick - or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks - was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.**

**"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.**

**"Don't be stupid… it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey.**

"What, and that's not stupid?" said Sirius sarcastically.

**Dennis's guess was closer…**

"What?" Sirius repeated baffled.

**as the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder-blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.**

"Although it was more like a monstrous carriage, Dennis was basically correct," Remus said elatedly. "He's just a first-year with a Muggle family, but he is highly perceptive. I can see that he's going to fit in just fine at Hogwarts."

**The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes.**

"Madame Maxime ees very fond of zem," Fleur said with a nod of her head. "Ze are very spoiled at 'ome."

**Harry just had time to see that the door of the carriage bore a coat of arms (two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars) before it opened. **

"Is that the Beauxbatons crest?" Sirius asked her.

"Yes," Fleur said proudly. "You see, ze phrase 'beaux batons' is French for _'beautiful sticks'_, or _'fine wands'_—zat is why ze crest is of two wands."

"Oh… well… I knew that," Sirius said lamely and the others laughed at him.

**A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then Harry saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage - a shoe the size of a child's sled - followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman he had ever seen in his life.**

"Madame Maxime," Fleur said happily. She did miss her greatly and she wondered how she was doing right now.

**The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped.**

**Harry had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in his life, and that was Hagrid; he doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights.**

"Making them the perfect couple," Bill muttered.

"So this woman is huge," Tonks said amazed that there was someone who could match Hagrid in height. "Is she a giant?"

"'Alf," Fleur said firmly. "Not zat eet matters."

Fleur held up her hands defensively. "Whoa, I didn't mean anything by it!" she said quickly. "I was just asking, that's all."

**Yet somehow - maybe simply because he was used to Hagrid - this woman (now at the foot of the steps, and looking around at the waiting, wide-eyed crowd) seemed even more unnaturally large. As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.**

"All in all… she sounds like she would be beautiful," Sirius said.

"She ees," Fleur said loyally. After all, she was as loyal to Madame Maxime as they were to Dumbledore. Her old Headmistress had become something like a parent to her and the rest of the students at school so she took any bad commit about her as a personal insult.

**Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman.**

"I really don't think that would be necessary," Sirius whispered so that Fleur couldn't hear him.

**Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.**

"Dumbledore's quite the gentleman," Molly sighed, while out in the hall Albus heard her and had to fight back a chuckle.

**"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."**

**"Dumbly-dorr," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"**

"Dumbly-dorr," Sirius and Tonks laughed. "Brilliant. I think I'll call him that from now on."

_'Names can tell us a lot about ourselves,' _Albus thought to himself fondly._ 'After all, Maxime is the same as maximum—which means the largest of a group or set… and then there is the French word 'maxime' or maxim, which is the same as rules and conduct… very appropriate for a Headmistress.'_ He had always been very fond of her.

**"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.**

**"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.**

Fleur smiled again.

**Harry, whose attention had been focused completely upon Madame Maxime, now noticed that about a dozen boys and girls – all, by the look of them, in their late teens – had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads.**

"Why would they dress like that?" Bill laughed and Fleur blushed. "Didn't you know that you would be going somewhere colder?"

"We were only told we were going to Britain, we weren't told zat would be zat cold," Fleur explained, not looking at him. "And we 'ad to arrive in our uniform to represent our school. France is much warmer zat time of ze year and we weren't used to eet."

**From what Harry could see of them (they were standing in Madame Maxime's enormous shadow), they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.**

Fleur nodded as she thought back to seeing the aged castle for the first time. While in her opinion, Beauxbatons was much more impressive, it was still a scary experience for her to have left home for the first time to a place where she knew no one else.

**"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.**

**"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"**

**"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime "But ze 'orses–"**

"Warm up, yes," Fleur said gratefully. "Eet was my first time away from France and I was not yet used to zee cold."

"It'll toughen you up," Tonks teased.

**"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges."**

**"Skrewts," Ron muttered to Harry, grinning.**

"I didn't know 'e was talking about zose… things…" Fleur shuddered at the mention of the Skrewts.

**"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job.**

"Hey, no need to insult the school already," Remus claimed indignantly.

"Zat wasn't me," she replied calmly.

"Besides, I think we are yet to find a creature that Hagrid won't at least try and handle," Arthur laughed.

"Oh, I 'eard Madame Maxime say zat zey were taken very good care of," Fleur acknowledged.

**"Zey are very strong…"**

"Sounds like they'll be right up Hagrid's alley, then," Sirius noted, slightly sarcastically.

Zey are really wonderful creatures," Fleur said, now missing them more than ever.

**"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling.**

**"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"**

"Well they're definitely spoiled," Sirius laughed. "Wish someone would pamper me like that."

"Keep dreaming, Black," Mad-Eye told him.

**"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.**

**"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.**

"Sounds like she's got you all on a lease," Sirius looked at her pointedly.

"What ees wrong wiz showing respect?" Fleur said crossly.

**"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus Finnigan said, leaning around Lavender and Parvati to address Harry and Ron.**

"Like zey would come ze same way," Fleur said shaking her head. "Zat would defeat ze purpose of impressing everyone."

**"Well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them," said Harry. "That's if he hasn't been attacked by his Skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?"**

"Oh, I hope not," Molly said, not having thought about that. As much as she disliked the idea of Hagrid showing children such dangerous creatures, she didn't want them to hurt him.

**"Maybe they've escaped," said Ron hopefully.**

"Wish they had," Sirius said.

Mad-Eye gave him a look. "You want that those things on the grounds where they could attack anyone at any time?"

Molly and Fleur shuddered at the thought.

**"Oh don't say that," said Hermione with a shudder. "Imagine that lot loose on the grounds…"**

**They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky.**

**For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then –**

**"Can you hear something?" said Ron suddenly.**

"What?" Remus asked interested.

**Harry listened; a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed.**

"That's… strange," Tonks said slowly, wondering what on earth was happening now.

"What's a vacuum cleaner?" Arthur asked curiously.

"Muggles use it clear away dust," Kingsley answered quickly, wanting to return to the book so they could find out what the noise meant. "We can talk more about it at lunch, this chapter is nearing the end."

**"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"**

"Oooo, what?" Tonks asked, bouncing up and down in her seat like a little kid impatient for the show to start.

**From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water - except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the centre; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks - and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor… What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of ****the whirlpool… and then Harry saw the rigging…**

"Arriving by water," Sirius mused that over. "Well, it's definitely original."

"That must have taken them forever, though," Molly said, looking surprised.

"They got there not long after the carriage," Tonks pointed out.

"But who knows how long they had to travel that way?" she went on. "Especially from that far north?"

**"It's a mast!" he said to Ron and Hermione.**

**Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes.**

Remus smiled. The swirling water with the mystery ship rising out of it made him think of the Muggle tale of the legend of the Flying Duchman. It was about a captain and his ship that sank in a swirling storm around the 17th century and was now cursed to roam the seas as a death omen for those who encounter the phantom ship. "I bet they wanted to make a great first impression," he said.

"Well, I think they succeed," Tonks said in wonder.

**Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.**

**People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them, Harry noticed, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle… **

"That's an insult to those poor kids," sighed Sirius. "I'm sure they have to be a hell of a lot smarter than Crabbe and Goyle… hell, I'm sure that most three-year-olds are smarter than those two."

**but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, he saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur.**

"Well, I'm sure they didn't have to worry about freezing," Bill said looking pointedly at Fleur.

"Well zat's because zey come from even further North zen 'Ogwarts," Fleur said getting tired of the insults against her uniform.

**But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.**

"Karkaroff," Mad-Eye said in disgust.

"Whatever happened to him anyway?" Arthur asked. "After the Third Task, he fled didn't he?"

"Still in hiding last I heard," Kingsley answered.

**"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"**

**"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied.**

**Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.**

**"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Harry noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold ****and shrewd. **

"This ability to notice even the smallest details about people and objects is a valuable gift," said Mad-Eye knowingly. "Good thing too. Karkaroff has a talent for deceiving others."

**"How good it is to be here, how good… Viktor, come along, into the warmth… you don't ****mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold…"**

**Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Harry caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows.**

"That's right—the infamous Victor Krum," Sirius said.

"'E may not seem like eet, but 'e ees very polite and kind when you get to know 'im," Fleur said, having grown every fond of the Durmstrang champion.

**He didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave him, or the hiss in his ear, to recognize that profile.**

**"Harry - it's Krum!"**

"And… that is it," Kingsley informed the room.

"Great," Sirius said, jumping to his feet. "Let's eat!"

In the hallway, Albus swiftly moved back into the shadows, ensuring that his Disillusionment Charm would be at its full effects. "Before we go," Fleur asked as they all started to get up, "What ees ze next chapter called?"

Kingsley glanced at the next page just before he closed the book and informed the room, "**Chapter 16: The Goblet of Fire**."

**(Hey. Done once again. And I'm enjoying a couple more days of break before I start summer school. At this rate I'll be done with college by Christmas! I am so looking forward to that. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and as for the Christmas song, the actress Nat Tena who plays Tonks in the movies wrote that song and I thought that it would be cool if I added it in.) **


	20. The Goblet of Fire

******(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 19: The Goblet of Fire**

Kingsley glanced at the next page just before he closed the book and informed the room, "**Chapter 16: The Goblet of Fire**."

"That's the name of the book," Tonks said obviously.

"You think?" Sirius retorted sarcastically. He took the book from Kingsley and looked at the front cover in a mocking way as if to make sure. "Geez, what do you know? I never would've guessed…"

"The Goblet of Fire?" Arthur asked thoughtfully as Tonks stuck her tongue out at Sirius. "Isn't that how they pick the champions?" They all looked at Fleur and she nodded grimly.

"Yes," she answered. "I'm sure zat eet'll explain eet in more detail zan I could, zough." She turned back to Bill and said, "So instead, why don't you start explaining everyzing for me?"

Bill blinked in confusion for a moment before he remembered how he promised to tell her about the last three books. He laughed and stood up. "Sure," he smiled as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her out the door. "How about I start at the beginning? It all started, I think, the day after Halloween…"

And before anyone knew it, he was telling her all about the adventures that his brother, Harry, and Hermione had in their first year. They could hear them talking all the way downstairs, though it sounded like to some of them that Fleur was paying more attention to the sound of Bill's voice rather than the story.

Molly stood up, and for some reason, she looked irritable.

"What's with you?" asked Sirius tactfully.

"Nothing," she snapped back coldly. "I just better get some lunch made…" she then grumpily followed after her son and his girlfriend—though if you think about it—they never said they were more than friends. Arthur smiled. While he knew that Fleur might not have been her first choice, he knew that Molly was just upset that her first 'baby' might finally be taken away by another.

He got up and followed her, hoping that she would soon get used to this. He wasn't the only person thinking about the happy couple however…

"Why is it that all the good looking girls are always taken?" Sirius asked Remus huffily as they also left the room.

"Why is it that when you say that it sounds like you're planning to do something illegal?" Remus asked with his eyebrows raised.

"I'm just asking," Sirius said as he marched ahead of Remus, though casting back a knowing look. "Not everyone has a girl they fancy…"

Remus blushed red and had to fight the urge to push Sirius down the stairs. He should just be glad that no one else heard that as they left the room. But unbeknownst to him, Albus Dumbledore had heard it.

Albus had stayed silent as they all trooped past him. None of them, except for Alastor, paid him any attention as they walked by. He didn't dare move an inch until he was sure that they were downstairs. But he happened to have heard what Sirius said and he smiled at the embarrassed look on Remus's face. Judging by the speed at which Remus turned bright red, he did not appreciate the attempt at humor.

There was a certain twinkle back in the headmaster's eye as he watched them leave. Good. Poor Remus needs someone like Nymphadora Tonks to make him happy.

After they were out of sight, he quietly moved to the room and sat down in one of the armchairs to rest, glad to be off his feet for a moment. Now that he was alone, he thought back to everything that had happened last year.

Ever since the start of last year, it had been clear to him that the signs were pointing in a dangerous direction. Bertha Jorkins has vanished in Albania, not long after Frank Bryce has disappeared at the Riddle House—now he knew what had happened to him—and right after that Harry's scar began hurting him. Oh, of course, there's that little matter of a prophecy predicting Voldemort's impending return to power.

Albus knew better than anybody that if Voldemort was indeed on the road to recovery, he almost certainly had a plan. Voldemort always had a plan. And since the day Tom was vanquished by an infant Harry Potter, Albus has known that Voldemort's next plan would involve that boy.

But Harry is very well protected, and at the time, Albus just couldn't see any way Voldemort could get to him. So he had no other choice but to sit and wait… to just keep a very close watch and wait until he got a hint of what this plan might be.

And he did… when Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire.

He sighed and became lost in a spiral of troubling thoughts.

_*Downstairs*_

Molly took her time in preparing the food over the stove; Mad-Eye had stepped out for some air—in other words some peace and quiet—giving everyone else plenty of time to catch Fleur up on everything else that had happened. They had just finished telling her about the Chamber of Secrets incident before she snorted.

"You mean 'e made an anagram of 'is name?" she demanded when they told her what Voldemort's real name was. "Well, I can't theenk of anything more self-centered zan zat!"

"You think that he would've picked something else seeing how he hated his name," Sirius added viciously.

Fleur shook her head. "Who would 'ave zought zat ze one who theenks zat 'alf-bloods and Muggle-borns, ees actually a 'alf blood 'imself!"

"And he doesn't even have two magical parents," Tonks laughed curtly. "His father was a Muggle! Oh, I wonder how his servants would all react when they hear that?"

"They probably wouldn't believe it," Remus said in disgust. "They'll say that no one that powerful would have a trace of Muggle blood in them."

"Well, that's just stupid," Tonks grunted and glowered at her plate of food. "Makes me ashamed to be connected to the Blacks."

Fleur looked at her. "You are related to ze Blacks?" she asked in confusion.

"Yeah," Sirius told her. "Her mother was my favorite cousin. Thank god that Andromeda ran off and married a Muggle-born named Ted. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm not a part of the Blacks at all. I pretend that I was switched at birth or something… makes me feel better."

They all sat there for an awkward silence for a few minutes before Tom snapped out of it and decided to change the subject. He began to tell Fleur more about what he found out himself in the last books, the others jumping in every once in awhile. Fleur just stared at them all—sure that she wasn't listening right. She let them talk themselves into another silence. Once she had been able to find her voice again she gasped out in a low voice, "You mean zat 'e 'ad fought a troll, save ze Sorcerer's Stone, fought a basilisk, and drove off a 'undred Dementors een 'is first three years?!"

"Yup," Sirius grunted sourly, letting his fork drop back down onto his empty plate with a clatter. "And please don't remind me. I'm now having nightmares about the basilisk and the Dementors… all night, I try not to think about it during the day."

Luckily, Fleur was spared from asking because Mad-Eye Moody was knocking at the door. Molly got up and went to go let him. They could hear the two of them talking in the hallway for a few seconds and they could hear the familiar clunk, clunk of his wooden leg.

"Where've you been?" Tonks asked suspiciously when he came in. "You sure took your time?"

"Checking up on something," he grunted in annoyance, his magical eye looking over at them all and their empty dishes. "I don't recall me having to explain everything I do to you."

"No, but it would make it a lot easier for us common folk," she retorted teasingly as he left the room. They all began to clean up their mess as Moody went up stairs; he saw Dumbledore relaxing in the room and went in. "You might want to get out before they find you," he addressed the chameleon-like Dumbledore. Albus smiled back as he stood up.

"Yes," he answered. "You're probably right. Though I wish I could sit in here with everyone, I don't think my presence would help anyone else right now."

"When do you think that you'll be able to suck it up and face them?" Alastor yawned. "You can't avoid them forever."

Albus headed towards the door. "I told you, Alastor," he called back as he faded into the shadows. "I want them all to be able to swear that they haven't seen me should something happen… at least for now."

But as he disappeared, Alastor called to him, "Checked on the school again for you. Complete pandemonium. Most of the students and even the staff are rebelling. They sure aren't making it easy for the toad."

Even though he was in the hallway, he heard Albus sigh but he hadn't been able to answer for at that moment, the rest of the book club appeared. They were all talking to each other and didn't notice the old man that was hiding from them. Alastor shook his head in disappointment just as they all joined him.

Once they sat down, this time, it was Molly who offered to read and took the book. She read the title, barely glancing at the picture of the wooden goblet filled with flames and read:

**"I don't believe it!" Ron said, in a stunned voice, as the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the party from Durmstrang. "Krum, Harry! _Viktor Krum_!"**

"Ron sound excited doesn't he?" Arthur asked fondly. He remembered how such a big fan he was… though now that he thought of it, he wondered whatever happened to that little Krum figurine…

"He sounds a lot to how Ginny sounded when she first meet Harry," Bill laughed. His siblings sometimes… it's like their star struck.

"Viktor 'ates ze attention zough," Fleur spoke up. She had become very good friends with the Durmstrang champion even after they left school. She would write to him every once in awhile just to see how he was doing. And while he can be sweet when he wants to… she looked at Bill… he was no Bill…

She suddenly realized what she just thought and blushed again. When did she start thinking like that?

**"For heaven's sake, Ron, he's only a Quidditch player," said Hermione.**

"Yes," Molly said frowning. "If he doesn't like his fame anymore than Harry does, why can't they take a hint and leave him alone?"

"At least Krum has something to be proud of," Sirius said. "You know… being famous for being an amazing Quidditch player, and not because his family had been killed. If it were me, I would be soaking it all up."

"You would," Remus rolled his eyes. "Don't you think that you would get sick of it after awhile though?"

"There is such a thing as too much," Kingsley agreed deeply.

"Well, better to be famous for something like Quidditch than for being a 'mass murderer'," Sirius said scowling.

**"_Only a Quidditch player?_" Ron said, looking at her as though he couldn't believe his ears. "Hermione - he's one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still at school!"**

"He really sounds like this is his first love," Sirius laughed.

"Be nice," Arthur told him. "I'm sure that it you were his age and saw a Quidditch star like this then you would react the same way."

**As they recrossed the entrance hall with the rest of the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, Harry saw Lee Jordan jumping up and down on the soles of his feet to get a better look at the back of Krum's head. **

"But 'e 'ates zat," Fleur said angrily. "Really, 'e ees a wonderful person once you get to know 'im. 'E's just not zat social. He plays ze game because 'e loves eet."

"Sounds like a good guy," Tonks said. "Too bad that reporters and fans are like vultures."

"Nah," Moody said shaking his head. "Vultures only eat things that are dead."

**Several sixth-year girls were frantically searching their pockets as they walked - "Oh I don't believe it, I haven't got a single quill on me -" "D'you think he'd sign my hat in lipstick?"**

Half the room laughed at that, while the other half looked disgusted.

"Seriously?" Tonks asked incredulous. "They have a whole year to get an autograph and they are talking about getting their hats signed in lipstick? My god, she almost makes me ashamed to be called a woman."

"Yes," Remus said in agreement. "I think he came for the tournament not to sign autographs."

"Thank you, Remus," Tonks smiled at him and he wished he hadn't spoken—but at the same time he couldn't help but feel smug that he had when she looked at him like that—no! He mentally slapped himself. _'Get those thoughts out of your head at once,'_ he thought to himself.

"Still, even if he did take pity on them and signed their hats for them they'll have to wash them sooner or later," Arthur spoke up. "Strangely enough, lipstick doesn't last as long as ink."

Sirius roared with laughter at that as Molly began reading again.

**"_Really,_" Hermione said loftily as they passed the girls, now squabbling over the lipstick.**

**"_I'm _getting his autograph if I can," said Ron. "You haven't got a quill, have you, Harry?"**

"He's as bad as the girls," Sirius laughed again.

"Funny thing is that you would act the same way if it were you," Remus poked fun at him, knowing full well that his friend would act the same way if it had been him.

"I would not!" he snapped back as if he had just been mortally offended; Remus just smirked back.

**"Nope, they're upstairs in my bag," said Harry.**

"Well, at least it seems like Harry is keeping his head," Sirius said, though he shot Remus a disgusted glance.

"He's more famous than Krum though," Tonks pointed out, "I mean, being the first and only person to survive the Killing Curse is just a little bit cooler than being a good Quidditch player—though maybe not as good as winning Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award five times in a row—" she added in a afterthought and earning snorts from everyone but Fleur who was looking at her as if she feared for her sanity. "And he knows what it's like to be hounded constantly by the public."

"Yeah," Sirius added, his smile fading. While he, himself, loved being popular at school and having people look up to him, he didn't like his godson being hounded because of something like that. Especially after seeing how uncomfortable it made Harry… and for all these fair-weathered fans that Hogwarts was full of. His eyes narrowed angrily at that at how difficult they made it for Harry during his second year. Honestly, how could anyone think that he was the heir of Slytherin?!

**They walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Ron took care to sit on the side facing the doorway, because Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students were still gathered around it, apparently unsure about where they should sit. The students from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table. They were looking around the Great Hall with glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads.**

"It's not that cold at Hogwarts!" said Arthur in surprise.

"Especially not in the Great Hall!" agreed Bill.

"Well, we 'ad only just got inside," Fleur answered blushing. "Eet weren't warming up fast enough. You try flying for 'ours in silk robes." But in truth, Fleur was still wearing her scarves because she didn't want people to see her yet. She had experienced this many times before when she went places. As soon as boys saw her, they would come over and start talking.

At the time, she wasn't interested in talking to anyone else and had waited until they were all seated and surrounded by other people before she felt it was safe enough to take her scarf off.

**"It's not that cold," said Hermione defensively. "Why didn't they bring cloaks?"**

"Because we 'ad to wear our uniforms and no one told us zat eet would be zat cold!" Fleur said, getting tired of repeating herself.

"Maybe you should've told Hermione, Fleur," Bill laughed, and Fleur immediately felt herself relaxing.

**"Over here! Come and sit over here!" Ron hissed. "Over here! Hermione, budge up, make a space -"**

"He sounds like a girl who wants a cute guy to sit next to her on the bus," Sirius chuckled. He knew this because in his youth, he had experienced this several times when he went somewhere public. Ah… what he wouldn't give for his old careless handsome features again…

**"What?"**

**"Too late," said Ron bitterly.**

**Viktor Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students had settled themselves at the Slytherin table. **

"Well this is interesting," Moody grunted.

"What is?" Tonks asked wearily, she knew that he was about to show off for something he could see that they couldn't.

"The seating arrangements," he said annoyed as if explaining to her was dull work. "They tell us about the personalities of these other schools. Just as Malfoy had mentioned on the train, Durmstrang is the Slytherin type. Durmstrang is famous for learning the Dark Arts, not just the defense after all… and Malfoy admitted it earlier on."

"Just because ze come from Durmstrang, doesn't mean zat ze love eet," Fleur frowned at him. "Viktor told me about eet. 'E liked 'Ogwarts much better zan Durmstrang."

"What do you know?" Sirius said lightly. "My respect for Krum has just gone up."

**Harry could see Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle looking very smug about this. As he watched, Malfoy bent forward to speak to Krum.**

**"Yeah, that's right, smarm up to him, Malfoy," said Ron scathingly. **

"Like you wouldn't," Bill muttered knowingly. From what he could see, Ron had just acted the same way and would have no doubt have continued even if Krum sat there.

"Of course Malfoy is going to talk to Krum," Sirius said, rolling his eyes slightly. "But that's no guarantee that Krum is going to respond in any way."

"'E didn't," Fleur said knowingly. "I overheard him talking to—to Cedric about zem. 'E told zem zat 'e zought zose boys were very rude and snobbish."

"I'm liking this Krum guy more and more by the minute," Tonks smiled.

**"I bet Krum can see right through him, though… bet he gets people fawning over him all the time … **

"Well, what d'you think you're doing, Ronald?" said Molly, rolling her eyes.

"What a hypocrite," Tonks said.

"It's funny how we don't notice our own actions even when we see others acting the same way," Kingsley stated.

**Where d'you reckon they're going to sleep? We could offer him a space in our dormitory, Harry… I wouldn't mind giving him my bed, I could kip on a camp bed."**

Fleur giggled. "Of course not. Zey will be staying on ze ship."

**Hermione snorted.**

**They look a lot happier than the Beauxbatons lot," said Harry.**

"What was wrong with Hogwarts?" Bill asked her.

"'Ow would you feel if you were in a new school and not know anyone else?" she asked. "We were in a new place and weren't used to 'ow zings worked zere."

**The Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest; a couple of them were picking up the golden plates and goblets and examining them, apparently impressed.**

"Must be nice compared to Durmstrang," Sirius said.

**Up at the staff table, Filch, the caretaker, was adding chairs. He was wearing his mouldy old tailcoat in honour of the occasion. **

"If that's used for a celebration, then I hate to see what he would wear to a funeral," Sirius said.

"Fine, Black," Moody sighed in frustration. He didn't know why he hoped that they could sit down and go through at least one page before interrupting.

**Harry was surprised to see that he added four chairs, two on either side of Dumbledore's. **

**"But there are only two extra people," Harry said. "Why's Filch putting out four chairs, who else is coming?"**

"The other judges," Arthur said quickly.

"Yes, Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman did show up about 'alfway zrough ze feast," Fleur said thinking back.

**"Eh?" said Ron vaguely. He was still staring avidly at Krum.**

Everyone was laughing again at Ron.

"That must be so annoying," said Bill. "Having people stare at you like that. No wonder Harry gets sick of it!"

"At least most of Hogwarts has gotten used to him there," Sirius shrugged. "I guess it's the same with Durmstrang. They both have really famous teenagers going there and after awhile you get used to having them around."

**When all the students had entered the Hall and settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor ****Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime. When their headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbatons leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students laughed. **

"Eet's tradition for us, zey shouldn't have laughed," Fleur said disapprovingly. "We are showing our respect to our Headmistress."

"You all laughed at Hogwarts," Sirius said defensively. "And we didn't have to stand up whenever Dumbledore came into the room. If we did that then we'd be standing up all the time!"

She frowned at him and sensing a fight about to break out, Molly read out.

**The Beauxbatons party appeared quite unembarrassed, **

"Why would we be embarrassed zat we are showing proper manners and respect?" Fleur demanded, still addressing Sirius.

"Ok," Kingsley said quickly. "It's not about which school is right or which is better. We are here to listen to a story, not fight."

Fleur still gave Sirius a dark look but she let it drop. She leaned back next to Bill, trying to focus more on his gentle breathing as she tried to bring her own down.

**however, and did not resume their seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side. Dumbledore remained standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall.**

"'E did seem very impressive," Fleur admitted, remembering how he just seemed to command attention without even trying.

**"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests," said ****Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."**

"Was it?" Bill asked her casually.

"Theenking back, I 'ave to agree," Fleur nodded. "Aside from being attacked by dragons and grindylows zat ees… zough aside from all zat…" she added with a smile and they all laughed at that.

**One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler around her head gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh.**

"You'd think they'd be really excited, now that they're there. I mean, the Tournament will be starting soon!" said Sirius.

Fleur was blushing slightly.

"Wait was that you?" Bill asked surprised.

"Yes, I was quite immature to be 'onest when I was zat age," Fleur explained sheepishly. "And eet wasn't like we would be staying in ze castle. We were sleeping in ze carriage."

"I guess I can see where that would be funny," Arthur admitted.

**"No one's making you stay!" Hermione whispered, bristling at her.**

**"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"**

**He sat down, and Harry saw Karkaroff lean forward at once and engage him in conversation.**

**The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than Harry had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.**

Fleur suddenly got a little more homesick at the mention of the food. To her, seeing the food that Hogwarts student's age was quite strange to her. Even more strange was the idea that they thought that French food was considered foreign.

**"What's _that_?" said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.**

"Bouillabaisse," Fleur said recognizing the description at once and her mouth suddenly started to water at the thought…

**"Bouillabaisse," said Hermione.**

**"Bless you," said Ron.**

Sirius laughed. "Funny name though."

"To you," Fleur said firmly. "A steak-and-kidney pudding sounds strange to me."

**"It's _French_," said Hermione, "I had it on holiday summer before last. It's very nice."**

"I 'ave to agree with 'Ermione zere. Eet ees delicious once you try eet and one of my favorites," Fleur confirmed.

"**I'll take your word for it," said Ron, helping himself to black pudding.**

"Of course," Bill said with a snort. Typical Ron…

**The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely twenty additional students there; perhaps it was because their differently coloured uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts' robes. Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep blood red.**

"Oh, that must be attractive," Tonks rolled her eyes. "Who wants to walk around looking like the bloody baron?"

**Hagrid sidled into the Hall through a door behind the staff table twenty minutes after the start of the feast. He slid into his seat at the end and waved at Harry, Ron, and Hermione with a very heavily bandaged hand.**

"Is that from the Skrewts or the horses?" Molly asked.

"Skrewts," no one had to bother guessing.

"Besides, you have to be the one to tell us," Kingsley reminded her. "You have the book. Blushing, she held the book up to her face and started reading again.

**"Skrewts doing all right, Hagrid?" Harry called.**

**"Thrivin'," Hagrid called back happily.**

"Only Hagrid would be happy about that," Sirius said, shaking his head and chuckling. "He needs to wake up and see that that's not a good thing."

**"Yeah, I'll just bet they are," said Ron quietly. "Looks like they've finally found a food they like, doesn't it? Hagrid's fingers."**

"And he still doesn't get the hint?" Arthur asked.

"He might when his fingers are gone," Moody spoke up.

"Why do you say that like you're hoping for it?" Tonks asked him.

**At that moment, a voice said, "Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?" **

Fleur looked up at that. It was so strange to hear the very words that she spoke at that very moment… the familiar words she had asked felt almost like something from a different language to her.

**It was the girl from Beauxbatons who had laughed during Dumbledore's speech. She had finally removed her muffler. A long sheet of silvery-blonde hair fell almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, and very white, even teeth.**

Bill smiled widely at the description and looked at Fleur who was smiling as well.

"Looks like you actually get a good description," Tonks said. "Normally everyone else's is funny or awful."

"Yeah," Sirius said almost jealous. "I was compared to a vampire!"

"Well, can you blame 'im?" she teased and flipped her hair.

**Ron went purple. He stared up at her, opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a faint gurgling noise.**

"I remember zat," she laughed. She was used to seeing boys make a fool of themselves of course; though she couldn't deny that it was always funny.

**"Yeah, have it," said Harry, pushing the dish toward the girl.**

**"You 'ave finished wiz it?"**

**"Yeah," Ron said breathlessly. "Yeah, it was excellent."**

"He didn't even try it," Bill scoffed; he never knew his brother acted like this when he first met Fleur. He looked up at her—well he can't really blame him for that.

**The girl picked up the dish and carried it carefully off to the Ravenclaw table. Ron was still goggling at the girl as though he had never seen one before. **

"I'm used to eet," she sighed and held her hands up in a shrug. "Being part-Veela does zat."

**Harry started to laugh. The sound seemed to jog Ron back to his senses.**

**"She's a Veela!" he said hoarsely to Harry.**

"Part," Fleur said proudly. "My grandmozer was one."

"He sure figured that out quickly however," Kingsley said thoughtfully.

"Well, we do know that Ron is particularly weak to their charms," Remus stated as he remembered how he acted when he was in the woods at the Quidditch World Cup.

"Well, only zose wiz a strong will or are already in love wiz someone else doesn't work," Fleur said.

**"Of course she isn't!" said Hermione tartly. "I don't see anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!"**

_'Ooouh… do we notice a hint of jealousy?'_ Mad-Eye thought unconcerned. _'Granger is getting emotional, so she may not be right for once.'_

"I don't think that she's completely right about that," Bill said, unknowingly voicing what Mad-Eye was thinking.

"Sounds like Hermione may be a little jealous," said Tonks giggling also thinking along the same lines.

**But she wasn't entirely right about that. As the girl crossed the Hall, many boys' heads turned, and some of them seemed to have become temporarily speechless, just like Ron.**

**"I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl!" said Ron, leaning sideways so he could keep a clear view of her. "They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!"**

Molly sighed and rolled her eyes. Really why would he say something like that with Hermione and so many other girls around him? Was there any point hoping that he would one day wake up and become a little more tactful?

"They make them good a Hogwarts," Kingsley, Arthur, and Remus all said without thinking. Molly and Tonks unknowingly blushed at those words though Molly just kept reading.

**"They make them okay at Hogwarts," said Harry without thinking. Cho Chang happened to ****be sitting only a few places away from the girl with the silvery hair.**

Everyone smiled at Harry's first crush.

Out in the hallway, Albus smirked as well. Looks like these kids are finally comings-of-age. Ron, Harry, and Hermione have entered officially entered adolescence.

For some reason this thought made him feel a little sadden.

Harry is hesitant to tell others that his scar hurts, as he is concerned about his self-image. He is also, for the first time, very aware of Cho Chang. Ron is more self-conscious than ever about his lack of money and his shabby dress robes, and he remembered sadly how defensive he was about Harry's fame. The first feelings of romantic attraction are stirring throughout this book.

**"When you've both put your eyes back in," said Hermione briskly, "you'll be able to see who's just arrived."**

Everyone laughed at how angry that Hermione seemed to be here.

**She was pointing up at the staff table. The two remaining empty seats had just been filled. Ludo Bagman was now sitting on Professor Karkaroff's other side, while Mr. Crouch, Percy's boss, was next to Madame Maxime.**

**"What are they doing here?" said Harry in surprise.**

"To judge ze Tournament," Fleur answered at once.

**"They organized the Triwizard Tournament, didn't they?" said Hermione. "I suppose they wanted to be here to see it start."**

**When the second course arrived they noticed a number of unfamiliar desserts too. Ron examined an odd sort of pale blancmange closely, then moved it carefully a few inches to his right, so that it would be clearly visible from the Ravenclaw table. The girl who looked like a Veela appeared to have eaten enough, however, and did not come over to get it.**

Said girl nodded. Hogwarts made their food too heavy…

**Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now. Harry felt a slight thrill of excitement, wondering what was coming. Several seats down from them, Fred and George were leaning forward, staring at Dumbledore with great concentration.**

"Don't know why they'll bother," Kingsley smiled. "They would never make it into the tournament."

**"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation ****before we bring in the casket —"**

More foreshadowing at the word casket… they all felt as if the temperature in the room dropped slightly.

**"The what?" Harry muttered.**

**Ron shrugged.**

**"- just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" – **

Sirius glared at the name. He had hoped that he wouldn't have had to deal with hearing about Crouch again until the end of the book. But no that was just his rotten luck.

**there was a smattering of polite applause - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."**

**There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable. **

"I can't say that I'm fond of Bagman," Sirius said in a bored tone, "But I rather deal with him than Crouch. I don't see why anyone would want to work with him."

"Why do you 'ate 'im as you do?" Fleur asked in surprise. Sure he seemed to be a bit too fond of the rules, and a little cold, but she couldn't see why he hated him as he did.

"With all this talk of Crouch, I'm sure you'll find out before the book ends," he told her sourly and leaned back with his arms folded. "Let's just say that he and I go _way_ back."

Fleur still didn't understand, but knew better than to ask after seeing that angry look on his face.

**He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced. Remembering him in his neat suit at the Quidditch World Cup, Harry thought he looked strange in wizard's robes. His toothbrush moustache and ****severe parting looked very odd next to Dumbledore's long white hair and beard.**

Everyone snorted; anyone would look odd next to Dumbledore. Even Albus smiled at that and had to fight back a chuckle. He had been told often that he had a unique style all his own, but he liked it better that way.

**"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."**

**At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. **

"Who were all the champions again?" Tonks asked without thinking.

"Viktor, me, 'Arry and … Cedric," Fleur sighed. Needless to say, her last year of school hadn't been fun.

**Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."**

**Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; Dennis Creevey actually stood on his chair to see it properly, but, being so tiny, his head hardly rose above anyone else's.**

They all chuckled at that.

"He sounds so cute," Molly sighed, remembering a time when her own little boys were that size. Her eyes glanced over at Bill for a second—they grow up so fast.

**"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways… their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."**

"This sounds really exciting—too bad it's so lethal," Tonks sighed unhappily. Though she whispered this comment because she didn't think that Sirius could take much more tension; he was already starting to look more like the Bloody Baron than himself.

**At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.**

**"As you know, three champions**

"Four," Sirius grunted angrily. He would never forgive Dumbledore for just letting Harry compete. He should've found a way out of it!

**compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."**

"So that is the Goblet of Fire," said Remus slightly in awe. He had heard of it of course, but he had never seen it before—to hear about it in such detail was remarkable.

**Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames. **

"Yeah, I can see that," Arthur joked with a smile grin, and the tension in the room lifted for a brief moment.

**Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.**

**"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, **

"Of course it would be on Halloween," Sirius frowned. "That should've been a giveaway that something bad was gonna happen! When had Harry ever had a good one?"

"Well, the one in his first—no wait, that was when they fought a troll," Tonks said thinking hard. "But he and Ron did save Hermione and the three of them became friends. And then his second year—oh, they went to a Deathday party and found the message on the wall. But then again if they hadn't, then they might not have been able to find the Chamber of Secrets without every clue. Oh, how about his third year—which ended with him being forced to wait in the castle while everyone else went to Hogsmeade and then you broke into the castle to—"

"You aren't helping, Nymphadora!" Sirius snapped at her and she poked him in the side.

**the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.**

"Someone should've been keeping a close watch on it," Molly muttered. This whole mess could've been avoided if they only thought to have a few teachers stand guard over it in case someone did try something like this.

Albus flinched slightly at her cold voice. Looking back, he should've been able to foresee that and taken the extra precaution. But he had been so certain that no one would be able to make it over the Age Line… he mentally cursed himself for not thinking it through more.

**"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.**

"Take not that the only required elements to enter are _name_ and _school_. That gives Fred and George precisely twenty-four hours to figure out how to fool the Age Line," Kingsley said smiling. "We can be sure this is a challenge they can't pass up."

"Wonder what happens if you did cross it," Sirius asked curiously.

**"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. **

"Unless they get killed," Sirius growled, turning bitter again.

**The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."**

"Nice line," Tonks joked. "If you make it over the Age Line and into the tournament, you will be forced to fight for your life and you can't back out even if it's to save your life. Good night!"

"Just like Dumbledore," Remus said.

**"An Age Line!" Fred Weasley said, his eyes glinting, as they all made their way across the Hall to the doors into the entrance hall. "Well, that should be fooled by an Aging Potion, shouldn't it? **

"No," Molly hissed. If her sons had tried to enter that tournament…

"Now, you remember that they weren't chosen?" Arthur reminded her gently, guessing what she was thinking of. "Even if they did try to enter, nothing happened."

"But the idea that they did try…" Molly sighed. "What would they have done if one of their names did come out of the Goblet?"

"Compete?" Mad-Eye pointed out simply and Molly felt the urge to curse him. "Look," he said. "Stop worrying about it. They didn't get over that dumb Line and they didn't compete in the tournament so stop worrying. I don't deal with 'what if's' alright?"

Molly looked at him hurt, but she had let the matter drop. Mad-Eye Moody was the last person she would ever go to if she needed comfort.

**And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing - it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!"**

"Dumbledore knows thought," said Tonks.

"Yeah, but if your name came out of the Goblet then he'll have no other choice but to let them compete," said Bill. "It'll be like taking an Unbreakable Vow or something like that… once you make it, you have to keep it."

"So if would you refuse—you'll die?" Tonks asked in disgust.

"I don't know," Bill shivered. "And to be honest, I rather not know what would've happened if you suddenly had a change of heart…"

"I can't believe you two are actually arguing like you think they can make it over the Age Line," Kingsley laughed. Feeling a little better, Molly continued onwards.

**"But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance," said Hermione, "we just haven't learned enough…"**

"And yet somehow Harry manages to win," Sirius said half proud and the other half feeling like he was going to be sick to his stomach at how much danger he had been in all year.

"Well, Harry is a completely different case," Arthur reminded him. "Somehow he always just seems to pull through even when things are at their worst."

**"Speak for yourself," said George shortly. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Harry?"**

"He does but not by choice," Sirius growled.

**Harry thought briefly of Dumbledore's insistence that nobody under seventeen should submit their name, but then the wonderful picture of himself winning the Triwizard Tournament filled his mind again… He wondered how angry Dumbledore would be if someone younger than seventeen did find a way to get over the Age Line.**

_'More surprised rather than angry,' _Albus thought. _'And afraid of his student and what they would be forced to go through. After all, the main reason he had the Age Line put up was—as Alastor put it—was because he was desperate to protect them."_

"Well, we're gonna find out soon enough," Sirius grumbled.

Fleur nodded, though she knew that it was really Karkaroff and Madame Maxime who were angry that night.

**"Where is he?" said Ron, who wasn't listening to a word of this conversation, but looking through the crowd to see what had become of Krum. "Dumbledore didn't say where the Durmstrang people are sleeping, did he?"**

"On ze ship," Fleur repeated herself. "Where else would zey?"

"I think it's more along the lines of having a world famous Quidditch player sleep in their dorm," Bill smirked, knowing what his brother was thinking of.

**But this query was answered almost instantly; they were level with the Slytherin table now, and Karkaroff had just bustled up to his students.**

**"Back to the ship, then," he was saying. "Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?"**

"Playing favorites are we?" Sirius asked evenly.

"Well, he does have a cold, maybe he's just making sure that he's alright," Molly suggested, but she then read the next few lines changed her mind.

**Harry saw Krum shake his head as he pulled his furs back on. **

**"Professor, I vood like some vine," said one of the other Durmstrang boys hopefully.**

**"I wasn't offering it to you, Poliakoff," snapped Karkaroff, his warmly paternal air vanishing in an instant. "I notice you have dribbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy -"**

"Doesn't play favorites?" Tonks repeated dryly. "No, he only favors them if they have a '_slight head cold'_." She made air quotes at those last three words.

"Wow," Sirius said mockingly. "Karkaroff has a favorite? I never would've guessed it."

"Teachers shouldn't be picking favorites… particularly if you are the Headmaster," Molly said disapprovingly.

_'Well, in that case,' _Moody though, his eye spinning at the irony. _'Someone should really tell Dumbledore that.'_

**Karkaroff turned and led his students toward the doors, reaching them at exactly the same moment as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Harry stopped to let him walk through first.**

"Polite as ever!" cooed Molly. "Makes me wish that Fred and George were half as polite…"

"At least they're a laugh to be around," Sirius suggested.

**"Thank you," said Karkaroff carelessly, glancing at him. **

**And then Karkaroff froze. **

Sirius sighed, "And he just recognized Harry."

Albus knew that Karkaroff must have been stunned to see the one responsible for putting a stop to his old master right was here before him.

**He turned his head back to Harry and stared at him as though he couldn't believe his eyes. Behind their headmaster, the students from Durmstrang came to a halt too. Karkaroff's eyes moved slowly up Harry's face and fixed upon his scar.**

"Leave 'im alone," Fleur said coldly.

"He should get out of their quickly, I don't anyone who has or even had the title Death Eater around Harry," said Sirius darkly. "And that goes double for Snape!"

**The Durmstrang students were staring curiously at Harry too. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw comprehension dawn on a few of their faces. The boy with food all down his front nudged the girl next to him and pointed openly at Harry's forehead.**

"Very subtle," Tonks said sarcastically. "I'm sure that no one ever noticed that."

"But there's still no need to be rude," Molly snapped indignantly. "Really, he's being polite and they're acting like he's a zoo animal."

"Or like the shiny new toy that everyone wants," Sirius said angrily.

**"Yeah, that's Harry Potter," said a growling voice from behind them.**

**Professor Karkaroff spun around. Mad-Eye Moody was standing there, leaning heavily on his staff, his magical eye glaring unblinkingly at the Durmstrang headmaster.**

Mad-Eye looked up in interest; he couldn't wait to see how Karkaroff took the news.

**The color drained from Karkaroff's face as Harry watched. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over him.**

"I don't think he likes you, Mad-Eye," Tonks commented casually. "Or at least your face."

"I'd be surprised if he did," Mad-Eye said.

"He would be scared," Arthur said calmly. "You are the Auror who put him in prison."

"You did?" Fleur said in surprise.

"Yep," Moody said simply. "At least until he made a deal with the Ministry and sold out other Death Eaters in his place."

**"You!" he said, staring at Moody as though unsure he was really seeing him.**

**"Me," said Moody grimly. **

"No _me_," Moody growled irritated, his normal eye was twitching horribly.

**"And unless you've got anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway."**

**It was true; half the students in the Hall were now waiting behind them, looking over one another's shoulders to see what was causing the holdup.**

**Without another word, Professor Karkaroff swept his students away with him. Moody watched him until he was out of sight, his magical eye fixed upon his back, a look of intense dislike upon his mutilated face.**

"Well, that's one thing we can agree on," Moody said in disgust. "How he became Headmaster of that school I'll never know."

**As the next day was Saturday, most students would normally have breakfasted late. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, were not alone in rising much earlier than they usually did on weekends. When they went down into the entrance hall, they saw about twenty people milling around it, some of them eating toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the centre of the hall on the stool that normally bore the Sorting Hat. A thin golden line had been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet around it in every direction.**

"Oh, I hope we see some poor sap try it," Sirius said eagerly. "I want to see what happens to them if they did try it and weren't of age."

**"Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-year girl eagerly.**

**"All the Durmstrang lot," she replied. "But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."**

**"Bet some of them put it in last night after we'd all gone to bed," said Harry. "I would've if it had been me… wouldn't have wanted everyone watching. What if the Goblet just gobbled you right back out again?"**

"But it doesn't work like that. The Goblet will accept every name that is put into it," Kingsley explained. "It's the Age Line that's the problem."

"Not to confident is he?" Sirius asked sadly. "You think after all this time that would've changed."

"Oh, I think that he's much more confident of himself after everything that has happened," Remus disagreed. "It's the attention that he doesn't like."

**Someone laughed behind Harry. Turning, he saw Fred, George, and Lee Jordan hurrying down the staircase, all three of them looking extremely excited.**

"There seriously going to try?" Sirius asked smiling.

"Oh, please no," Molly groaned.

**"Done it," Fred said in a triumphant whisper to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Just taken it."**

**"What?" said Ron.**

**"The Aging Potion, dung brains," said Fred.**

"Frederick! Don't treat your brother like that!" Molly snapped, forgetting that he wasn't there. "You two are very lucky that it didn't work!"

"I'm afraid that you'll have to wait until school's finished to yell at them, dear," Arthur reminded her. She turned pink and held the book back up to her face to try and hide it from the sniggering.

**"One drop each," said George, rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older."**

**"We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly.**

"No they won't," Arthur said and Bill shifted uncomfortably as he continued to have his suspicions to where that money went. While he would be truly grateful for Harry if it turns out that he did give them the money, he hoped that his mother never found out he wasn't too sure how well she would take it.

**"I'm not sure this is going to work, you know," said Hermione warningly. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."**

Albus nodded. Of course an Ageing potion was the first thing that came to his mind when he thought up the Age Line. But these three weren't paying any attention to his, and now Miss Granger's, warning so now they were really asking for trouble.

**Fred, George, and Lee ignored her.**

**"Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement. "C'mon, then - I'll go first -"**

"They _were_ warned," Arthur smiled. "And they'll have to learn the hard way."

"Some people just don't listen to warnings," Moody said.

**Harry watched, fascinated, as Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket bearing the words Fred Weasley - Hogwarts. Fred walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line.**

"Well, they can't say they weren't warned," said Remus, looking as though he was looking forward to what Dumbledore had done to the line. Well, if they wanted to take the chance, they would have to suffer the consequences.

**For a split second Harry thought it had worked – **

"Note the 'split-second' part," Sirius said gleefully and rubbed his hands together. He was hoping that it was going to be good…

"So what happened?" Tonks asked excitedly.

**George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of triumph and leapt after Fred - but next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards.**

Albus shook his head with a large smile and fought back a laugh. Maybe it was a little cruel—letting them think that they got over the line… but they did have to learn. The ones in the room all burst out laughing. Indeed, Sirius and Tonks were laughing so hard that tears streamed down their faces and Sirius felt that his ribs were about to break.

"Not only did Dumbledore's Age Line work, but he seems to have added a little extra hairy bonus," Kingsley said setting off more laughter. "Now that does sound like something he would do."

**The entrance hall rang with laughter. Even Fred and George joined in, once they had gotten to their feet and taken a good look at each other's beards.**

"It's always good to meet someone who can laugh at themselves," Sirius sighed. "I knew that I liked those two the first time I saw them."

**"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."**

Everyone was laughing again.

"I bet that he was enjoying this," Arthur said. Albus nodded to himself, he couldn't hide the fact that he did indeed enjoy it. He only wished that he enjoyed it more. Because after the tournament started, he was very short on laughter.

**Fred and George set off for the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter, **

"I don't blame him," roared Sirius, letting off another round of laughing.

**and Harry, Ron, and Hermione, also chortling, went in to breakfast.**

**The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner. **

"So that means they have two fests in a row," Sirius said jealously. His mouth began watering at the thought of having one of the Hogwarts elves feasts… not that Molly's food wasn't good… but to sit through a feast would be heaven.

**Harry led the way over to Dean and Seamus, who were discussing those Hogwarts students of seventeen or over who might be entering.**

**"There's a rumor going around that Warrington got up early and put his name in," Dean told Harry. "That big bloke from Slytherin who looks like a sloth."**

**Harry, who had played Quidditch against Warrington, shook his head in disgust.** **"We can't have a Slytherin champion!"**

**"And all the Hufflepuffs are talking about Diggory," said Seamus contemptuously. "But I wouldn't have thought he'd have wanted to risk his good looks."**

They all looked sadly at each other, knowing full well that Cedric did become champion—but he didn't live to see the end of the tournament. If he hadn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire then he might still be alive today…

**"Listen!" said Hermione suddenly.**

**People were cheering out in the entrance hall. They all swivelled around in their seats and saw Angelina Johnson coming into the Hall, grinning in an embarrassed sort of way. A tall black girl who played Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Angelina came over to them, sat down, and said, "Well, I've done it! Just put my name in!"**

**"You're kidding!" said Ron, looking impressed.**

**"Are you seventeen, then?" asked Harry.**

"Obviously," Moody said with a lip curl not unlike Snape's.

**"Course she is, can't see a beard, can you?" said Ron.**

"And he's as tactful as always," Molly muttered shaking her head.

**"I had my birthday last week," said Angelina.**

**"Well, I'm glad someone from Gryffindor's entering," said Hermione. "I really hope you get it, Angelina!"**

"No, you don't," Fleur disagreed. "Believe me, eet wasn't at all fun."

**"Thanks, Hermione," said Angelina, smiling at her.**

**"Yeah, better you than Pretty-Boy Diggory," said Seamus, causing several Hufflepuffs passing their table to scowl heavily at him.**

"Why don't zey like Cedric?" Fleur asked. "'E was so nice."

"Loyalty to your own House," Kingsley explained. "Same thing for supported people from your schools. And I think that Gryffindor is still a little sore that Hufflepuff had beaten them in their last match together."

"Well, zat's just stupid," Fleur huffed.

Kingsley nodded while others look scandalized that she would say something like that.

**"What're we going to do today, then?" Ron asked Harry and Hermione when they had finished breakfast and were leaving the Great Hall.**

"Could you try and do something which isn't dangerous?" Molly asked. "I mean, just one year of not having to get into any danger or trouble—is that too much to ask for?"

"Well, it's not like Potter tried it himself," Moody reminded her. "It was that scum Death Eater."

**"We haven't been down to visit Hagrid yet," said Harry.**

**"Okay," said Ron, "just as long as he doesn't ask us to donate a few fingers to the Skrewts."**

**A look of great excitement suddenly dawned on Hermione's face.**

**"I've just realized - I haven't asked Hagrid to join S.P.E.W. yet!" she said brightly. **

"He won't join," Arthur said knowingly.

"Why doesn't she just hurry up and change the name of this dump club?" Sirius groaned, now getting tired of reading again.

**"Wait for me, will you, while I nip upstairs and get the badges?"**

**"What is it with her?" said Ron, exasperated, as Hermione ran away up the marble staircase.**

"Well, you can't say that she's not determined," Tonks said happily.

**"Hey, Ron," said Harry suddenly. "It's your friend…"**

**The students from Beauxbatons were coming through the front doors from the grounds, among them, the Veela-girl. **

"So I'm 'is friend now," Fleur said rolling her deep blue eyes. "Zat is news to me. I didn't even know 'is name."

"Well, at least you get along with him fine now, right?" Bill asked her.

"I'll 'ave to," she whispered for his ears alone and he blushed red.

**Those gathered around the Goblet of Fire stood back to let them pass, watching eagerly.**

**Madame Maxime entered the hall behind her students and organized them into a line. One by one, the Beauxbatons students stepped across the Age Line and dropped their slips of parchment into the blue-white flames. As each name entered the fire, it turned briefly red and emitted sparks.**

**"What d'you reckon'll happen to the ones who aren't chosen?" Ron muttered to Harry as the Veela-girl dropped her parchment into the Goblet of Fire.**

"Why are zey calling me ze 'Veela-girl'?" Fleur asked frowning.

"Because they don't know your name," Arthur chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm sure that'll change as soon as they hear your name."

"Why not just ask?" she asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Don't you know how hard it is for a guy to talk to a pretty girl?" Bill asked smiling at her in a teasing way and she shoved his shoulder playfully.

**"Reckon they'll go back to school, or hang around to watch the tournament?"**

**"Dunno," said Harry. "Hang around, I suppose… Madame Maxime's staying to judge, isn't she?"**

"And the Champions need support from their school," Kingsley said. "It wouldn't have been fair that Hogwarts had all that support and the others didn't."

"I'm glad," Fleur said, grateful that her friends had been there.

**When all the Beauxbatons students had submitted their names, Madame Maxime led them back out of the hall and out onto the grounds again.**

**"Where are they sleeping, then?" said Ron, moving toward the front doors and staring after them.**

"In ze carriage," Fleur said as if she thought Ron was dim. "Eet 'ad an undetectable Extension Charm. It 'ad more zan enough rooms for everyone."

"Wow," Tonks said impressed. From what she heard, the carriage sounded big enough without any magic. But then again, they probably needed the extra room if they were sharing with Madame Maxime. She didn't dare say this part however with Fleur sitting there.

**A loud rattling noise behind them announced Hermione's reappearance with the box of S.P.E.W. badges.**

**"Oh good, hurry up," said Ron, and he jumped down the stone steps, keeping his eyes on the back of the Veela-girl, who was now halfway across the lawn with Madame Maxime.**

Bill rolled his eyes at his younger brother's acts… and for some reason he was also feeling very protective of Fleur all of a sudden. Why was that?

**As they neared Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the mystery of the Beauxbatons' sleeping quarters was solved. The gigantic powder-blue carriage in which they had arrived had been parked two hundred yards from Hagrid's front door, and the students were climbing back inside it. The elephantine flying horses that had pulled the carriage were now grazing in a makeshift paddock alongside it. Harry knocked on Hagrid's door, and Fang's booming barks answered instantly.**

**"Bout time!" said Hagrid, when he'd flung open the door. "Thought you lot'd forgotten where I live!"**

"How could anyone ever forget him?" Arthur asked incredulously.

"You couldn't even if you wanted to," Tonks added happily.

**"We've been really busy, Hag -" Hermione started to say, but then she stopped dead, looking up at Hagrid, apparently lost for words.**

"What?" Tonks asked worried.

"What happened?" Remus asked concerned. "Did the Skrewts do something to him?"

"Sure t he was having trouble keeping his fingers but…" Sirius said anxiously, but Molly was staring at the next few lines.

**Hagrid was wearing his best (and very horrible) hairy brown suit, plus a checked yellow-and-orange tie. This wasn't the worst of it, though; he had evidently tried to tame his hair, using large quantities of what appeared to be axle grease. It was now slicked down into two bunches - perhaps he had tried a ponytail like Bill's, but found he had too much hair. **

Bill chuckled and reached back to mess with his hair; noticing out of the corner of his eye that his mother was giving his hair an annoyed look. He had been able to keep the smile off his face—he knew that long or messy hair on boys was just the bane of her existence.

"What?" Fleur asked, admiring Bill's hair as well. "Doesn't 'e always look like that?"

"No," Sirius replied with a laugh. "Normally, he looks like he had been working on the grounds all day—which he does, but here he seems to be going out of his way to dress up. Why's that? You think that maybe he's doing it for the tournament?"

"Oh, I think that it's for the tournament," Molly said with a knowing smile. "But not in the same way that we might be thinking."

**The look didn't really suit Hagrid at all. **

"Sounds like Hagrid's trying to impress someone," sang Tonks, and then she exploded into another fit of giggles.

**For a moment, Hermione goggled at him, then, obviously deciding not to comment, she said, "Erm - where are the Skrewts."**

"Nice change of subject," Sirius said sarcastically. "The Skrewts."

**"Out by the pumpkin patch," said Hagrid happily. "They're get-tin' massive, mus' be nearly three foot long now. On'y trouble is, they've started killin' each other."**

"Oh no," said Tonks, but she personally thought that was a good thing.

"That's… too bad?" Bill said, sounding more like a question than a response and caused Fleur to giggle.

**"Oh no, really?" said Hermione, shooting a repressive look at Ron, who, staring at Hagrid's odd hairstyle, had just opened his mouth to say something about it.**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid sadly. "S' okay, though, I've got 'em in separate boxes now. Still got abou' twenty."**

"That's good. At least there is only twenty to worry about," Arthur said looking at the bright side.

"Twenty more than there should be," Molly muttered darkly.

**"Well, that's lucky," said Ron. Hagrid missed the sarcasm.**

**Hagrid's cabin comprised a single room, in one corner of which was a gigantic bed covered in a patchwork quilt. A similarly enormous wooden table and chairs stood in front of the fire beneath the quantity of cured hams and dead birds hanging from the ceiling. They sat down at the table while Hagrid started to make tea, and were soon immersed in yet more discussion of the Triwizard Tournament. Hagrid seemed quite as excited about it as they were.**

"Now that wouldn't be because of there were going to be dragons was it, Hagrid?" Bill smirked good-naturedly.

**"You wait," he said, grinning. "You jus' wait. Yer going ter see some stuff yeh've never seen before. Firs' task… ah, but I'm not supposed ter say."**

"Just flatter him and he'll spill his guts," Sirius said remembering how Hermione had been able to get Hagrid to talk back in the first book.

"I think that this is a little different, Sirius," Kingsley told him.

**"Go on, Hagrid!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione urged him, but he just shook his head, grinning.**

**"I don' want ter spoil it fer yeh," said Hagrid. "But it's gonna be spectacular, I'll tell yeh that. Them champions're going ter have their work cut out. **

"Got that bit right," Sirius muttered. He couldn't help but cringe at the thought of his godson fighting a dragon. He had nightmares every time he closed his eyes until he got the letter from Harry telling him that he survived.

"Tell me about eet," Fleur muttered sulkily.

**Never thought I'd live ter see the Triwizard Tournament played again!"**

**They ended up having lunch with Hagrid, though they didn't eat much – Hagrid had made what he said was a beef casserole, but after Hermione unearthed a large talon in hers, she, Harry, and Ron rather lost their appetites. **

"I really don't blame you," Arthur said as most of them gave looks of disgust. "I wouldn't be able to eat after that."

"Sounds better than rats," Sirius said with a shrug.

**However, they enjoyed themselves trying to make Hagrid tell them what the tasks in the tournament were going to be, speculating which of the entrants were likely to be selected as champions, and wondering whether Fred and George were beardless yet.**

"Most likely," Remus said while the others laughed at the thought of Fred and George with beards. He knew better than anyone how quickly Madam Pomfrey can cure just about anything.

**A light rain had started to fall by mid-afternoon; it was very cosy sitting by the fire, listening to the gentle patter of the drops on the window, watching Hagrid darning his socks and arguing with Hermione about house-elves - for he flatly refused to join S.P.E.W. when she showed him her badges.**

"I didn't think he would," Kingsley said comfortably. "Maybe she should go and see the house-elves and talk to them before she tries to change their lives."

**"It'd be doin' 'em an unkindness, Hermione," he said gravely, threading a massive bone needle with thick yellow yarn. "It's in their nature ter look after humans, that's what they like, see? Yeh'd be makin' 'em unhappy ter take away their work, an' insutin' 'em if yeh tried ter pay 'em."**

"Too true," said Sirius fairly. "I think Kreacher would die of shock if we even showed him clothes… actually… that doesn't sound like a half bad idea…"

"Sirius," Kingsley warned him.

**"But Harry set Dobby free, and he was over the moon about it!" said Hermione. "And we heard he's asking for wages now!"**

"I don't blame him myself," Sirius said. "I'd be over the moon if I was freed from the Malfoys."

"I wonder whatever happened to that elf," Arthur asked to no one in particular.

**"Yeah, well, yeh get weirdos in every breed. I'm not sayin' there isn't the odd elf who'd take freedom, but yeh'll never persuade most of 'em ter do it - no, nothin' doin', Hermione."**

**Hermione looked very cross indeed and stuffed her box of badges back into her cloak pocket.**

**By half past five it was growing dark, and Ron, Harry, and Hermione decided it was time to get back up to the castle for the Halloween feast - and, more important, the announcement of the school champions.**

"Maybe they should miss it," Molly said biting her lip, knowing that after that night, nothing would ever be the same.

**"I'll come with yeh," said Hagrid, putting away his darning. "Jus' give us a sec."**

**Hagrid got up, went across to the chest of drawers beside his bed, and began searching for something inside it. They didn't pay too much attention until a truly horrible smell reached their nostrils. **

"Now what did he do?" Arthur asked confused and looked over his wife's shoulder to read it. His eyes widened in laughter and amazement at what he read.

"What?" Sirius asked in annoyance.

**Coughing, Ron said, "Hagrid, what's that?"**

**"Eh?" said Hagrid, turning around with a large bottle in his hand. "Don' yeh like it?"**

**"Is that aftershave?" said Hermione in a slightly choked voice.**

"Aftershave?" Sirius repeated, his tone nothing but pure disbelief. "Aftershave? Hagrid?" he then started to laugh again.

"Wow…" Tonks said in wonder. "You learn something new every day. Sounds like he _really_ wanted to impress someone."

"Wonder who?" Moody asked in mock seriousness.

**"Er – eau-de-Cologne," Hagrid muttered. He was blushing.**

"Zat means water," Fleur said in confusion. "Why where zat?"

"Really?" Tonks asked her. "Huh? Never was good with language."

**"Maybe it's a bit much," he said gruffly. "I'll go take it off, hang on…"**

**He stumped out of the cabin, and they saw him washing himself vigorously in the water barrel outside the window.**

**"Eau-de-Cologne?" said Hermione in amazement. "Hagrid?"**

"That's what I said!" Sirius called out.

**"And what's with the hair and the suit?" said Harry in an undertone.**

"I thought he was just trying to look smart for the guests or for the announcement of the champions," Molly said, a little weakly, but the smile gave her away.

"Well, if he really wants to make an impression with a pretty French lady, then he should just get rid of the suit," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Get a new one… a custom made Dress Robe. I think that it might impress her more."

"Madame Maxime ees not so shallow zat she would judge on appearances," Fleur said coldly.

"Never said she was," Sirius shrugged. "I'm just saying that you never get a second chance for a first impression."

**"Look!" said Ron suddenly, pointing out of the window. Hagrid had just straightened up and turned 'round. If he had been blushing before, it was nothing to what he was doing now. Getting to their feet very cautiously, so that Hagrid wouldn't spot them, Harry, Ron, and Hermione peered through the window and saw that Madame Maxime and the Beauxbatons students had just emerged from their carriage, clearly about to set off for the feast too. **

"Ooh la la," Sirius said and Fleur laughed a little resentfully at his tone.

**They couldn't hear what Hagrid was saying, but he was talking to Madame Maxime with a rapt, misty-eyed expression Harry had only ever seen him wear once before - when he had been looking at the baby dragon, Norbert.**

"Zat's ze dragon you mentioned earlier?" asked Fleur with a glance at Bill.

"Oh, Hagrid has a crush," Tonks sang again. "About time if you ask me. I think it would be good for them both—but you know what they say… long distance relationships never work out."

"Hagrid does deserves someone just as unique as him," Remus said with a smile.

**"He's going up to the castle with her!" said Hermione indignantly. "I thought he was waiting for us!"**

"Sorry kids, but people usually forget about little things like that when faced with a crush," Sirius chortled, "Wow, thinking about Hagrid with a woman… of Hagrid fancying someone… such a strange idea if you think about it."

"Well, there aren't exactly many women like Madame Maxime around," Remus pointed out wryly.

"What do you mean by zat?" Fleur demanded.

"I'm just saying that she is a fine woman that someone like Hagrid needs," he answered and she looked a little more satisfied. "Though, I think that we might be getting a little ahead of ourselves of course."

**Without so much as a backward glance at his cabin, Hagrid was trudging off up the grounds with Madame Maxime, the Beauxbatons students following in their wake, jogging to keep up with their enormous strides.**

"Yes," Fleur nodded grudgingly. That hadn't been fun.

**"He fancies her!" said Ron incredulously. "Well, if they end up having children, they'll be setting a world record - bet any baby of theirs would weigh about a ton."**

"_Ronald_!" cried Molly, but her cry was drowned out by the amusement of the others.

"Bit early for talking about babies, isn't it?" laughed Sirius, "I mean… they hardly know each other."

**They let themselves out of the cabin and shut the door behind them. It was surprisingly dark outside. Drawing their cloaks more closely around themselves, they set off up the sloping lawns.**

**"Ooh it's them, look!" Hermione whispered.**

"Who now?" Kingsley asked curiously.

**The Durmstrang party was walking up toward the castle from the lake. Viktor Krum was walking side by side with Karkaroff, and the other Durmstrang students were straggling along behind them. **

"I would be annoyed if I were them," Bill said thoughtfully. It was obvious that Karkaroff favored Viktor… he knew that all teachers picked out favorites—but at least try not to show it.

**Ron watched Krum excitedly, but Krum did not look around as he reached the front doors a little ahead of Hermione, Ron, and Harry and proceeded through them.**

"Honestly, Ronald," Molly scolded. "Leave the poor boy alone. You think hanging around with Harry you'd learn that he might not like people acting like that."

"I don't think that he's thinking about that at the moment," Moody said with a shrug.

**When they entered the candlelit Great Hall it was almost full. The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teachers' table. Fred and George - clean-shaven again - seemed to have taken their disappointment fairly well.**

"That's the good thing about pranksters," Sirius said, fondly, "You can't keep them down for long."

**"Hope it's Angelina," said Fred as Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down.**

"I don't think they will be once the end of the year comes round," Moody answered.

**"So do I!" said Hermione breathlessly. "Well, we'll soon know!"**

**The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days, Harry didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as he would have normally. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and the standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, Harry simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.**

"I bet he went slow on purpose," Sirius said with certainly. Albus bit his tongue to stop himself from bursting out laughing. The truth was… he did.

**At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.**

"Of course he would," Sirius said in loathing.

**"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. **

"How on earth does he know that?" Bill asked skeptical.

"He's Dumbledore," Tonks said in a mystic voice. "He's just knows."

**Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."**

**He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness.**

"To add just that little extra bit of drama," Arthur asked, knowing the answer.

"We all love that mysterious atmosphere," Remus chortled.

**The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting … a few people kept checking their watches…**

**"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered, two seats away from Harry.**

Sirius held his breath… this was it… he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear this… but he had sat through every other part of these damn books and he wasn't going to leave now. So gritting his teeth and clenching his hands, he waited for the worse.

**The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped.**

"What's with all the Drama Queens in these books?" Moody asked feeling the urge to smack himself in the head. This was driving him up the wall. He'd now rather be fighting for his life instead of listening to kids going through boring teen life.

**Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.**

**"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."**

"Strange," Sirius said in mock astonishment. "I'm not one bit surprised."

"'E was a very good competitor," Fleur spoke up.

**"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Harry saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.**

"Jeeze, can't he smile even just a little bit?" Tonks asked. "You think that he would show just a little bit excitement?"

"How can risking your life in the tournament excite you?" Sirius asked rudely.

"And if it had been you, you would've been milking it for all it was worth," Remus pointed out.

"Well, that's me," Sirius grumbled. "My folks couldn't have cared less to what happened to me. But I'm not sure how much more my heart can take before it stops working."

"Welcome to my world," Molly sighed sadly.

**"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"**

**The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.**

Fleur looked up, knowing she was going to be next.

**"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"**

They all cheered for Fleur which caused her to blush… especially since Bill was clapping the hardest.

"How did it feel?" Arthur asked her.

"Incredible… and terrifying…" she confessed. "Incredible because eet ees a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity… but terrifying because now ze 'ard stuff starts."

Bill nodded in understanding and took hold of her hand in comfort—causing his mother's eyes to narrow slightly. But she didn't say anything and just read on.

**"It's her, Ron!" Harry shouted as the girl who so resembled a Veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.**

"At least zey know my name now," Fleur said happily. She was getting tired of being referred to as 'The Veela Girl.'

**"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. "Disappointed" was a bit of an understatement, Harry thought. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.**

Fleur sighed, remembering how upset some of her friends had been when they hadn't been chosen. She knew that she would've been the same if it happened to her.

"A bit overemotional there," Molly said, thought she sounded a little amused at their reactions.

"You must remember that this happened to havea one-time chance that they'll never have a chance to repeat," Remus pointed out fairly. "I know that it I had been in their place, I would be upset too."

**When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next…**

"_Champions_," Bill corrected.

**And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.**

**"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"**

No one said a word to that. In respect, they all wordlessly decided to have a moment of silence in honor of Cedric.

**"No!" said Ron loudly, but nobody heard him except Harry; the uproar from the next table was too great. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. **

"Proud to be a Hufflepuff," Tonks whispered.

**Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.**

**"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"**

**But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.** **The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.**

Sirius flinched horribly now that he knew what was about to happen. He shut his eyes, he didn't think he could face this…

**Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. **

Sirius wasn't the only one who felt the need to hide their eyes. Albus had hid his own sparkling blue ones behind one of his hands. He remembered that night so clearly. How his words felt as if they had died in his throat when he saw that the Goblet of fire has turned red again. Albus remembered how he froze when he saw the name written on it.

_Harry Potter…_

As soon as he read that name, he thought that the whole world seemed to be falling away from him. This was the reason why he had insisted for the Age Line… the reason he was trying so hard to protect him last year… hadn't he been through enough yet? He didn't even hear when Molly then read out in a shaky voice.

**There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out - _"Harry Potter."_**

"And so this is where everything starts," Moody said into the stunned silence.

"And thank goodness that chapter is over," Molly said and pushed the book away as if it was something indecent.

"Umm should we go on?" Tonks asked tentatively at everyone's stone-like faces.

"Perhaps we could wait a little longer?" Kingsley suggested looking directly at Sirius. He hunched his shoulders as he kept his gaze firmly on the floor.

"No," he spoke up decisively. "Let's keep going. The sooner we're finished here, the happier."

"But…" Molly started, but the look on Sirius's face stopped her from saying another word

"Okay," Arthur agreed sadly. "If everyone agrees with that, I guess that I'll read next." When no one said anything, he took the book from his wife and read, "**Chapter 17: The Four Champions**."


	21. The Four Champions

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 20: The Four Champions**

"Okay," Arthur agreed sadly. "If everyone agrees with that, I guess that I'll read next." When no one said anything, he took the book from his wife and read, "**Chapter 17: The Four Champions**."

"The _Four_ Champions," Molly repeated in horror. "Why did he have to compete? I can't believe that they actually just sat by and allowed Harry to compete in the Tournament!

"You heard Dumbledore, it's a magical binding contract," Arthur reminded her sadly. "He didn't have a choice but to allow it. Once your name comes out of the Goblet, you _must_ compete."

"But he was still far too young," Molly hissed furiously, not even noticing Sirius nodding in a silent agreement. "Look at what happened because of it!"

"Believe me, Molly," Albus whispered to himself in the hallway. "This was the sole reason that I insisted on the Age Line… to prevent something like this from happening."

They let Molly rant on for a few more minutes until she was lost for breath and words. Once she fell silent, Arthur went on reading before she could continue.

**Harry sat there, aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at him. He was stunned. He felt numb. He was surely dreaming. He had not heard correctly.**

"I wish that was the case," Sirius groaned, feeling the exact same way.

**There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; ****some students were standing up to get a better look at Harry as he sat, frozen, in his seat. **

"They're all going to think he put his name in, aren't they?" Remus asked sadly.

"Of course they are," said Sirius angrily. "But only cause they're too thick to think otherwise!"

Only Bill noticed how Fleur shifted guiltily in her seat; but before he was able to ask her what was wrong, he heard his father read:

**Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly. **

"Wish I knew what she said," Tonks said darkly.

_'She wanted to know if I read that piece of parchment right and if I did, she wanted to know if this was my idea of a sick joke,'_ Albus thought, remembering just furious Minerva had been that night.

**Harry turned to Ron and Hermione; beyond them, he saw the long Gryffindor table all watching him, open mouthed.**

"I don't blame them," Tonks whispered. She briefly wondered how she would react if that had happened to one of her friends. What would she say? What _could_ she say?

**"I didn't put my name in," Harry said blankly. "You know I didn't."**

"Well, at least they'll believe him," Molly with a hint of relief in her tone.

"Well at least Hermione does," Sirius muttered under his breath, remembering how upset and scared Harry had been that night in the tower. How hurt he had been when his best friend had turned against him so easily… and for what?

He recalled bitterly how furious James had been with him after pulling that trick on Snape and almost got them all expelled. James had refused to talk to him for weeks after that incident. Those weeks had to have been his loneliest time ever at school hands down… not counting those seemingly endless months of hiding out in the forest two years ago.

After what felt like years, James finally approached him in the empty common room late one night and they talked. It was only then that the two of them made up. Thinking back, it was very strange hearing James talk so responsibly…

_*Flashback*_

_Sirius was sitting silently in the corner of the common room long after everyone had gone up to bed. He was so tired, but he didn't go up to his dorm… feeling too ashamed to face his friends. He was relieved—no not relieved… more like… thankful._

_Thankful that his friends were safe and nothing had happened to them. He was furious with James for running into the tunnel after Snape without even stopping to think about himself and scaring him half to death… and he was livid with himself for having caused all this in the first place._

_He just could hardly believe that he had risked his own life to help, of all people, Severus Snape. And the git hadn't even been grateful! He began crying to Dumbledore, like a baby, saying that they should all be expelled. He knew that they were all safe… though it had been close._

_Dumbledore was angrier than Sirius had ever seen him and it seemed like a very real possibility that Snape's wish would be fulfilled. Personally, Sirius didn't particularly care if he was expelled… but not his friends. _

_For one bad moment, he thought for sure that they were all going to be kicked out. But Sirius stood up and confessed it all. Sirius had come clean and he told Dumbledore everything that happened that night was his fault and no one else's. He told him that he was angry at Snivellus for sneaking around trying to get them expelled. He lost his temper and told him how to get into the Willow. That prat never listened to a word he said before! How was he supposed to know that he would try it now? He then sat back and waited to hear his fate. _

_He knew that James and Peter were safe. Peter hadn't even been there that night because he had been in detention… as for James—the noble git went after Snivellus to save him! And for what? Snivelly's first thought was to rat on him and convince Dumbledore to expel him! But because of the risks that James took to save him—risking his own life—Dumbledore let him off with a warning… thank goodness._

_But Remus… Sirius felt sick to his stomach at the thought. It was just sinking in what consequences his friend might face if word of the night's events ever reached anyone at the Ministry. Unlike James and Sirius, Remus was not from a wealthy wizarding family. Even if James and Sirius were to be expelled, there were vaults at Gringott's to support them, and they would take care of Peter, too._

_But Remus was too proud to take gold from anybody, even his best friends, and Sirius realized with a thrill of dread that he might have done irreparable damage to his friend's career prospects. And to his greatest relief, Dumbledore chose not to punish Remus for something he had no control over. Remus was let off the hook without so much as a warning and this would be kept quiet. He had also somehow been able to convince Snivellus quiet about this… which was more than Sirius could've hoped for._

_At that moment, he heard footsteps and he turned around to see suddenly James had come downstairs. He didn't look surprised to see Sirius sitting there as he looked around him. It was almost as if they had planned on meeting here… of course that's far from true. After the 'prank' James had been so furious with him for what might've been, he refused to speak to him for the last few weeks._

_James gave him a long hard look, his hazel eyes looking over him and Sirius gulped. "James," he said, trying to smile, but unable to manage._

_"You didn't come to bed?" James asked unnecessary. "You haven't been up for the last few nights."_

_"Been sleeping down here," he answered grimly. It was awful… to talk as if they hardly knew each other… "I figured that you might not want me up there anymore," Sirius finished with a shrug._

_"What makes you think that?" James asked and Sirius got up._

_"James," he gasped. "I can't stand this! I know that what I did was stupid! I never should've told Snape how to get in! But you have to believe me, I never thought that he would do it! I was just trying to scare him into leaving Moony—Remus—alone! I had no idea that…"_

_But he was cut off as James sighed and asked, "What were you thinking then?"_

_"I wasn't," Sirius moaned hitting himself in the head. "I honestly didn't intend for this to happen! I swear, if I had known I wouldn't… but that had to be the bravest thing I ever saw… what you did…"_

_James shrugged, as if he couldn't believe what he done either._

_"Why did you do it?" Sirius asked softly._

_"Why did I save Snivelly?" James repeated as if he was asking himself that same question. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck before he answered, "I don't know. As soon as I found out what happened… I just knew that I had to go down there and pull him back. But I think it was more for Remus than for him. I just don't think that I could've stood to see the look on Moony's face if he woke up and realize what he did… so it was more for him than anything I guess."_

_"Prongs?" Sirius asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence._

_"Yeah?"_

_"What's going to happen?" Sirius waved a vague hand. "Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and the way things are going outside Hogwarts. Are you ever scared of what the wizarding world is going to be like when we leave this place?"_

_"Yes," James said slowly. "But we'll beat Voldemort, Padfoot. You know we will."_

_"I'm not so sure anymore," Sirius muttered grimly. "Most of my family is on his side already. Regulus will probably join him as soon as he finishes school –"_

_"Hey, now," James protested. "I know that you two aren't actually close, but he's still your little brother…"_

_"He is my brother, and I know him better than anyone. He's not evil like Bella is, I'll give him that. But he's also an idiot. He thinks Voldemort has the right idea and…" Sirius shook his head. "Prongs, I'm gonna be honest here, I'm scared."_

_"We all are," James began but Sirius shook his head._

_"I'm scared for you," Sirius burst out at last. "Voldemort won't do anything to me unless I actually get in his way; too many of my cousins are already on his side. But he might go after you because you refuse to join him."_

_"I can take care of myself," James said smugly._

_"You can't!" Sirius finally yelled and at James's surprised look, he added, "No, you can't take care of yourself, Prongs. Not on your own!"_

_"Who asked you?" James protested getting angry._

_Sirius sighed. "That's not the point. I just… I'm sorry. I just don't want you to think that I'm no better than a Death Eater. I swear, I never meant for this to happen! I know that Moony probably hates me… I don't blame him. If Dumbledore didn't tell Snape to keep his fat mouth shut then…"_

_But he was cut off as James crossed the room and hugged him like a brother._

_"J-James?" Sirius stuttered._

_"I missed you," he said in a muffled voice. "It just… it hasn't been the same without you."_

_He pulled away. "But really, Padfoot…" Sirius smiled at him using his nickname. "I think you really need to go and talk to our friendly neighborhood werewolf about this?"_

_*End of Flashback*_

It had been years since that talk, but Sirius had never forgotten that. He had been so worried that the two of them would never be able to savage their friendship… and if they did, things would never be the same. Well, that part is true.

Ever since then, the two of them matured a great deal; they still pulled pranks and had fun, but they didn't do it as often. They spent more time focusing on their futures and less time strutting around the castle—something that finally began to catch Lily's eye.

He smiled at those happier times but the smile faded almost at once as Arthur began reading again.

**Both of them stared just as blankly back.**

"Well, what could they have said," Tonks said looking lost."I wouldn't have known what to say."

"How about _what the fuc_…?" Sirius began but Molly cut him off by saying, "Finish that line, Sirius and you won't live to see the end of the chapter."

He held his hands up in surrender, but grinning slightly, feeling better that he was getting her angry.

**At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.**

**"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"**

**"Go on," Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight push.**

**Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly.**

"Smooth," Bill said trying to lighten the mood but no one smiled.

**He set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It felt like an immensely long walk; the top table didn't seem to be getting any nearer at all, and he could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon him, as though each were a searchlight. The buzzing grew louder and louder. After what seemed like an hour, he was right in front of ****Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon him.**

"Poor kid," said Kingsley sadly, shaking his head at what he was here. If that had happened to him, he probably would've frozen where he was and passed out cold in front of everyone. "I can only imagine what he had been feeling. I don't think this will help to make his load any easier."

Albus shook his head from where he was hiding. No… this event had only made his burden even heavier than ever before.

**"Well… through the door, Harry," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling. **

"Dumbledore better not be thinking that Harry entered himself," Sirius snarled in warning.

"No," Kingsley answered at once. "Dumbledore would know better than anyone that Harry wouldn't have done anything like that. I think he was just alarmed about what was happening. Especially, when you look at the last three years, I can understand him being concerned."

Albus nodded. The look on the boy's face was more than enough proof that he didn't do anything.

**Harry moved off along the teachers' table. Hagrid was seated right at the end. He did not wink at Harry, or wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He looked completely astonished and stared at Harry as he passed like everyone else. **

"Especially since Hogwarts already had a Champion," Mad-Eye reasoned gruffly. "I don't blame them, seeing how it's never happened before."

"But how could they think that a teenager could've…?" Molly began but Arthur gave her a grim smile as he continued in a forced tone.

**Harry went through the door out of the Great Hall and found himself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite him. **

**The faces in the portraits turned to look at him as he entered. He saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus moustache and started whispering in his ear.**

"And you wonder why nothing stays secret in Hogwarts for long," Kingsley asked with a grin.

"The paintings need to get their kicks somehow I suppose," Mad-Eye shrugged.

**Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Harry walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.**

_'Why does she insist on doing that?!'_ thought Molly irritated. _'It's like she's trying to show off and flirt with every boy she sees?'_

"But did any of you battle a troll in their first year?" Sirius asked Fleur coldly. "Had any of you faced Dementors, Basilisks, Acromantulas and Voldemort himself and live to tell the tale? I don't know what you have to do to impress you, but that's impressive to me!"

"Well, I know zat now," Fleur muttered under her breath in embarrassment.

**"What is it?" she said. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"**

"Sorry," said Fleur quickly before Arthur could say another thing.

"You thought he came to deliver a message?" said Sirius in a tight voice, as if he was restraining himself from shouting.

"Well, what else was I supposed theenk?" she demanded back. "We 'ad been in zat room ze whole time. 'Ow were we supposed to know what 'appened in ze Hall?"

"As if they would use the Boy-Who-Lived to deliver a bloody message," snorted Tonks with a roll of her black eyes.

**She thought he had come to deliver a message. Harry didn't know how to explain what had just happened. He just stood there, looking at the three champions. It struck him how very tall all of them were.**

"We weren't zat tall," Fleur said in surprise.

"Well, you must have looked a bit intimidating especially since Harry knew that he would be competing against you all," Arthur said reasonably,

**There was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Harry by the arm and led him forward.**

**"Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Harry's arm. **

"No, it is not!" Molly said, a muscle going in her temple. "This isn't the least bit extraordinary! Harry's life is in danger."

"You say that like it hasn't happened before," Mad-Eye muttered.

Molly glared at him angrily.

**"Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen… lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the _fourth_ Triwizard champion?"**

"What an idiot," Mad-Eye grunted.

"I couldn't agree with you more," Remus said grimly. There are many ways you could've said it, that had to be one of the worst.

**Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he surveyed Harry. Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Harry and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, smiling, and said, "Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman."**

"At least someone thinks so," Moody muttered.

"You were smiling?" Sirius demanded Fleur through gritted teeth. "As if it was a _joke_?"

Fleur didn't answer, she just kept her head down, looking ashamed. But what else was she supposed to have thought?

"Why would they joke about something like that?" Sirius asked her.

"Leave her alone," Bill said at once, frowning at him. "What would you have thought if you were in shoes? A fourth year competing against them like that?"

Sirius frowned back, but he couldn't find anything to say to that. Fleur gave him a grateful look that caused his cheeks to turn slightly red.

**"Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"**

**Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Cedric was still looking politely bewildered.**

**Fleur frowned. "But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said contemptuously to Bagman. "E cannot compete. 'E is too young."**

"You mean you've never heard of the Boy-Who-Lived before last year?" Sirius said incredulously.

"For crying out loud," Fleur said loudly, "What was I supposed to theenk?! Zere are only supposed to be three champions and all of zem were going to be of age! And suddenly zey come in and tell us zat now zere are four? And to make it worst, 'e was three years younger zan us!"

"Yes, we understand," Bill said at once, and he glared at the rest of them as if daring them to say anything. When no one did, Arthur smirked quietly to himself and turned the page.

**"Well… it is amazing," said Bagman, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling down at Harry. **

"No, it's not!" Molly said heatedly.

**"But, as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. **

"Couldn't they even do that right?" Sirius grumbled.

"Technically, there wasn't anything wrong with the line," Mad-Eye pointed out. "It's the nutjob who crossed it in the first place that was the problem."

**And as his name's come out of the Goblet… I mean, I don't think there can be any ducking out at this stage… It's down in the rules, you're obliged… Harry will just have to do the best he -"**

"Wasn't he the slightest bit concerned?" Tonks asked with a shake of her head. "He's treating this like Harry's the new kid who wants to play a game with some of the older kids."

"In a way, that's what it is," Mad-Eye answered honestly.

"I'm going to beat you up if you keep talking like that," Sirius growled.

"I'd love to see you try," Moody grunted back with a sneer.

**The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape. Harry heard the buzzing of the hundreds of ****students on the other side of the wall, before Professor McGonagall closed the door.**

"Something tells me that this isn't going to end well," Sirius groaned.

"You're not wrong," Fleur said, feeling horrible at how she reacted.

**"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"**

"_Little boy_?" Sirius repeated in horror. "He may be young, but he's dealt with more in life than you ever did!"

"I said I'm sorry," Fleur said with her head down, but also a little angry. "But I 'onestly 'ad no idea!"

**Somewhere under Harry's numb disbelief he felt a ripple of anger. _Little boy?_**

"My point!" Sirius nodded firmly.

**Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. The top of her handsome head brushed the candle-filled chandelier, and her gigantic black-satin bosom swelled.**

**"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously.**

"It's not his fault!" Arthur said at once, looking surprised.

"So now she thinks it's his fault?" Bill asked.

"Well, I think that it's reasonable," Kingsley said. "After all… it's his school, his student and he drew the age line. If I was her, I probably would've done the same."

"Plus, I'm sure Dumbledore's just ecstatic that his favorite student's in the tournament," Moody added sarcastically.

Albus sighed grimly; that had been the last thing that he felt that night.

**"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "_Two _Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions – or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"**

"Rules are meant to be bended every once in awhile," Moody grunted and Sirius and Remus smirked slightly at that, but they knew this wasn't a stupid school rule they were talking about here.

**He gave a short and nasty laugh.**

**_"C'est impossible,"_**** said Madame Maxime, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. "Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is most ****injust."**

"Oh, I'll give you _injust_," said Molly angrily, her hand curled up into a fist. "He was _forced_ to compete! And now he has to risk his life for that whole year because someone is trying to kill him!"

"Molly," Kingsley reminded her calmly. "We all understand. But you have to remember that she doesn't know that. It does looks like he had broken the rules and Dumbledore had helped him because they can't think of another way that the Age Line could've been broken. I agree that what is happening to Harry is wrong and that she isn't making it better complaining, but it's not her fault either."

Fleur looked at Kingsley appreciatively as Molly took a deep breath, and calmed herself slightly, but Sirius looked as if he agreed with what she said.

**"We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," **

"Yeah, well it wasn't a _young_ student who put his name in the goblet," Moody snapped sourly.

**said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place, though his eyes were colder than ever. "Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."**

**"It's no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," said Snape softly. **

"Oh, here we go," Tonks said angrily. "This isn't going to go well."

"I knew that he was going to stick his greasy, hooked nose into this sooner or later," Sirius hissed just as angry.

"But he should know that Harry couldn't have done it," Molly exclaimed anxiously. "How could he get over the Age Line without help?"

"Just being James's son is reason enough for him to be guilty in Snape's eyes," Sirius hissed, his eyes burning in anger.

"That's just childish," Moody whispered, now really getting sick of this ridiculous feud between James and Snape.

**His black eyes were alight with malice. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here -"**

"Harry only crosses lines to save people," Sirius said fiercely. "Which is more than I can say for you!"

"He's just making it worse for everyone," Arthur said frowning. What is he thinking? Words like that are only going to make Dumbledore look even more suspicious. He could at least question Harry about it before pinning the blame on him.

**"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore firmly, and Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair.**

Sirius and Tonks laughed unkindly at that. But it was such a perfect description that they couldn't help it.

**Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at Harry, who looked right back at him, trying ****to discern the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon spectacles.**

**"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked calmly.**

"Well, at least _someone_ was calm about it," Tonks stated grimly. "Thank god that Dumbledore's able to keep a cool head and not shout at a kid."

Albus knew that shouting only would've made things worse. And he had always restrained from shouting at a child—no matter how angry he was at them, he preferred to speak in a voice that just dribbled with disappointment. That often showed more remorse than anything.

**"No," said Harry. **

Albus nodded again. He didn't need to look into the boys mind to see that—the scared, desperate look in his eyes said it all…

**He was very aware of everybody watching him closely. Snape made a soft noise of impatient disbelief in the shadows.**

"Oh shut up," Sirius said glaring at the book. "Just because you're a prejudice git doesn't mean that you're automatically right! Oh, I don't know why I bother anymore." He slumped in his seat grouchily.

**"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" said Professor Dumbledore, ignoring Snape.**

"Maybe the twins should've thought of that," Mad-Eye suggested and Molly looked horrified at the idea. She began thanking her lucky stars that her boys didn't do that.

"I don't think it would've worked anyway," Remus disagreed under his breath.

**"_No_," said Harry vehemently.**

**"Ah, but of course 'e is lying!" cried Madame Maxime. Snape was now shaking his head, his lip curling.**

"He's _not_ lying," Sirius said through gritted teeth. He couldn't stand this injustice. Just assuming that a teenage boy—a fourth year boy had done this without any real proof. Always thinking that they're right and everyone else was wrong.

"We know, Sirius," Remus assured him gently.

**"He could not have crossed the Age Line," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "I am sure we are all agreed on that -"**

"This is good," Remus said looking up. "Harry has Minerva backing him up. As far as I know, the only person who has ever been able to win against her in an argument, is Dumbledore."

"And he's got Dumbledore on his side as well," Tonks added happily.

"But that still didn't get him out of competing did it?" Sirius asked glumly. Really, what's with teachers these days? No wonder kids feel that they have to do everything themselves.

**"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiz ze line," said Madame Maxime, shrugging.**

Several of them actually started snorting at that idea, even Sirius. Whatever else Dumbledore was, he wouldn't make a mistake when it came to magic. Albus smiled proudly—he had drawn that Age Line himself, and he knew that he didn't make a mistake. There was no way that Harry could've made it over the line on his own even if he did try.

**"It is possible, of course," said Dumbledore politely.**

"Sure…" Kingsley chortled, knowing that his old friend was only saying that to satisfy her and remind them all that he was only human.

"And I'm a Blast-Ended Skrewt," Tonks finished for him, holding her hands up with a shrug.

**"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake!" said Professor McGonagall angrily. "Really, what nonsense! **

"Exactly," Molly in agreement, nodding. "I wish that they had someone thinking about guarding the goblet! That would've saved us all a great deal of trouble!"

Albus leaned his head so far back that it made a light tap against the wall behind him. Why hadn't he thought of that?

**Harry could not have crossed the line himself, **

"Wow, she must like him," Tonks mused thoughtfully. "Not only is she standing up for him like this, she called him by his first name."

"Yeah," Sirius smirked. "The only times she ever called me by my first name was with my last name attached and she was usually shouting."

"Now, I wonder why that would be?" Remus asked sarcastically and he smirked back happily.

"Well," he admitted after pretending to think it over. "For some reason, she was usually upset with us. Can't imagine why."

**and as Professor Dumbledore believes that he did not persuade an older student to do it for him, I'm sure that should be good enough for everybody else!"**

"Damn straight, McGonagall!" Sirius cheered. "You tell 'em!"

"I'm glad that she believes Harry too," Molly sighed in discharge.

"No, I think that it's more along the lines that she believes Dumbledore and _he_ believes him," Mad-Eye disagreed.

"Well, whatever," Tonks snapped back at him. "Details, details… she doesn't think he did it. That's what matters."

"And I suppose that it helps that the trio have become somewhat of favorites of hers as well," Albus whispered under his breath with a smile. Minerva has learned to pay close attention to what those three say these days.

**She shot a very angry look at Professor Snape.**

"Oh, that makes things just a little bit sweeter," Sirius said gleefully. He loved it whenever Snape was shown in a bad light… so long as he wasn't torturing students that is.

**"Mr. Crouch… Mr. Bagman," said Karkaroff, his voice unctuous once more, "you are our - er - objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"**

"Well, of course it's irregular, no one will doubt that," Bill sighed. "But that doesn't mean that they have the answers."

"There is no way to not make him compete," Remus said unhappily. "If there is, I'm unable to think of it. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

"Funny that things that have never done before often seem to involve the boy?" Mad-Eye stated as he observed the head of his staff with new interest.

"I couldn't agree with you more," Remus shut his eyes and nodded.

**Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half darkness making him look much older, giving him an almost skull-like appearance. **

Mad-Eye raised his eyebrows—while he hated to admit it, he was deeply impressed. Why was the boy the only one who seemed to notice that there was something wrong?

**When he spoke, however, it was in his usual curt voice.**

"Of course it was," Sirius grunted. The man had no human sympathy in him at all. In his opinion, if Crouch had been a better father, then his brat never would've sold his soul to Voldemort and they wouldn't be worrying about the psychopath trying to take over the world right now.

**"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament."**

**"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," said Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now closed.**

"They won't take the news so easily," Arthur shook his head.

"Zey didn't," Fleur said with a sigh. Looking back now, she realized just how childish they all sounded that night.

**"I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students," said Karkaroff. He had dropped his unctuous tone and his smile now. His face wore a very ugly look indeed. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has two champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore."**

"It doesn't work like that," Moody yawned in a bored tone. "Too bad that you can't control the world, Karkaroff. Then again, if you were capable of that, then you wouldn't have become a Death Eater lowlife now would you?"

"That's cold, Mad-Eye," Tonks said with a smirk.

**"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out - it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament -"**

"I'm sure they loved hearing that," Bill remarked and Fleur gave a strangled laugh. Oh, yeah… they were _overjoyed_ to learn that.

**"- in which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"**

"So why don't you?" snapped Sirius. "Save us from having to listen to your whining."

"'E can't do zat either, Krum has to compete," Fleur reminded him. "'Arry wasn't ze only one who no longer 'ad any choice."

"Oh, that's right," Bill said looking at her with new concern that made her heart beat just a little faster. "How where you during this?"

She smiled a little and said looking at the floor, "I tried not to let anyone see eet. But I was terrified. Ze Second Task I still 'ave nightmares about."

He frowned and he wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders and Fleur could've sworn that the rest of the room could hear her heartbeat as it spun out of control.

Most of them were just smiling at the couple—Bill seemed obvious to everything else around them, Mad-Eye merely rolled both of his eyes, magical and normal, and Molly… she was frowning slightly at the sudden closeness.

Arthur just beamed brightly at his eldest as he continued, snapping everyone back to reality.

**"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door. "You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?"**

"Very," Moody growled mockingly knowing at once who it was. Thinking about how this Moody was a Death Eater and had been the one to cause all this trouble. "A little _too_ convenient I would say."

"Wonder why that is," Tonks asked just as sarcastically as her mentor.

**Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a loud _clunk._**

**"Convenient?" said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody." **

**Harry could tell he was trying to sound disdainful, as though what Moody was saying was barely worth his notice, but his hands gave him away; they had balled themselves into fists.**

"That is a good observation," said Moody quietly. His magical eye looked at Tonks and he barked at her, "Why can't you be that observant? Instead you can't see something right in front of you until you trip over it."

"To be fair," Tonks said unembarrassed, "To how Karkaroff is acting, is normally how everyone reacts when they see you."

Which then caused him to give her a hard poke in the back of the head.

**"Don't you?" said Moody quietly. "It's very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter's name in that Goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it came out."**

Sirius glared at the book. Damn that Death Eater to the deepest pit of hell. "Yeah," Sirius growled menacingly. He suddenly had an urge to break the table again to vent his anger. "You would know Crouch… 'Cause you put it in there in the first place!"

**"Evidently, someone 'oo wished to give 'Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!" said Madame Maxime.**

"Even if that _was_ what they were after," Arthur said thinking it over. "Then it would've have been someone of age rather than just a fourth year. Someone who would've had more schooling and know more magic rather than a teenager who was only halfway through school."

Fleur lowered her head, feeling worse by the minute. It was obvious when they talked about it now, but at the time, she was to angry to think things through.

**"I quite agree, Madame Maxime," said Karkaroff, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic _and _the International Confederation of Wizards -"**

"Ok, I'm tired of them trying to point the finger at someone," Moody grunted, "Do something now."

"Actions speak louder than words," Kingsley nodded solemnly.

**"If anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter," growled Moody, "but… funny thing… I don't hear him saying a word…"**

"Oh, I don't know," Sirius said sardonically, though you could clearly hear the anger. "Maybe because no one has given him a chance since you're all arguing with each other."

"Probably because he's terrified!" said Molly coldly, as if she hadn't heard Sirius speak. "Just standing there wondering whether or not he'll have to put his life in danger again!"

**"Why should 'e complain?" burst out Fleur Delacour, stamping her foot. **

"Mature," muttered Molly under her breath and Fleur looked down in shame at her behavior. She really did sound like a child here.

**"E 'as ze chance to compete, 'asn't 'e? We 'ave all been 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honor for our schools! A thousand Galleons in prize money - zis is a chance many ****would die for!"**

Fleur shook her head, feeling sick with herself because Cedric did end up dying for this chance. Why had she been such an idiot here? She could feel everyone looking at her, though she didn't dare look up. Especially, at Bill… he must think that she was…

"Do you know now that he didn't choose to compete?" Bill asked her, he still hadn't removed the arm around her shoulders.

"Yes," she said softly. "I was angry. I 'ad no idea what was going on. While, I 'ad been afraid of competing, but I also wanted a chance to. And suddenly a fourth year was given a chance wizout even asking. I wasn't theenking… I'm sorry."

She wondered what they were all thinking about her. And then… "Well," Bill said causally as if that solved everything, "That's that isn't it?"

She looked up and her eyes found his brown ones. He was smiling. "We all make mistakes. And you know now that Harry had been telling the truth. So… I don't think…" he said this a little bit louder so that the others would be sure to hear. "We need to hold it against you for one mistake you made that the book showed us."

Most of them blushed at those words and Fleur just beamed at him.

**"Maybe someone's hoping Potter is going to die for it," said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl.**

No one dared say a word after that line for a few moment. All of them become lost in thought about how true those words were… but not in the way that everyone expected.

_'He's good at impersonating me I give him that,'_ Moody admitted to himself bitterly. He waited patiently for once as everyone slowly came out of their stupors and back to the book.

**An extremely tense silence followed these words. Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, "Moody, old man… what a thing to say!"**

"Yeah?" sneered Sirius with disgust. "It was only the truth because he's the one who wanted Harry dead! Oh, he's lucky that the dementor got to him first… if he had been left to me I would've had the greatest of please in separating his soul from his body in my own way!"

He sounded so dangerous right there, that no one dared to commit to that as he continued twisted one of the pillows with such ferociously, that feathers were falling out.

**"We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn't discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime," said Karkaroff loudly. "Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your reasons."**

"Yeah," Tonks said nodding and looked at Moody happily. "You consider it dull day if you haven't seen an enemy hiding around a corner attempting to do you in eh? Or if you found poison hiding in your drink… or perhaps…"

"If you don't shut up, I'll make you do guard duty tonight," he growled and Tonks fell silent at once. She hated guard duty—standing watch over a door for endless hours under an invisibility cloak until she felt the need to cry.

**"Imagining things, am I?" growled Moody. "Seeing things, eh? It was a skilled witch or wizard who put the boy's name in that Goblet…"**

"Sure," Sirius snorted. "I'm sure that he's milking that line for all it's worth."

**"Ah, what evidence is zere of zat?" said Madame Maxime, throwing up her huge hands.**

"It's obvious if you just open your eyes," Moody groaned. Really, he felt as if he was surrounded by idiots.

**"Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!" said Moody. "It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that Goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament… I'm guessing they submitted Potter's name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category…"**

"And I wonder how he knows that?" Moody asked again with his voice heavy with sarcasm. "I never would've thought that if it had been me."

"Yeah," Tonks muttered. "They should've known that it was you from there."

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked loudly causing them all to jump and glare at him.

"Would you stop doing that whenever we least suspect it?!" Tonks yelled at him.

"Hmph," he grunted. "If I didn't then you would let your guard down."

"Why you lousy…" she began but thankfully the reading started again.

**"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody," said Karkaroff coldly, "and a very ingenious theory it is - though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. **

They all looked up at Mad-Eye incredulously. "What?" he barked, his eye fixing itself on each of them before Arthur said, "Nothing."

"That's right," he growled, "Keep reading if you know what's good for you." Despite his threat, a few smiles were stretching across their faces.

**So you'll understand if we don't take you entirely seriously…"**

"Why couldn't he just turn him into a ferret or something already?" Sirius asked annoyed, feeling that this was using up whatever patience he had left. "That would've saved us all a great deal of trouble."

**"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage," Moody retorted in a ****menacing voice. "It's my job to think the way Dark wizards do, Karkaroff - as you ought to remember…"**

"That you were a Death Eater who's pretending to see the error of his ways," Mad-Eye finished for him.

"Yes, I think that he would be very good at thinking like a Dark wizard," Sirius said sarcastically. "Seeing that he _is_ one!"

**"Alastor!" said Dumbledore warningly. Harry wondered for a moment whom he was speaking to, but then realized "Mad-Eye" could hardly be Moody's real first name. **

"Harry…" Molly said shaking her head fondly as the real 'Alastor' Moody let out a low chuckle.

"I think that it would be cool if it was," Tonks said brightly. "Your parents would've been right on the money naming you that."

"Watch it," he retorted.

**Moody fell silent, though still surveying Karkaroff with satisfaction - Karkaroff's face was burning.**

**"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room. "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. **

"No," Molly groaned. "Find another way… please…"

"It's no point arguing, Molly," Kingsley sighed sadly. "This already happened."

"I can't help it," she replied.

**Both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do…**

Albus had felt as if those words had been ripped from his very soul. As if he was just throwing away everything he ever believed in. It was even worse hearing it repeated from Harry's point of view however.

**"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr -"**

**"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it."**

"She didn't," Fleur sighed.

**Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared. She wasn't the only one either. Snape looked furious; Karkaroff livid; Bagman, however, looked rather excited.**

"I want to strangle him," Sirius hissed. How on earth could he be excited over something like this? He must've had too many bludgers to the head or something, he couldn't think of another way that idiot would be so damn happy.

**"Well, shall we crack on, then?" he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honors?"**

**Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie.**

**"Yes," he said, "instructions. Yes… the first task…"**

"The Dragons," Fleur shuddered and Bill tightened his grip around her shoulders as she leaned into his shoulder for comfort, feeling safer than she had in a long time.

**He moved forward into the firelight. Close up, Harry thought he looked ill. There were dark shadows beneath his eyes and a thin, papery look about his wrinkled skin that had not been there at the Quidditch World Cup.**

"Looks like 'e isn't doing too well wizout 'is elf," Fleur said, remembering meeting the man for the first time. She never did like him. And so far, she only heard negative things about him which made her opinion of him sink even lower.

**"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Harry, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard… very important.**

"I think Harry knows that better than most," Sirius muttered angrily, though there was also a hint of pride in his tone.

**"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges.**

**"The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. **

"Sure," Tonks laughed, "Like no one's ever cheated during the tournament before."

"Yeah, like you and Krum didn't get any help?" Sirius asked Fleur dryly and she blushed deeply.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Kingsley pointed out as he came to her rescue. "After all, cheating has traditionally been a part of the Triwizard tournament, despite attempts to stop it. No one could make it through those tasks alive without help. As I recall, the ones who have died in the tournament before were the ones who hadn't had anyone helping them. And as for Harry, I think that he needed more help than anyone else since he was only fourteen compared to the rest of you."

"Thank god that he wasn't too proud to ask for help here," Sirius sighed, glad that his godson's stubbornness didn't get in the way for him to ask for help.

**The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."**

**Mr. Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore.**

**"I think that's all, is it, Albus?"**

**"I think so," said Dumbledore, who was looking at Mr. Crouch with mild concern. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?"**

"Was Dumbledore already suspecting something was wrong?" Tonks asked lightly.

"It's possible," Arthur shrugged as he turned the page. "But I think that it was more out of concern that Barty hadn't been feeling well or something like that."

Albus sighed to himself. He knew that Barty hadn't been acting right for a long time, he only cursed himself for not noticing it. He knew that he had been working overtime at the Ministry since the Dark Mark appeared at the World Cup. And without Winky there to help him, he must've been having trouble getting along… how could he have known…? Arthur's voice started again and he listened miserably.

**"No, Dumbledore, I must get back to the Ministry," said Mr. Crouch. "It is a very busy, very difficult time at the moment… I've left young Weatherby in charge… **

The three Weasleys stiffened at the mention of Percy, though Sirius had to hide a smirk behind his hand at the name 'Weatherby.' Of course! Why didn't he think of that? He had to deal with Percy… that would make anyone sick!

**very enthusiastic… a little overenthusiastic, if truth be told…**

Albus felt a pang of concern. He had always know that Percy Weasley had been ambitious… but here, that boy was starting to show signs of being power-hungry… it was like dealing with a younger Fudge—or worse—maybe Tom. He shook his head hard at that. He knew that Percy would never become a murderer by choice… however, that was what power did to people.

As a very wise Muggle once said, _'Absolute power, corrupts absolutely.'_ It was ironic how that worked… people start out with good intentions; however, they feel that they need power in order to carry them out. But once they get a taste of it, they don't want to give it up and begin to crave it. And eventually, the good intentions become desperate ones to hold onto power… Percy was in danger of heading down that familiar road. Unless he opened his eyes and realized that people like him weren't suited for power, then he would become like Fudge.

Hopefully, Percy's family would be able to reach him—before it was too late.

**"You'll come and have a drink before you go, at least?" said Dumbledore.**

**"Come on, Barty, I'm staying!" said Bagman brightly. "It's all happening at Hogwarts now, you know, much more exciting here than at the office!"**

"I really am fighting the urge to hunt him down and punch him," said Sirius through gritted teeth. How could he be enjoying himself after all this?

**"I think not, Ludo," said Crouch with a touch of his old impatience.**

**"Professor Karkaroff - Madame Maxime - a nightcap?" said Dumbledore.**

**But Madame Maxime had already put her arm around Fleur's shoulders and was leading her swiftly out of the room. Harry could hear them both talking very fast in French as they went off into the Great Hall. **

"What were you two saying?" Tonks asked Fleur.

She just shook her head, "You razzer not know."

**Karkaroff beckoned to Krum, and they, too, exited, though in silence.**

**"Harry, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed," said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. "I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise."**

"Funny," Kingsley said deeply. "But I don't think that Harry is in the mood for celebrating."

"I would be greatly surprised if he was," Remus said sadly.

**Harry glanced at Cedric, who nodded, and they left together.**

**The Great Hall was deserted now; the candles had burned low, giving the jagged smiles of the pumpkins an eerie, flickering quality.**

**"So," said Cedric, with a slight smile. "We're playing against each other again!"**

"He's taking it really well," said Molly thoughtfully.

"A true Hufflepuff," Tonks said proudly, though becoming sad at the thought of how someone so kind and brave could've been cut down the way he was.

"Had things turned out differently," Arthur said sadly, "I think that they might've become good friends."

**"I s'pose," said Harry. He really couldn't think of anything to say. The inside of his head seemed to be in complete disarray, as though his brain had been ransacked.**

**"Poor guy," Kingsley sighed.**

**"So… tell me…" said Cedric as they reached the entrance hall, which was now lit only by torches in the absence of the Goblet of Fire. "How did you get your name in?"**

"He didn't," Sirius snapped, getting angry again.

**"I didn't," said Harry, staring up at him. "I didn't put it in. I was telling the truth."**

**"Ah… okay," said Cedric. Harry could tell Cedric didn't believe him. "Well… see you, then."**

"Most people won't," predicted Moody unnecessarily. "Who would? If it were any of us, we would probably think the same way."

"You have a point," said Fleur sorrowfully. "And eet only makes us look foolish in ze end."

"Why did this have to happen?" Molly asked desperately. "He never asked for any of this to happen! At least he will have his friends to support him."

"Ron and Hermione will be with him," Remus reminded them fairly.

"Don't get your hopes up," Sirius murmured under his breath. He had a feeling that no one would be looking forward to hearing this.

**Instead of going up the marble staircase, Cedric headed for a door to its right. Harry stood listening to him going down the stone steps beyond it, then, slowly, he started to climb the marble ones.**

**Was anyone except Ron and Hermione going to believe him, or would they all think he'd put himself in for the tournament?**

"Unfortunately, I won't be getting my hopes up, Harry," said Remus, feeling so bad for the boy. He knew what it was like to feel as if the rest of the world was against you."I don't think that this will do anything but lead to jealousy from the other students."

"And outrage from Hufflepuffs because they'll feel as if Gryffindor is trying to steal their glory," Arthur declared.

"But that's not Harry's fault—he didn't put his name in!" Molly said incredulously.

"I don't think that's the problem," Sirius sighed. "No one will believe him…" he then thought to himself, _'Not even Ron.'_

**Yet how could anyone think that, when he was facing competitors who'd had three years' more magical education than he had – when he was now facing tasks that not only sounded very dangerous, but which were to be performed in front of hundreds of people? **

"Yes, however kids don't think like that when they feel that they've been cheated," said Remus miserably.

**Yes, he'd thought about it… he'd fantasized about it… but it had been a joke, really, an idle sort of dream… he'd never really, _seriously _considered entering…**

_'As have most of the school,'_ Albus thought bitterly to himself.

**But someone else had considered it… someone else had wanted him in the tournament, and had made sure he was entered. Why? To give him a treat? He didn't think so, somehow…**

"Oh, use your head, kid," Moody groaned. "You've got brains in there somewhere—who would risk all this just to treat you to a dragon and grindylows?"

"Please stop talking like that," Sirius said darkly.

**To see him make a fool of himself? Well, they were likely to get their wish… **

"No," Sirius said looking up proudly. "I don't think that winning and escaping Voldemort again doesn't count for making a fool of yourself."

**But to get him _killed_? Was Moody just being his usual paranoid self? Couldn't someone have put Harry's name in the goblet as a trick, a practical joke? Did anyone really want him dead?**

Sirius felt his entire body go cold, trying hard not to think about it. How could his godson actually have to worry about someone trying to kill him?

"Come on, boy," Moody grunted. "If you can't figure this out, then you're hopeless. There are plenty of people out there who would love to see you get killed."

"Thank you, Alastor," Kingsley said firmly, putting an end to the conversation.

**Harry was able to answer that at once. Yes, someone wanted him dead, someone had wanted him dead ever since he had been a year old… Lord Voldemort. But how could Voldemort have ensured that Harry's name got into the Goblet of Fire? Voldemort was supposed to be far away, in some distant country, in hiding, alone… feeble and powerless…**

"But he's not alone anymore, and you know he want to kill you," Tonks said softly. "He's got Wormtail and he's planning something. You know that."

"'Ow?" Fleur asked in surprise. But she wished she hadn't spoken because everyone became morbid as they thought of the answer.

Bill laid his head against hers and muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "Now isn't a good time to talk about this."

**Yet in that dream he had had, just before he had awoken with his scar hurting, Voldemort had not been alone… he had been talking to Wormtail… plotting Harry's murder…**

"Why did he have to remember that?" Molly whimpered, remembering the first chapter.

"Better that he remembers rather than forget anything that might be a clue to figuring this out," Moody spoke up.

**Harry got a shock to find himself facing the Fat Lady already. He had barely noticed where his feet were carrying him. It was also a surprise to see that she was not alone in her frame. The wizened witch who had flitted into her neighbor's painting when he had joined the champions downstairs was now sitting smugly beside the Fat Lady. She must have dashed through every picture lining seven staircases to reach here before him. Both she and the Fat Lady were looking down at him with the keenest interest.**

"He's not a sideshow," Molly snapped, now feeling similar waves of anger that Sirius was feeling.

**"Well, well, well," said the Fat Lady, "Violet's just told me everything. Who's just been chosen as school champion, then?"**

**"Balderdash," said Harry dully.**

"I really don't blame him for not wanting to talk," Sirius said feeling sympathetic for his godson. "He's not having the best night."

"You can say that again," Bill said. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone with such bad luck."

**"It most certainly isn't!" said the pale witch indignantly.**

Everyone tried to laugh, however it sounded rather shrill and weak and they stopped at once.

**"No, no, Vi, it's the password," said the Fat Lady soothingly, and she swung forward on her hinges to let Harry into the common room.**

**The blast of noise that met Harry's ears when the portrait opened almost knocked him backward. Next thing he knew, he was being wrenched inside the common room by about a dozen pairs of hands, and was facing the whole of Gryffindor House, all of whom were screaming, applauding, and whistling.**

"I don't think this is going to help his mood," Kingsley said shaking his head.

"They didn't know," Remus said, feeling sick to his stomach. He had no idea how he would've been able to deal with this. How it would feel if no one would be willing to listen.

**"You should've told us you'd entered!" bellowed Fred; he looked half annoyed, half deeply impressed.**

They all looked at the book in surprise.

"You mean they thought that he did it?" Molly gasped.

"Harry hasn't had time to explain…" Arthur told her, though he too looked surprised. And even more so as he read the next line.

**"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" roared George.**

Molly looked horrified. "They weren't even listening?"

"Guess not," Tonks muttered sullenly.

**"I didn't," Harry said. "I don't know how -"**

**But Angelina had now swooped down upon him; "Oh if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor -"**

"They aren't even bothering to let him explain," Sirius said, clenching his hands so tightly that it was painful. He couldn't believe how they were acting… this was no cause for celebrating!

**"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch match, Harry!" shrieked Katie Bell, another of the Gryffindor Chasers.**

**"We've got food, Harry, come and have some -"**

**"I'm not hungry, I had enough at the feast -"**

**But nobody wanted to hear that he wasn't hungry; nobody wanted to hear that he hadn't put his name in the Goblet; not one single person seemed to have noticed that he wasn't at all in the mood to celebrate… **

They all looked sadly at the book feeling just so badly that they all felt the need to talk to Harry about this.

"I guess we can understand why he doesn't like opening up to people," Remus spoke at last after a few minutes. "Because he's had too much experience of people not bothering to even listen." He was also thinking of the Dursleys at those words.

"People can be astonishingly thoughtless when they want to be," Kingsley said insightfully. "They wanted a Gryffindor champion to defend the honor of the school and they got one."

"They wouldn't be acting this way if it had been one of them chosen instead," Tonks whispered.

**Lee Jordan had unearthed a Gryffindor banner from somewhere, and he insisted on draping it around Harry like a cloak. Harry couldn't get away; whenever he tried to sidle over to the staircase up to the dormitories, the crowd around him closed ranks, forcing another butterbeer on him, stuffing crisps and peanuts into his hands… **

"Shouldn't that be a clue that he didn't do it?" Sirius yelled out, wanting nothing more than to pick something up and smash it into pieces at what he was hearing. Now he, himself, had loved attention more than anything when he was at school, but who would want this?

**everyone wanted to know how he had done it, how he had tricked Dumbledore's Age Line and managed to get his name into the Goblet…**

"Oh just let him go to bed," Molly said feeling increasingly sorry for Harry, and increasing anger for her sons for just standing by and watching this.

**"I didn't," he said, over and over again, "I don't know how it happened."**

"I think he's just wasting his breath," Moody offered helpfully.

"You really have trouble with tact don't you, Mad-Eye?" Tonks asked him resentfully.

**But for all the notice anyone took, he might just as well not have answered at all.**

**"I'm tired!" he bellowed finally, after nearly half an hour. "No, seriously, George - I'm going to bed -"**

"Just let him go to bed and get some sleep," Molly annoyed that they won't let him leave. She would be sure to have a few words with her sons about this.

**He wanted more than anything to find Ron and Hermione, to find a bit of sanity, but neither of them seemed to be in the common room. Insisting that he needed to sleep, and almost flattening the little Creevey brothers as they attempted to waylay him at the foot of the stairs,**

"I don't think they care," Sirius said grudgingly. "They'd think it was an honor to be flattened by Harry Potter."

**Harry managed to shake everyone off and climb up to the dormitory as fast as he could.**

**To his great relief, he found Ron was lying on his bed in the otherwise empty dormitory, still fully dressed. **

"Here we go," muttered Sirius. At his tone, they all gave him questioning looks.

"What is it?" Arthur asked, but Sirius just waved his hand at him, silently telling him to go on and find out for yourself. Still puzzled, Arthur went on.

**He looked up when Harry slammed the door behind him.**

**"Where've you been?" Harry said.**

**"Oh hello," said Ron.**

Sirius narrowed his eyes at the book… now growing angry at Ron for what was about to happen. You don't walk out on your friends no matter what happened. This was nothing less than a betrayal in his opinion… he gritted his teeth again, thinking of how Wormtail had walked out on them when they needed him most.

Ron's just lucky that Harry was so forgiving and this betrayal was nowhere near as bad as what Peter did.

**He was grinning, but it was a very odd, strained sort of grin. Harry suddenly became aware that he was still wearing the scarlet Gryffindor banner that Lee had tied around him. He hastened to take it off, but it was knotted very tightly. Ron lay on the bed without moving, watching Harry struggle to remove it.**

"Why's Ron acting so strangely?" Bill asked raising his own eyebrows at the thought of his youngest brother.

The others shrugged. Arthur on the other hand looking more and more worried, not liking where this was going…

**"So," he said, when Harry had finally removed the banner and thrown it into a corner. "Congratulations."**

"Why is he acting like that?" Tonks asks annoyed. "Sure he's not the most tactful person… but you think he would start asking questions to what happened."

"You will find out in a minute," Sirius said miserably.

**"What d'you mean, congratulations?" said Harry, staring at Ron. There was definitely something wrong with the way Ron was smiling: It was more like a grimace.**

"I hope he's not thinking Harry put his name in," said Remus, frowning. "How could he? They both went back up to bed at the same time and they didn't leave again until that morning!"

It was slowly dawning on everyone what was happening, but they… they just couldn't believe this… Arthur was shaking his head as he continued forcefully. After everything they'd been through together…?

**"Well… no one else got across the Age Line," said Ron. "Not even Fred and George. What did you use - the Invisibility Cloak?"**

"That wouldn't work," said Remus knowingly. "It only makes you invisible… that doesn't mean that it would get you over the line!"

Albus, on the other hand, wasn't so sure about that. That would've been an interesting experiment on the third Deathly Hallow to have tried out if they weren't in the middle of a war.

**"The Invisibility Cloak wouldn't have got me over that line," said Harry slowly.**

**"Oh right," said Ron. "I thought you might've told me if it was the cloak… because it would've covered both of us, wouldn't it? But you found another way, did you?"**

"He seriously thinks he entered himself doesn't?" Tonks said angrily.

"He doesn't believe him," repeated Molly in disbelief. "His own best friend doesn't believe him? I can't believe this. He knows Harry hates being famous and if he had wanted to enter, he would've let his friends in on this!"

"I thought he was his friend," Sirius asked, his voice quiet but was almost radiating with power. "He needed all of the comfort and support he could get, and his best friend just turned on him. After all they've been through together, after all they've done, he just abandons him in his hour of need! If it were the other way around Harry would be right there for him!" He paused and breathed deeply for a moment. "He's only lucky that they made up! But they almost ruined their friendship! And over what pray tell? Why would he do this?"

"Jealousy," Remus answered. "During the first book, Ron looked into the Mirror of Erised and saw that his deepest desire was to stand out. To be better than his brothers." He looked over at Bill who flushed. "Not that he doesn't care about all of you—but he wants to be different. To stand out above the rest… and then there's Fred and George who pick fun at him at everything he does. And his best friend is Harry Potter… one of the most famous people in the Wizarding world and now… he has a chance to compete in the tournament and earn more fame."

"But Harry doesn't want that!" Sirius snapped at him.

"I never said he did," Remus replied. "I am merely pointing out what Ron is feeling. He had to compete just for his parent's attention at home, and Harry doesn't even have to try to get it. Jealousy does things to people… makes them say and do things that they don't mean."

"So he wants to throw away a friendship over something that Harry didn't want?" Sirius snapped. "Harry's the jealous one! Ron's got a family who cares for him! One that isn't like the Dursleys…" he looked at the Weasleys, understanding the same longing that his godson must've felt. He never felt how it was like to have a mother pull you into a hug and just love you for no reason other than the fact that you were there. Not until James's parents took him in as if he were their long-lost son.

"I'm sure that Harry would love to switch places just for one day. Maybe Ron will see that it's not fun if he had to deal with people staring at him like that," he growled. "I've got a few choice words with him next time I see him."

They let Sirius vent his anger in a string of curses until he calmed down just enough for Arthur to say, "It's almost over… just another page and then we can figure out what to do?"

**"Listen," said Harry, "I didn't put my name in that Goblet. Someone else must've done it."**

**Ron raised his eyebrows. ****"What would they do that for?"**

"Don't you know Weasley?" Moody shook his head. "He really needs to start paying closer attention to those last few attempts on Potter's life."

"You really aren't helping, Alastor," Kingsley said.

**"I dunno," said Harry. He felt it would sound very melodramatic to say, "To kill me."**

"Why? It's the truth," Moody said.

"Moody?" Sirius asked, his face in his thin hands. "Do me a favor and shut up."

**Ron's eyebrows rose so high that they were in danger of disappearing into his hair.**

**"It's okay, you know, you can tell _me_ the truth," he said. "If you don't want everyone else to know, fine, but I don't know why you're bothering to lie, you didn't get into trouble for it, did you? **

"He is not lying," Sirius snarled. He wished he was there so he could hit Ron upside the head.

**That friend of the Fat Lady's, that Violet, she's already told us all Dumbledore's letting you enter. **

"He isn't _letting_ him enter, you prat!" Sirius cried out. "He had no choice! Harry can't back out!"

**A thousand Galleons prize money, eh? And you don't have to do end-of-year tests either…"**

"Why would he need money, anyway?" Bill had to ask, now getting upset himself.

**"I didn't put my name in that Goblet!" said Harry, starting to feel angry.**

"I really don't blame him," Tonks said sympathetically. "I would've snapped and just smacked him by now."

"He's not the only one," muttered Remus. Nearly everyone in the room was nodding, all looking angry at Ron's reaction.

"Hey, I lost my anger with him long ago," said Sirius fiercely.

**"Yeah, okay," said Ron, in exactly the same skeptical tone as Cedric. "Only you said this ****morning you'd have done it last night, and no one would've seen you… I'm not stupid, you know."**

"_Ronald_!" said Arthur in shock, causing everyone to jump.

"Well, you're definitely acting like it," Sirius said to himself.

**"You're doing a really good impression of it," Harry snapped.**

Sirius winced. He didn't like hearing this… this was his godson and his best friend, and it reminded him of those lonely days where the two of them weren't talking. It was painful and it continued to bring up those miserable memories.

**"Yeah?" said Ron, and there was no trace of a grin, forced or otherwise, on his face now. "You want to get to bed, Harry. I expect you'll need to be up early tomorrow for a photo-call or something."**

"RON!" Molly yelled aghast that he was acting like this. Why hadn't they ever heard of this?

"While that might be true," Mad-Eye suggested, "He really shouldn't rub it in his face."

"You are really starting to tick me off Mad-Eye," Sirius growled at him.

**He wrenched the hangings shut around his four-poster, leaving Harry standing there by the door, staring at the dark red velvet curtains, now hiding one of the few people he had been sure would believe him.**

"Oh, I can't believe this!" said Molly, tears in her eyes again. She couldn't believe how her sons were all acting.

"Ron will come round, Molly. Friends fall out over stupid things all the time!" said Arthur reassuringly. "And they couldn't be angry for too long. I'm sure that Ron was hurting just as badly. This couldn't have been easy on either of them."

"I still can't believe this," Bill grumbled. "I thought for sure that Ron would believe him. they never once mentioned this."

"I think that once they made up," Kingsley said, "It was all water under the bridge, and they didn't want to bring it up."

"Still," Bill said in a bad mood.

"How about I read now?" Tonks asked softly, hoping that they could get their minds off what was going on if they just went on and got to the part where they made up as quickly as possible. No one said anything as she summoned the book over to her and read out, "**Chapter 18: The Weighing of the Wands**."

**(Yay! I had been waiting to put this new chapter up! Hope it was worth the wait!)**


	22. The Weighing of the Wands

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 21: The Weighing of the Wands**

"How about I read now?" Tonks asked softly, hoping that they could get their minds off what was going on if they just went on and got to the part where they made up as quickly as possible. No one said anything as she summoned the book over to her and read out, "**Chapter 18: The Weighing of the Wands**."

"The Weighing of the Wands?" she repeated slowly, looking at the picture of Rita Skeeter in complete confusion. "Why weigh their wands?"

"It's an important traditional part of the tournament," Kingsley informed her. "They need to check each of the champion's wands to ensure that they are properly working and ready for the tasks."

"Yeah, I can see that," Sirius nodded in agreement. "The last thing that they need is for their wand to back-fire or break apart during one of the tasks."

"I wonder who'll be doing it," Molly remarked curiously.

"If we're talking about wands, then my best bet would be Ollivander," Remus suggested. "He and Dumbledore are old friends after all so it only makes sense. And I'm also sure that he would've loved the chance."

"Eet was," Fleur confirmed.

**When Harry woke up on Sunday morning, it took him a moment to remember why he felt so miserable and worried. Then the memory of the previous night rolled over him. He sat up and ripped back the curtains of his own four-poster, intending to talk to Ron, to force Ron to believe him - only to find that Ron's bed was empty; he had obviously gone down to breakfast.**

The rest of them couldn't help but feel sorry for Harry knowing that he was forced into this whole mess without a choice and now has one of his best friends against him. Things just seemed to have been going from bad to worse for him.

**Harry dressed and went down the spiral staircase into the common room. The moment he appeared, the people who had already finished breakfast broke into applause again. **

"Considering he didn't want it last night, I really don't think that he would want it now," Sirius grunted. "If it had been me, I'd tell them all too just stuff it."

"I think that even if he had, it wouldn't have made any difference," Kingsley said calmly. "No one listens."

**The prospect of going down into the Great Hall and facing the rest of the Gryffindors, all ****treating him like some sort of hero, was not inviting; **

"I don't see how they _can't_ notice that he's not enjoying himself," grimaced Remus in sympathy.

"People can be amazingly blind when they want to be," Arthur sighed. "It's not fair, but we're only human."

"Which is why I don't bother with normal eyes," Mad-Eye grunted to himself.

"Well, you wouldn't be called 'Mad-Eye' if you were normal," Tonks said happily and he responded with another hard poke. Tonks glared at him as she rubbed her head and flipped the page.

**it was that, however, or stay here and allow himself to be cornered by the Creevey brothers, who were both beckoning frantically to him to join them. He walked resolutely over to the portrait hole, pushed it open, climbed out of it, and found himself face-to-face with Hermione.**

Most of them held their breath, hoping that she, at least, would believe Harry.

"Oh, I don't think we need to worry about her," Mad-Eye told them all. "The boy entering this tournament like that is too unbelievable and she doesn't believe anything without any proof."

"Fair enough," Remus smiled slightly.

**"Hello," she said, holding up a stack of toast, which she was carrying in a napkin. "I brought you this… want to go for a walk?"**

"And she'll know that the last think that he would want is to go to the Great Hall," Sirius said in relief. "He'll have to face the rest of the school…"

"That'll be fun," Bill whispered. If it had been him, he'd rather stay up in his dorm for the rest of his life then go down to face the rest of the school. They weren't going to be as excited as the Gryffindors.

**"Good idea," said Harry gratefully.**

**They went downstairs, crossed the entrance hall quickly without looking in at the Great Hall, and were soon striding across the lawn toward the lake, where the Durmstrang ship was moored, reflected blackly in the water. It was a chilly morning, and they kept moving, munching their toast, as Harry told Hermione exactly what had happened after he had left ****the Gryffindor table the night before.**

**To his immense relief, Hermione accepted his story without question.**

"Really?" Tonks said in surprise. "That's good… but she is normally the first one to start asking the questions…"

"Sometimes you don't need it with your friends," Arthur smiled. "You know them well enough that you know what they say and do. You know when something's wrong."

"To bad that Ron doesn't pay attention to things like that," Sirius grumbled to himself.

**"Well, of course I knew you hadn't entered yourself," she said when he'd finished telling her about the scene in the chamber off the Hall. "The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name! But the question is, who did put it in? Because Moody's right, Harry … I don't think any student could have done it … they'd never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over Dumbledore's -"**

"I really don't think that now is the best time to talk about that," said Tonks carefully. "I mean, if it was me, I sure wouldn't."

"At least she's listening to 'im," Fleur said sadly. This couldn't have been easy for him that whole year…

**"Have you seen Ron?" Harry interrupted.**

**Hermione hesitated.**

**"Erm… yes… he was at breakfast," she said.**

"Still acting like a prat I see," Sirius whispered to himself harshly. Was this really the same person who once said to him that if he had wanted to kill Harry, then all three of them would have to die? He was having a hard time seeing that was the same person. The Weasleys were shaking their heads in amazement at this.

**"Does he still think I entered myself?"**

**"Well… no, I don't think so… not _really,_" said Hermione awkwardly.**

"What does she mean by not really?" Sirius asked grumpily, "I think he does."

"Because I have a feeling that there's much more to it than that," Kingsley said thoughtfully.

**"What's that supposed to mean, 'not _really_'?"**

**"Oh Harry, isn't it obvious?" Hermione said despairingly. "He's jealous!"**

"Jealous?" Molly repeated in shock.

"Of what?" asked Sirius viciously, "The fact that someone is trying to kill his best friend and now he's forced to risk his life again?!"

"Well I suppose it must get hard being best friends with the Boy Who Lived," Arthur reasoned unhappily.

"Hermione seems to manage just fine," Sirius said coldly.

"But she doesn't have six other siblings to compete with as well," Bill said slowly as a horrible idea came to mind.

**"_Jealous_?" Harry said incredulously. "Jealous of what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?"**

"'E didn't do anyzing of ze sort," Fleur said thinking of the three tasks. "Out of all of us, I theenk 'e did ze best."

**"Look," said Hermione patiently, "it's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. **

"Actually, I really don't think that he pays much attention to it," Arthur smiled.

"Makes you wonder how that is possible considering who his father and godfather is," Remus said lightly as he looked at his best friend.

Sirius smirked. "I can't deny that. And despite what others think…" he thought of Snape with anger, "He's not like us at all in that sense."

**I know it's not your fault," she added quickly, seeing Harry open his mouth furiously. "I know you don't ask for it… but - well - you know, Ron's got all those brothers to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, **

"_Supposed_ to be, anyway," Sirius grumbled under his breath again.

**and you're really famous - he's always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this is just one time too many…"**

"I guess… that is somewhat understandable," said Remus carefully, with half a glance at Bill. "It couldn't have been easy for Ron after all this time. Not only does he have six siblings that he had to compete with for Mum and Dad's attention, but he also has two best friends—one is the smartest witch in the school, and the other is world famous. So I guess…"

"It still doesn't justify turning your back on your best friend when he needed you most," Sirius said glaring at the book as Molly and Arthur looked devastated. "And for what? He's jealous about something that Harry has no control over."

"Sirius, he wasn't thinking clearly," Molly said at once, defending her youngest son. "He's young…"

"Yeah, but whose fault is it?" Sirius demanded.

"It doesn't matter," Kingsley said deeply. "What's done is done. They both made up, so it's bound to happen soon."

No one could find anything to say to that, so Tonks just continued reading… though Sirius was still looking grumpy. He just didn't like the fact that friends could turn on each other so easily over something so stupid. If Ron started something like this on a whim, who's to say that he might not do it again?

**"Great," said Harry bitterly. "Really great. Tell him from me I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he's welcome to it … people gawping at my forehead everywhere I go …"**

**"I'm not telling him anything," Hermione said shortly. "Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."**

"A bit hypercritical of her," Bill smirked. He knew that if it had been her and Ron arguing, Hermione would rather bite her own tongue off before she admits that Ron's right.

**"I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up!" Harry said, so loudly that several owls in a nearby tree took flight in alarm. "Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself once I've got my neck broken or -"**

Just at that sentence, the atmosphere in the room, and outside it as well, tensed up at once.

"Harry! Don't say things like that!" cried Molly shrilly, wringing her hands together. That boy may not be one of her sons, but she had grown as protective of him as the rest of her children. To say something like that when there is a good chance that it could happen was almost painful to hear.

"I love a joke as much as the next guy," said Sirius hoarsely, shaking his head. "But that's not the slightest bit funny."

"I don't theenk he was joking," Fleur said, thinking of the First Task with a shudder.

**"That's not funny," said Hermione quietly. "That's not funny at all." **

"I agree with you there, Hermione," said Sirius at once.

**She looked extremely anxious. "Harry, I've been thinking - you know what we've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back to the castle?"**

**"Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the -"**

Sirius snorted at that and Tonks was grinning at that; only sorry that Harry didn't get a chance to finish his threat.

**"Write to Sirius. You've got to tell him what's happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts… it's almost as if he expected something like this ****to happen. **

Everyone turns to Sirius.

"Is that true?" Arthur asked him in surprise. "Because you must be nothing short of a Seer to have seen this coming."

"Of course I didn't see this!" Sirius said before he thought over his answer. "My godson's name coming out of the Goblet? That I didn't see coming! If I did, I would've written to Dumbledore about that don't you think? I only meant that I was worried sick about him and knew that someone coming after him was a matter of time… I knew that things are going to get worse now that Pettigrew has rejoined Voldemort… I just didn't expect it to be so bad."

**I brought some parchment and a quill out with me -"**

"So basically Harry doesn't have a choice in the matter," Bill laughed.

"This is why we all love Hermione—she's so analytical," Tonks said happily.

"Yes, remind us we said that the next time she is such a know-it-all," Mad-Eye grunted.

**"Come off it," said Harry, looking around to check that they couldn't be overheard, but the ****grounds were quite deserted. "He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. **

"I think that it was much more painful than just a little twinge," said Tonks rolling her eyes. "He doesn't give himself enough credit."

**He'll probably come bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone's entered me in the Triwizard Tournament -"**

"To be honest, I was considering it," Sirius admitted. But when he noticed their horrified/amazed looks he said, "I wanted to sneak into Dumbledore's office and kill him! But I reckoned it wouldn't look very good if I did that."

"You think?" Remus asked dryly, raising an eyebrow. Outside in the hall, Albus was smiling. He had received some very threatening letters from Sirius when he found out that his godson was competing in the tournament. He supposed that he was lucky to have lasted this long.

"Yeah, I can see you doing that," Tonks nodded thoughtfully. "You are a genuine lunatic after all."

"Hey, I may be reckless, but I've got more sense than that," Sirius said innocently.

"Well, the important thing is that you didn't do anything that would've gotten you caught, so it doesn't matter," Arthur said comfortingly.

**"_He'd want you to tell him_," said Hermione sternly. "He's going to find out anyway."**

"Yes, what is with him telling me what's wrong?" Sirius demanded, and he was sounding put out at that idea.

"I think that he just doesn't want to risk you getting caught," Kingsley explained.

"So what…?" Sirius asked. "He can put up with anything so long as I'm safe? That's not how it's supposed to work! I'm…" But he stopped and he thought about what he was saying. Was that it? Was that the reason that Harry hadn't used the mirror after all this time? Because he didn't want him to worry?

"You're what?" Tonks asked him.

"Nothing…" he said. Even here… his godson was doing more to try and protect him, than Sirius did. That was just… wrong…

**"How?"**

"Did he really ask that?" Moody asked, shaking his head. "Not only is he famous competing in a famous tournament, but he's also a fourth champion! That's never happened before! As well as competing against three older opponents. Dumbledore could try all he wanted, but I highly doubt that even he could keep this under wraps for long.

Albus nodded grimly from the hall. He did try to keep this quiet for awhile longer, but he couldn't keep something like this hidden from the world for long.

**"Harry, this isn't going to be kept quiet," said Hermione, very seriously. "This Tournament's famous, and you're famous. I'll be really surprised if there isn't anything in the Daily Prophet about you competing… You're already in half the books about You-Know-Who, you know… and Sirius would rather hear it from you, I know he would."**

**"Okay, okay, I'll write to him," said Harry, **

"Good," Sirius said firmly. Now he wasn't a parent… he had no idea how to deal with teenagers, but he was willing to try. The only problem was his godson's stubbornness and keeping things to himself. How was he supposed to help if he didn't know what was wrong?

**throwing his last piece of toast into the lake. They both stood and watched it floating there for a moment, before a large tentacle rose out of the water and scooped it beneath the surface.** **Then they returned to the castle.**

**"Whose owl am I going to use?" Harry said as they climbed the stairs. "He told me not to use Hedwig again."**

"Normally, I would suggest Pigwideon…" Remus said slowly. "But under… these circumstances…"

"He'll make do with one of the Hogwarts owls," Sirius said at once.

**"Ask Ron if you can borrow -"**

**"I'm not asking Ron for anything," Harry said flatly.**

"Ron needs to come forth first," Bill agreed. "He's the one being stubborn here."

"Bill," Molly said, though she knew he was right. She just hated seeing the two of them fight like this…

**"Well, borrow one of the school owls, then, anyone can use them," said Hermione.**

**They went up to the Owlery. Hermione gave Harry a piece of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink, then strolled around the long lines of perches, looking at all the different owls, while Harry sat down against a wall and wrote his letter.**

"She really 'ad everyzing zought out," Fleur said impressed.

"She always does," Remus agreed fondly.

**_Dear Sirius,_**

**_You told me to keep you posted on what's happening at Hogwarts, so here goes – I don't know if you've heard, but the Triwizard Tournament's happening this year and on Saturday night I got picked as a fourth champion. I don't who put my name in the Goblet of Fire, _****_because I didn't. The other Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff _**

Sirius remembered that letter; he remembered how it felt as if it had been a Howler just begging him to help him. He never felt more scared or worthless before in his life.

**He paused at this point, thinking. He had an urge to say something about the large weight of anxiety that seemed to have settled inside his chest since last night, but he couldn't think how to translate this into words,**

"He didn't need to," Sirius said. He got the message loud and clear.

**so he simply dipped his quill back into the ink bottle and wrote,**

**_Hope you're okay, and Buckbeak –_**

"Nice way to end a letter," Tonks said with a snort. "'_I'm in a life-threatening tournament, and someone is planning to kill me. Hope you're well.' _Jeez, Harry…"

Remus smiled lightly again. "That's so like him…"

**_Harry_**

"It covers the more important points," Kingsley suggested, "But he didn't write how he's dealing with it all."

"I didn't need him to," Sirius sighed. "I could tell how he was coping with it. No normal person would be alright after all this hell he's forced to go through."

"Good point," Moody yawned.

**"Finished," he told Hermione, getting to his feet and brushing straw off his robes. At this, Hedwig fluttered down onto his shoulder and held out her leg.**

"Ah, she won't like not being used," Tonks said, remembering about how proud Hedwig is.

**"I can't use you," Harry told her, looking around for the school owls. "I've got to use one of these."**

**Hedwig gave a very loud hoot and took off so suddenly that her talons cut into his shoulder. **

"Oh, great!" Sirius cried out to the ceiling. "Even his own pet is turning on him! That was might fault! I'm the one who told him not to use her and she's going after him!" Why did it feel that everything he did only seemed to make things harder for Harry?

**She kept her back to Harry all the time he was tying his letter to the leg of a large barn owl. When the barn owl had flown off, Harry reached out to stroke Hedwig, but she clicked her beak furiously and soared up into the rafters out of reach.**

**"First Ron, then you," Harry said angrily. "This isn't my fault."**

"He's right about that," Remus said sadly.

_'Unfortunately,'_ Albus thought sadly. _'Jealousy can over-cloud everything we thought we knew.'_

**If Harry had thought that matters would improve once everyone got used to the idea of him being champion, the following day showed him how mistaken he was. He could no longer avoid the rest of the school once he was back at lessons - and it was clear that the rest of the school, just like the Gryffindors, thought Harry had entered himself for the tournament. ****Unlike the Gryffindors, however, they did not seem impressed.**

"I didn't think that they would be," Bill said anxiously. This wasn't going to be easy to hear.

"So it's like the Chamber of Secrets all over again," Sirius said bitterly. "Harry's hated because someone else did something."

**The Hufflepuffs, who were usually on excellent terms with the Gryffindors, had turned remarkably cold toward the whole lot of them. **

"That's not fair," Tonks said outraged at her House.

"Doesn't have to be," Remus sighed. "They're young. And they can act remarkably cruel when they feel that they've been cheated out of something they want."

"Yeah, well," Sirius snapped. "If it happened to one of them, they won't think it's so great will they?"

**One Herbology lesson was enough to demonstrate this. It was plain that the Hufflepuffs felt that Harry had stolen their champion's glory; **

"That's not true Hufflepuff has many things to be proud of," Tonks said firmly. "They don't usually care about things like glory or fame! They put friendship, loyalty, and honesty above everything else!"

Albus nodded from behind the door. Out of all the Houses, Hufflepuff was the one less concerned about making their names known. Nevertheless, they are far from being weak. Just like all the Houses, there have been countless outstanding students have emerged from Hufflepuff house over the centuries; these fine pupils simply happened to be allied to outstanding qualities of patience, a strong work ethic and constancy, all traditional hallmarks of Hufflepuff House.

"It's sad… but when it comes to something like this, people tend to put their own needs ahead of the values that they were taught," Kingsley said before anyone could say anything else.

**a feeling exacerbated, perhaps, by the fact that Hufflepuff House very rarely got any glory, and that Cedric was one of the few who had ever given them any, having beaten Gryffindor once at Quidditch.**

"That was only due to the Dementors, though," Tonks felt the need to point out, angry at her old House's treatment of Harry.

"Oh, why can't they leave the kid alone?" Sirius hissed.

**Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch Fletchley, with whom Harry normally got on very well, did not talk to him even though they were repotting Bouncing Bulbs at the same tray - though they did laugh rather unpleasantly when one of the Bouncing Bulbs wriggled free from Harry's grip and smacked him hard in the face. Ron wasn't talking to Harry either. Hermione sat between them, making very forced conversation, but though both answered her normally, they avoided making eye contact with each other. **

"Because Ron is a jealous idiot," Sirius huffed under his breath. "At least Hermione has an idea to how Harry feels when she and Ron fight."

**Harry thought even Professor Sprout seemed distant with him - but then, she was Head of Hufflepuff House.**

"I'm sure that's not the reason," Remus said, remembering her from before and after he returned to the school as a teacher.

"She may be acting differently, but I think that she'll know that Harry didn't enter himself," observed Tonks firmly.

**He would have been looking forward to seeing Hagrid under normal circumstances, but Care of Magical Creatures meant seeing the Slytherins too – the first time he would come face-to-face with them since becoming champion.**

"Oh, this won't be fun," Sirius groaned. The Slytherins sure weren't going to make this any easier. He was willing to bet everything he owned that the ferret would be the first to open his fat mouth. And sure enough Tonks read out…

**Predictably, Malfoy arrived at Hagrid's cabin with his familiar sneer firmly in place.**

**"Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," he said to Crabbe and Goyle the moment he got within ****earshot of Harry. **

"Big talk from the _amazing bouncing ferret_!" said Sirius harshly.

"I really don't like 'im," said Fleur narrowing her eyes.

"You and everyone here," Bill said tightly.

**"Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he's going to be around much longer… Half the Triwizard champions have died… how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet."**

_'It took him about that long to complete the task,' _Fleur thought to herself.

"Longer than you would've lasted I bet, Malfoy!" Sirius yelled. He tightened his fists and said, "Oh, I'd love to have seen him go up against a dragon! He'd wet his pants and pass out cold in front of everyone!"

Tonks roared with laughter. "Of course he would! He's all talk, no guts!"

**Crabbe and Goyle guffawed sycophantically, but Malfoy had to stop there, because Hagrid emerged from the back of his cabin balancing a teetering tower of crates, each containing a very large Blast-Ended Skrewt.**

"Now what is he going to do with them?" Molly groaned.

**To the class's horror, Hagrid proceeded to explain that the reason the Skrewts had been killing one another was an excess of pent-up energy, and that the solution would be for each student to fix a leash on a skrewt and take it for a short walk.**

"'E 'as got to be joking," said Fleur, her jaw falling open. Taking those… _things_ on a walk?

"Well," Moody said in a bored tone. "This is Hagrid we're talking about. This isn't the first time he's pulled something like this."

Fleur just shook her head in amazement. She still had nightmares about those monsters, she couldn't believe that anyone would treat them like they were normal pets.

"This'll be em… an interesting class if nothing else," Arthur said nervously.

"Interesting!?" Molly said almost hysterical. "You call talking those… whatever they are—for a walk?!"

He could only shrug and Tonks laughed at the next line.

**The only good thing about this plan was that it distracted Malfoy completely.**

"Well, anything that makes Malfoy uncomfortable can't be all bad," Sirius said brightly.

**"Take this thing for a walk?" he repeated in disgust, staring into one of the boxes. "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blasting end, or the ****sucker?"**

"As much as I hate to say it… I think that he might have a point…" Bill said slowly.

"Is it too much to hope that he gets hurt again?" Sirius whispered hopefully. Oh, please let Malfoy get some serious burns if nothing else.

**"Roun' the middle," said Hagrid, demonstrating. "Er - yeh might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, jus' as an extra precaution, like. Harry - you come here an' help me with this big one…**

**Hagrid's real intention, however, was to talk to Harry away from the rest of the class. He waited until everyone else had set off with their Skrewts, then turned to Harry and said, ****very seriously, "So - yer competin', Harry. In the tournament. School champion."**

"Not by choice," Molly repeated miserably.

"Seriously, what kind of bad luck star was he born under," Bill asked. "It's wrong to have so many terrible things happen to someone in their life.

**"One of the champions," Harry corrected him.**

**Hagrid's beetle-black eyes looked very anxious under his wild eyebrows.**

**"No idea who put yeh in fer it, Harry?"**

"Excellent! Thank goodness Hagrid believes him!" said Molly, sounding thoroughly relieved.

"Hagrid know Harry better than that," Arthur told her confidently.

"So now the count is up to two who believe Potter," Mad-Eye said.

_'More than that,'_ Albus thought. He knew that there were many people in the castle who believed him, but didn't say anything about it… or either—like Ron—felt that it would just be easier to believe otherwise.

**"You believe I didn't do it, then?" said Harry, concealing with difficulty the rush of gratitude he felt at Hagrid's words.**

**"Course I do," Hagrid grunted. "Yeh say it wasn' you, an' I believe yeh - an' Dumbledore believes yer, an' all."**

"To be honest, that should have been enough for anyone else," Sirius muttered bitterly.

"But it never is," Remus finished sadly.

**"Wish I knew who did do it," said Harry bitterly.**

"It would've helped," Moody grumbled. They could've caught that lousy Death Eater and prevent his evil snake for a master from showing his ugly face around here again.

**The pair of them looked out over the lawn; the class was widely scattered now, and all in great difficulty. The Skrewts were now over three feet long, and extremely powerful. No ****longer shell-less and colorless, they had developed a kind of thick, greyish, shiny armor. **

"That would mean that they are hard to stun or curse," Remus said thoughtfully.

"Zey are," Fleur said sounding disgruntled, "I fought one in ze maze, and I finally 'ad no choice but to run. Nozzing I did would work on eet."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," Bill said firmly. "If nothing works on that armor, then that's the smartest thing to do." Fleur smiled brightly at him in appreciation.

**They looked like a cross between giant scorpions and elongated crabs - but still without recognizable heads or eyes. They had become immensely strong and very hard to control.**

"The more I hear about these creatures the more I worry about what is going through that man's mind," Molly said biting her lower lip.

"Well, he wouldn't be Hagrid if he _was_ normal," Tonks said serenely.

Remus nodded, laughing gently, he said, "He's certainly one of a kind."

**"Look like they're havin' fun, don' they?" Hagrid said happily. Harry assumed he was talking about the Skrewts, because his classmates certainly weren't; every now and then, with an alarming bang, one of the Skrewts' ends would explode, causing it to shoot forward several yards, and more than one person was being dragged along on their stomach, trying desperately to get back on their feet.**

"Yeah," Tonks muttered sarcastically. "That sure sounds like a great time."

**"Ah, I don' know, Harry," Hagrid sighed suddenly, looking back down at him with a worried expression on his face. "School champion… everythin' seems ter happen ter you, doesn' it?"**

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Kingsley said. He might not have known Harry for long, but he could see that was true.

"Yes 'Arry does seem to 'ave a 'abit of casing trouble," Fleur agreed.

"Truer words I've never heard spoken," Arthur sighed.

**Harry didn't answer. Yes, everything did seem to happen to him… that was more or less ****what Hermione had said as they had walked around the lake, and that was the reason, according to her, that Ron was no longer talking to him. **

"I really don't think Hagrid meant it that way though," said Remus unhappily, "I think that he was referring to how all this bad luck he seems to have… that so many bad things seem to happen to him that came along with all that fame."

"To bad they don't realize the bad as well as the good," Arthur said.

**The next few days were some of Harry's worst at Hogwarts. The closest he had ever come to feeling like this had been during those months, in his second year, when a large part of the school had suspected him of attacking his fellow students.**

"Which, if I recall correctly, showed them all up," Sirius growled smugly. "Because it's obvious to anyone with half a brain that he's the last person to have been accused to have been the Heir of Slytherin."

**But Ron had been on his side then. He thought he could have coped with the rest of the school's behavior if he could just have had Ron back as a friend, but he wasn't going to try and persuade Ron to talk to him if Ron didn't want to. **

**Nevertheless, it was lonely with dislike pouring in on him from all sides.**

"What an idiot," Sirius muttered angrily. Now he knew that they would make up, but that didn't mean that he was nearly as forgiving as his godson was. He knew the feeling all too well when he and James had that brief falling out… it was terrible.

**He could understand the Hufflepuffs' attitude, even if he didn't like it; they had their own champion to support. He expected nothing less than vicious insults from the Slytherins - he was highly unpopular there and always had been, because he had helped Gryffindor beat them so often, both at Quidditch and in the Inter-House Championship.**

"Well, on a brighter note, it's good that Harry can see that," said Kingsley slowly. "It's something I've noticed… he seems uncommonly good at seeing everyone else's point of view. Not many people can do that."

"Unfortunately, I can understand that," Remus sighted. "After all, the Hufflepuffs will be behind Cedric… and I know that the Slytherins would rather root for a Hufflepuff than a Gryffindor any day… then there's the Ravenclaws…"

"It looks like this tournament hasn't done anything but create more animosity within the school," Moody grunted.

Outside, Albus leaned his head against the back wall—feeling sick with himself. Alastor was right… if he never thought to hoist the tournament… none of this would've happened.

**But he had hoped the Ravenclaws might have found it in their hearts to support him as much as Cedric. He was wrong, however. Most Ravenclaws seemed to think that he had been desperate to earn himself a bit more fame by tricking the Goblet into accepting his name.**

"How on earth could he ever get _more_ fame?" Bill asked exasperated. "Even if he doesn't do anything for the rest of his life, his name is going to live on!"

"And they're supposed to be the smart ones," Tonks muttered darkly.

**Then there was the fact that Cedric looked the part of a champion so much more than he did. Exceptionally handsome, with his straight nose, dark hair, and grey eyes, it was hard to say who was receiving more admiration these days, Cedric or Viktor Krum. **

"Yes, but Harry is the one who really needs the support," Arthur said stiffly. "He's the one who is at the disadvantage."

"After ze First Task, many people do come around to support 'im," Fleur informed them.

Sirius snorted. "Yeah, in other words, they're just sucking up! Once he showed everyone after the First Task, they all suddenly want to be friends. Who needs 'em?"

**Harry actually saw the same sixth-year girls who had been so keen to get Krum's autograph begging Cedric to sign their school bags one lunchtime.**

"Fangirls," Bill muttered and he shook his head with a fond smile. He had more than his fair share of girls like that… and that wasn't the type of girl that anyone would be looking for. He wanted someone a little more… down to earth… a little more… his eyes suddenly went to Fleur and he blinked. What was he thinking of all of a sudden?

**Meanwhile there was no reply from Sirius, Hedwig was refusing to come anywhere near him, Professor Trelawney was predicting his death with even more certainty than usual, and he did so badly at Summoning Charms in Professor Flitwick's class that he was given extra homework - **

"Well 'e certainly improved on zat spell in an 'urry," Fleur commented. Once she had put out her skirt and got past the dragon, she had sat back in the stands to finish watching the task. Viktor was impressive… but Harry… remarkable. "It was very powerful. 'E used eet to summon 'is broom from ze castle."

"Man…" Tonks groaned. "I would've loved to have seen that."

_'It was something you had to see to believe,'_ Albus nodded to himself.

**the only person to get any, apart from Neville.**

**"It's really not that difficult, Harry," Hermione tried to reassure him as they left Flitwick's class - she had been making objects zoom across the room to her all lesson, as though she were some sort of weird magnet for board dusters, wastepaper baskets, and lunascopes. "You just weren't concentrating properly -"**

"Can't see why that would be," Moody said sarcastically.

**"Wonder why that was," said Harry darkly as Cedric Diggory walked past, surrounded by a large group of simpering girls, all of whom looked at Harry as though he were a particularly large Blast-Ended Skrewt. "Still - never mind, eh? Double Potions to look forward to this afternoon..."**

"Oh, what a brilliant thing to look forward too," Sirius said, his voice filled with sarcasm. "Yes who wouldn't want a double lesson locked in a dungeon with the overgrown bat and his precious snakes?"

"This isn't going to turn out well," Kingsley said unnecessary.

"No, duh," Tonks said rolling her eyes. "I predict that it's going to be nothing short of a living hell."

**Double Potions was always a horrible experience, but these days it was nothing short of torture. Being shut in a dungeon for an hour and a half with Snape and the Slytherins, all of whom seemed determined to punish Harry as much as possible for daring to become school champion, was about the most unpleasant thing Harry could imagine. **

"Sounds like it," Sirius said, his eye twitching horribly. What he wouldn't give to knock out all of Snape's teeth…

**He had already struggled through one Friday's worth, with Hermione sitting next to him intoning "ignore them, ignore them, ignore them" under her breath, and he couldn't see why today should be any better.**

"Yeah, I would find it hard to ignore too," Bill said. "Not being able to walk down a corridor without having someone sneering at you… that would be nothing short of torture.

**When he and Hermione arrived at Snape's dungeon after lunch, they found the Slytherins waiting outside, each and every one of them wearing a large badge on the front of his or her robes. **

"Well, I'm guessing they're not S.P.E.W. badges…" said Remus, looking up at the others.

"If they were, then I know that this book is a fantasy novel," Moody yawned.

**For one wild moment Harry thought they were S.P.E.W. badges - **

"I agree with you, Mad-Eye," Sirius said. "If they were wearing spew badges, then these books have to be fake."

**then he saw that they all bore the same message, in luminous red letters that burnt brightly in the dimly lit underground passage:**

**SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY—THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!**

"Oh, well that's just perfect!" Tonks called out.

"Zere are two 'Ogwarts champions," Fleur said indignantly "And zey are both real."

**"Like them, Potter?" said Malfoy loudly as Harry approached. **

"What a brat," Sirius said as he rolled his eyes. "I can't think of anything else to call him but a spoiled brat."

"I don't think there is a better word for him except that," Tonks muttered.

**"And this isn't all they do - look!"**

**He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message upon it vanished, to be replaced by another one, which glowed green: POTTER STINKS!**

"They're all acting real mature," Remus said frowning. Honestly, they were acting like children instead of teenagers…

**The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges too, until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly all around Harry. He felt the heat rise in his face and neck.**

Albus knew that this wasn't helping Harry to control his temper… most likely what young Mr. Malfoy was hoping for. And since they were right outside Severus's classroom…

**"Oh very funny," Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls, who were laughing harder than anyone, "really witty."**

**Ron was standing against the wall with Dean and Seamus. He wasn't laughing, but he wasn't sticking up for Harry either.**

"Why am I not surprised?" Sirius hissed.

**"Want one, Granger?" said Malfoy, holding out a badge to Hermione. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."**

Everyone grew furious again.

"I don't care if he is a kid," Sirius growled, "I'm going to teach him a lesson that he won't ever forget! I can't stand the fact that I'm related to them! They may think they're blood is _pure_—" the word felt like dirt on his tongue, "But they're the ones with the dirty, rotten souls!"

As they all made similar sounds of agreement, Albus sighed. He couldn't deny that Draco was, in general, an arrogant, spiteful bully. Like Dudley Dursley, his narcissistic nature most likely stemmed from his being spoiled by his parents throughout his childhood. He believed himself superior to most people because of his family's pure-blood lineage as well as great wealth and social standing. He had always relied on his father and his influence to get by… but he hoped that once he matured more, he would start to see that his way isn't the right one…

**Some of the anger Harry had been feeling for days and days seemed to burst through a dam in his chest. He had reached for his wand before he'd thought what he was doing. **

"That's it! Ripe him into tiny pieces!" cheered Sirius. "The last time they duel, he couldn't do anything without having someone there to hold his hand. I bet that he won't last longer than 2 seconds."

"That boy has quite the temper," Moody said surprisingly soft. "Especially when it comes to his friends… he's going to get himself killed one of these days if he doesn't learn to control it."

"Oh, let him teach Malfoy a lesson," Sirius argued. "I've been waiting for this since Hermione punched him in the last book! I hope that she at least gave him a black eye."

**People all around them scrambled out of the way, backing down the corridor.**

**"Harry!" Hermione said warningly.**

**"Go on, then, Potter," Malfoy said quietly, drawing out his own wand. "Moody's not here to look after you now- do it, if you've got the guts-"**

"Shut it, Malfoy," Sirius growled. "You wouldn't dare pick a fight unless you were right outside Snape's office and was there to look after you."

**For a split second, they looked into each other's eyes, then, at exactly the same time, both acted.**

**"_Funnunculus_!" Harry yelled.**

**"_Densaugeo_!" screamed Malfoy.**

**Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair, and ricocheted off at angles — Harry's hit Goyle in the face, and Malfoy's hit Hermione. **

"Oh no!" Molly gasped in worry.

**Goyle bellowed and put his hands to his nose, where great ugly boils were springing up - Hermione, whimpering in panic, was clutching her mouth.**

"What did 'e do?" Fleur asked. "Densaugeo makes zings grow right?"

Bill nodded. "Blimey, this can't be good."

**"Hermione!"**

**Ron had hurried forward to see what was wrong with her; Harry turned and saw Ron dragging Hermione's hand away from her face. It wasn't a pretty sight. Hermione's front teeth - already larger than average - were now growing at an alarming rate; she was looking more and more like a beaver as her teeth elongated, past her bottom lip, toward her chin - panic-stricken, she felt them and let out a terrified cry.**

"That's it? Could've been a hell of a lot worse I suppose," said Moody slowly.

"See what happens when you lash out in anger?" said Molly angrily. "Innocent people get caught up in it!"

"Well, Goyle's hardly what I call innocent," Tonks muttered under her breath.

"I know, but I'm glad Harry went for him all the same!" said Sirius stubbornly.

"That's not going to last once Severus arrives," Remus said, and Tonks read out: **"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice.**

"That overgrown bat always picks the absolute worst times to appear," Sirius said in a bad mood.

**Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamoured to give their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, "Explain."**

"He isn't going to tell the truth," said Sirius bluntly. "Why not ask everyone else before turning to the crybaby who's going to make up a sob story to how he was attacked?"

**"Potter attacked me, sir -"**

"What did I tell you?" Sirius sighed.

"They attacked each other at the same time," Arthur corrected.

"We know that, but Snape's not going to pay attention to details like that," Mad-Eye said knowingly. _'Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater after all…'_ he added in an afterthought.

**"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted.**

"Don't know why he bothers," Moody said with a shrug. "Snape isn't going to listen."

**"- and he hit Goyle - look -"**

**Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi.**

**"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly.**

**"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"**

"He better let her go to," Tonks warned.

"I'm sure he will…" Molly said slowly. "He let Goyle…" but she was interrupted by Sirius.

"Ah, but you're forgetting that he's a Slytherin."

"Why should that make any difference?" she demanded. "She's still his student and…"

"Molly, if you think that, then you really haven't been paying attention," Sirius grumpily.

**He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth - she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape's back.**

"Real mature," said Tonks dryly, "And they think that they're the best."

**Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."**

"WHAT!?" Everyone yelled angry, and Tonks swore so badly that it could make any sailor blush.

"Severus Snape!" cried out Molly in outrage. "You are a teacher! How—how _dare_ he?!"

Rubbing his hand over his weary eyes, Albus felt a terrible pain in his heart. Severus had been bullied and picked on during his time here—and yet he was now treating them as horribly as he had been treated. The only reason this would be was because it made him feel better that he was taking his anger and frustration on the House that he hated so dearly when he was at school. Just what was he supposed to do about this?

**Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.**

"He made her cry!" Tonks cried furious, her fingers gripping the edges of the book so hard that she was about to rip the whole thing in half. "And he has the gall to call himself a teacher? Why that's got to be the biggest piece of crap I've ever heard in my life.

"Why didn't Dumbledore do anyzing about 'im?" Fleur demanded. "You theenk 'e would ensure zat 'is staff aren't abusing zeir positions."

Albus shook his head. He had tried… tried again and again to help Severus, but if the man didn't want to be helped, there wasn't much else he could do.

**It was lucky, perhaps, that both Harry and Ron started shouting at Snape at the same time; lucky their voices echoed so much in the stone corridor, for in the confused din, it was impossible for him to hear exactly what they were calling him. **

**He got the gist, however.**

"I wish I knew what they said," Moody smirked.

**"Let's see," he said, in his silkiest voice. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for Potter and Weasley. Now get inside, or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."**

"Zat's not fair!" said Fleur angrily, "What about Malfoy? 'E was ze one who started eet and 'e didn't get anyzing."

"Because he's a prejudice git," Bill offered helpfully. "He hated Harry's father and now hates him because of that."

"Well, zat's ridiculous!" she snapped.

"I couldn't agree with you more," Sirius snarled, curling his fingers into fists. "If he was any kind of real man, he'd at least have the guts to take his hatred on me instead of a kid."

**Harry's ears were ringing. The injustice of it made him want to curse Snape into a thousand slimy pieces. He passed Snape, walked with Ron to the back of the dungeon, and slammed his bag down onto the table. Ron was shaking with anger too - for a moment, it felt as though everything was back to normal between them, but then Ron turned and sat down with Dean and Seamus instead, leaving Harry alone at his table. **

"Of course not," Sirius grouched as he folded his arm. "That would be too easy! Heaven forbid that Harry ever have something go right for him!"

**On the other side of the dungeon, Malfoy turned his back on Snape and pressed his badge, smirking. POTTER STINKS flashed once more across the room. **

"Could they at least try to grow up?" Bill asked, getting angrier every second. "It's like a class of five-year-olds."

**Harry sat there staring at Snape as the lesson began, picturing horrific things happening to him… **

"Ahh, that sounds like a good pastime," Sirius smirked.

**If only he knew how to do the Cruciatus Curse… he'd have Snape flat on his back like that spider, jerking and twitching.**

"Harry no," Molly gasped.

"He didn't mean it Molly," Arthur explained to her. "He was just upset at how Snape treated Hermione. I'm sure that after this year, he had grown even more protective of her than before. And anyway he wouldn't be able to do it he would have to actually mean it to want to cause Severus pain he wouldn't do that no matter how angry he was…"

Albus nodded in complete agreement. People say things they don't mean when they're angry. Harry was only human after all.

**"Antidotes!" said Snape, looking around at them all, his cold black eyes glittering unpleasantly. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting someone on whom to test one…"**

"Is that a fact?" muttered Tonks sarcastically. "Jeez, I wonder who he'll pick."

"Potter better hope that he studied," Moody responded with a grin.

**Snape's eyes met Harry's, and Harry knew what was coming. Snape was going to poison him. **

"You better not Snape if you value all your teeth," Sirius hissed threateningly.

**Harry imagined picking up his cauldron, and sprinting to the front of the class, and bringing it down on Snape's greasy head - **

Everyone was laughing at the image, especially after hearing how he treated Hermione.

"That's a good one!" said Sirius, his eyes lighting up. "Why didn't I think of that before? Something to think about when he next shows his ugly mug around here."

**And then a knock on the dungeon door burst in on Harry's thoughts.**

**It was Colin Creevey; he edged into the room, beaming at Harry, and walked up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.**

**"Yes?" said Snape curtly.**

**"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs." Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin, whose smile faded from his eager face.**

"Oh, now what?" Bill asked exasperated.

"Ze Weighing of ze Wands," Fleur explained. "Eet wasn't 'ard. Just checking our wands."

"Excellent," Sirius said brightening up. "So it looks like Snape'll need to find another victim."

**"Potter has another hour of Potions to complete," said Snape coldly. "He will come upstairs when this class is finished."**

"Snape is very lucky that he didn't poison Harry," Sirius said in a low voice. "Had he, he would be lying in a deep hole in the ground after I got through with him."

"While I doubt that he would've let Harry die," Remus said, "I think that this was perfect timing."

**Colin went pink.**

**"Sir - sir, Mr. Bagman wants him," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs…"**

**Harry would have given anything he owned to have stopped Colin saying those last few words. He chanced half a glance at Ron, but Ron was staring determinedly at the ceiling.**

Everyone shook their heads at Ron's behavior.

"That won't have helped with Ron," Arthur said sadly.

"Oh, why can't they all just grow up already?" Sirius cried out annoyed.

**"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."**

**"Please, sir - he's got to take his things with him," squeaked Colin. "All the champions…"**

**"Very well!" said Snape. "Potter - take your bag and get out of my sight!"**

"What a 'orrid man!" Fleur gasped, startled that anyone could act so terrible.

"Actually, I think that was pretty polite for Snape's usual standards," Tonks explained in a surprised tone. "Normally he would take twenty points from Gryffindor just because Colin interrupted the lesson and then poison them both."

Mad-Eye raised his eyebrows. Nothing normally fazes the Creevey brothers, but here it shows that Snape can even affect their enthusiasm. Potter may be embarrassed to death, but at least he's not poisoned to death. That was a lucky coincidence that the photo session prevented Snape from trying it, wasn't it? He smirked… coincidence… that almost made him laugh.

**Harry swung his bag over his shoulder, got up, and headed for the door. As he walked through the Slytherin desks, POTTER STINKS flashed at him from every direction.**

**"It's amazing, isn't it, Harry?" said Colin, starting to speak the moment Harry had closed the dungeon door behind him. "Isn't it, though? You being champion?"**

"I'm sure that he thinks it's amazing," Kingsley said sardonically.

**"Yeah, really amazing," said Harry heavily as they set off toward the steps into the entrance hall. "What do they want photos for, Colin?"**

**"The _Daily Prophet_, I think!"**

They all groaned—remembering, as if from another life, that stupid article.

**"Great," said Harry dully. "Exactly what I need. More publicity."**

**"Good luck!" said Colin when they had reached the right room. Harry knocked on the door and entered.**

**He was in a fairly small classroom; most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle; three of them, however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet. Five chairs had been set behind the velvet-covered desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, talking to a witch Harry had never seen before, who was wearing magenta robes.**

"So Skeeter's there too?" Sirius asked coldly.

Albus sighed. He had known that a reporter was going to be there, but he didn't know that it would've been Skeeter. Had he, he would've done something about it.

**Viktor Krum was standing moodily in a corner as usual and not talking to anybody. Cedric and Fleur were in conversation. Fleur looked a good deal happier than Harry had seen her so far; she kept throwing back her head so that her long silvery hair caught the light. **

"Flirting are we Fleur?" Tonks teased her.

"Just talking," she smiled back happily. Bill wasn't so sure why… but he couldn't help but feel slightly relieved at that.

**A paunchy man, holding a large black camera that was smoking slightly, was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye.**

Bill glared at the book; for some reason he felt the urge to hunt this guy down and gut him like a fish.

**Bagman suddenly spotted Harry, got up quickly, and bounded forward.**

**"Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, Harry, in you come… nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -"**

**"Wand weighing?" Harry repeated nervously.**

"Nothing to be nervous about," Kingsley said deeply. "Just making sure that the wands are in working order."

"And a few photos for the newspaper," Sirius grumbled under his breath.

**"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo-shoot. This is Rita Skeeter," he added, gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes. "She's doing a small piece on the Tournament for the Daily Prophet…"**

"Oh, I can assure you that it was anything _but_ small," said Arthur. "It turned out to be a big piece on Harry's life story and most of it was rubbish anyway."

"Oh, joy," said Tonks sarcastically, "I bet that after this Harry wished he stayed in potions and was poisoned."

**"Maybe not that small, Ludo," said Rita Skeeter, her eyes on Harry.**

"And it seems that she has found another victim," Moody said coolly.

**Her hair was set in elaborate and curiously rigid curls that contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face. She wore jewelled spectacles. The thick fingers clutching her crocodile-skin handbag ended in two-inch nails, painted crimson.**

"She sure isn't a normal woman is she?" Sirius asked in disgust.

"Well, I can't think of any normal person who walks around in public and thinks it looks good," Tonks said. She then shrugged and went on, "Then again, I could mention a few people who dress a lot weirder than that."

"Like you're one to talk," Kingsley laughed at her short orange hair.

Tonks laughed happily and said, "I can't help it. I don't like staying one way after a long time. At least you can't say that I'm boring!"

"True," Remus smiled softly as he looked at her golden-brown eyes. He never met a girl quite like this one.

**"I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry before we start?" she said to Bagman, but still gazing fixedly at Harry. "The youngest champion, you know… to add a bit of color?"**

"Please, say no," Sirius begged, though he knew that it was a little late for that.

**"Certainly!" cried Bagman. "That is - if Harry has no objection?"**

**"Er -" said Harry.**

"Couldn't we just count that as an objection?" Bill asked, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.

**"Lovely," said Rita Skeeter, and in a second, her scarlet-taloned fingers had Harry's upper arm in a surprisingly strong grip, and she was steering him out of the room again and opening a nearby door.**

"Hey, I didn't hear him say that he agreed to this!" Molly said.

"That doesn't matter to Rita," Moody reminded her.

**"We don't want to be in there with all that noise," she said. "Let's see… ah, yes, this is nice and cozy."**

**It was a broom cupboard. **

**Harry stared at her.**

"I don't blame you," Sirius hissed. Where was Dumbledore? He's never around when you need him!

**"Come along, dear - that's right - lovely," said Rita Skeeter again, perching herself precariously upon an upturned bucket, pushing Harry down onto a cardboard box, and closing the door, throwing them into darkness. "Let's see now…"**

**She unsnapped her crocodile-skin handbag and pulled out a handful of candles, which she lit with a wave of her wand and magicked into midair, so that they could see what they were doing.**

**"You won't mind, Harry, if I use a Quick-Quotes Quill? It leaves me free to talk to you normally…"**

"What's a Quick-Quotes Quill?" Molly asked, looking at the others curiously.

"It's usually used for interviews to just write notes," Kingsley explained. "However, the quill doesn't record verbatim what the subject says. Rather it takes a subject's words and creates sensational and inaccurate tales that bear little resemblance to actual events. It is capable of writing on its own when dictated to, although what is written is often highly blown up."

"It's rather skilled with insults as well," Bill said; he was still sore to what Rita wrote about him being _'a long-haired pillock.'_

**"A what?" said Harry.**

**Rita Skeeter's smile widened. Harry counted three gold teeth. She reached again into her crocodile bag and drew out a long acid-green quill and a roll of parchment, which she stretched out between them on a crate of Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover. She put the tip of the green quill into her mouth, sucked it for a moment with apparent relish, then placed it upright on the parchment, where it stood balanced on its point, quivering slightly.**

**"Testing… my name is Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter."**

**Harry hooked down quickly at the quill. The moment Rita Skeeter had spoken, the green quill had started to scribble, skidding across the parchment:**

**_Attractive blonde Rita Skeeter, forty-three, who's savage quill has punctured many inflated reputations –_**

"Now you know that quill is bad news," Moody said. But he frowned suddenly. He just remembered that Rita hadn't written anything for almost a year now… wonder why that was…?

**"Lovely," said Rita Skeeter, yet again, and she ripped the top piece of parchment off, crumpled it up, and stuffed it into her handbag. Now she leaned toward Harry and said, "So, Harry… what made you decide to enter the Triwizard Tournament?"**

"If you'd listened to Dumbledore, he's probably already told you that Harry didn't enter himself!" said Sirius, through clenched teeth. "It's not their faults that you're all thick-headed."

**"Er -" said Harry again, but he was distracted by the quill. Even though he wasn't speaking, it was dashing across the parchment, and in its wake he could make out a fresh sentence:**

**_An ugly scar, souvenir of a tragic past, disfigures the otherwise charming face of Harry Potter, whose eyes –_**

"He hasn't even said anything yet and it's already off to a bad start," Remus sighed.

**"Ignore the quill, Harry," said Rita Skeeter firmly.**

"Kinda hard to do that when it's insulting you," Bill pointed out.

**Reluctantly Harry looked up at her instead. "Now — why did you decide to enter the tournament, Harry?"**

"But he didn't enter!" Sirius cried out as he threw his hands up in exasperation.

"No one believes that, Sirius," Remus reminded him.

**"I didn't," said Harry. "I don't know how my name got into the Goblet of Fire. I didn't put it in there."**

"Hopefully she'll get it through her thick head now," Tonks said angrily.

"Knowing Rita, no chance," Moody muttered.

**Rita Skeeter raised one heavily pencilled eyebrow.**

**"Come now, Harry, there's no need to be scared of getting into trouble. We all know you shouldn't really have entered at all. But don't worry about that. Our readers love a rebel."**

**"But I didn't enter," Harry repeated. "I don't know who –"**

**"How do you feel about the tasks ahead?" said Rita Skeeter. "Excited? Nervous?"**

"She's not even letting him answer," Arthur said, feeling close to losing it. What was with this woman?

**"I haven't really thought… yeah, nervous, I suppose," said Harry. His insides squirmed uncomfortably as he spoke.**

**"Champions have died in the past, haven't they?" said Rita Skeeter briskly. "Have you thought about that at all?"**

"She ees 'orrible," Fleur said icily thinking of Cedric.

"How can you forget something like that?" Sirius demanded, his short fuse temper growing ever shorter with every word. "The whole reason the Tournament was cancelled in the first place was because the death toll became too high!"

**"Well… they say it's going to be a lot safer this year," said Harry.**

"It would've been if they had expected a lowlife Death Eater to show up," Mad-Eye said darkly.

"Moody," Bill warned as he noticed Fleur pale face.

**The quill whizzed across the parchment between them, back and forward as though it were skating.**

**"Of course, you've looked death in the face before, haven't you?" said Rita Skeeter, watching him closely. "How would you say that's affected you?"**

"What a question to ask a kid!" stormed Sirius furiously.

"As if he needs reminding of something like that when he's already nervous enough with this competition going on!" agreed Molly angrily.

Arthur on the other hand was smiling slightly. It was funny how the two of them sounded alike during a predicament like this.

**"Er," said Harry, yet again.**

**"Do you think that the trauma in your past might have made you keen to prove yourself? To live up to your name? **

"Well, he's already done that without your newspaper article or this Tournament!" said Sirius proudly.

**Do you think that perhaps you were tempted to enter the Triwizard Tournament because - "**

**"I didn't enter," said Harry, starting to feel irritated.**

"I don't blame you, Harry," Albus said softly, knowing that you're trying to tell everyone you didn't do something, only for no one to listen.

**"Can you remember your parents at all?" said Rita Skeeter, talking over him.**

**"No," said Harry.**

Sirius felt as if he had been slapped. While he knew that before—hearing it said out loud like this was like a needle in the heart.

"What's zat got to do wiz anyzing?" Fleur demanded.

Molly's face was now so red, it looked as though she was about to explode. "You can't get anymore insensitive than that!"

"That does it," Sirius growled. "She's dead! Where does she live?"

"Ok," Remus said soothingly. "Just relax… Rita hasn't written anything at all for a while now, Sirius, maybe she's seen the error of her ways and…"

Moody snorted. "I highly doubt that. She's not the type of person to give up unless she had no other choice. Wonder what happened?"

**"How do you think they'd feel if they knew you were competing in the Triwizard Tournament? Proud? Worried? Angry?"**

"He just said that he doesn't remember them didn't he?" snapped Sirius. "If that's the case, then how is he supposed to know?!"

"They would be worried sick about him, angry at who put his name in and proud of him but not because of the Tournament," Remus said at once. "Especially Lily… she would want to kill the person who put his name into that goblet."

Sirius nodded firmly at his side.

**Harry was feeling really annoyed now. How on earth was he to know how his parents would feel if they were alive? He could feel Rita Skeeter watching him very intently. Frowning, he avoided her gaze and looked down at words the quill had just written:**

**_Tears fill those startlingly green eyes as our conversation turns to the parents he can barely remember._**

"Ok, now it's just making things up!" Tonks said. "And it's a quill! How can it tell if he's crying if he was?"

"Just what everyone wants to have written about them in a newspaper," Bill said shaking his head in sympathy. "Especially a teenage boy."

**"I have NOT got tears in my eyes!" said Harry loudly.**

**Before Rita Skeeter could say a word, the door of the broom cupboard was pulled open. Harry looked around, blinking in the bright light. Albus Dumbledore stood there, looking down at both of them, squashed into the cupboard.**

"Finally," said Arthur in relief.

_'Glad that I stepped in,'_ Albus thought.

"At least she didn't get a full interview," Kingsley said on a brighter note.

"Though I doubt that will stop her from writing some ridiculous story though," pointed out Mad-Eye. "Which she still ended up doing in the end."

"Thanks for that, Mad-Eye," Sirius grumbled.

**"Dumbledore!" cried Rita Skeeter, with every appearance of delight - but Harry noticed that her quill and the parchment had suddenly vanished from the box of Magical Mess Remover, and Rita's clawed fingers were hastily snapping shut the clasp of her crocodile-skin bag. **

"Ees zat quill illegal?" Fleur asked startled.

"No, however no one uses them because they're so unreliable," Kingsley explained. "I mean, if the quill is known for writing lies, I'm not going to take it seriously."

"To bad people don't pay attention to little things like that and believe whatever they read in the paper," Remus admitted mournfully.

"Would save us a lot of trouble," Mad-Eye agreed.

**"How are you?" she said, standing up and holding out one of her large, mannish hands to Dumbledore. "I hope you saw my piece over the summer about the International Confederation of Wizards' Conference?"**

**"Enchantingly nasty," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "I particularly enjoyed your description of me as an obsolete dingbat."**

Everyone laughed at that.

"Certainly not the worst thing I've ever been called," Dumbledore whispered smiling.

**Rita Skeeter didn't look remotely abashed.**

"Of course not," Sirius said. "It made good reading."

**"I was just making the point that some of your ideas are a little old-fashioned, Dumbledore, and that many wizards in the street -"**

_'They can say whatever they want about me,'_ Albus thought. He'd just laughed that off. He was too old to let things like that bother him.

**"I will be delighted to hear the reasoning behind the rudeness, Rita," said Dumbledore, with a courteous bow and a smile, "but I'm afraid we will have to discuss the matter later. The Weighing of the Wands is about to start, and it cannot take place if one of our champions is hidden in a broom cupboard."**

**Very glad to get away from Rita Skeeter, **

"Really don't blame you," Bill sympathetically.

**Harry hurried back into the room. The other champions were now sitting in chairs near the door, and he sat down quickly next to Cedric, hooking up at the velvet-covered table, where four of the five judges were now sitting - Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr. Crouch, and Ludo Bagman. Rita Skeeter settled herself down in a corner; Harry saw her slip the parchment out of her bag again, spread it on her knee, suck the end of the Quick-Quotes Quill, and place it once more on the parchment.**

**"May I introduce Mr. Ollivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judges' table and talking to the champions. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."**

"Thought it would be him," Remus commented to no one in particular.

**Harry hooked around, and with a jolt of surprise saw an old wizard with large, pale eyes standing quietly by the window. Harry had met Mr. Ollivander before - he was the wand-maker from whom Harry had bought his own wand over three years ago in Diagon Alley.**

"'E made me jump too," Fleur nodded. She personally thought that he was a bit creepy the way that he just appeared out of nowhere like that.

**"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" said Mr. Ollivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room.**

**Fleur Delacour swept over to Mr. Ollivander and handed him her wand.**

**"Hmm…" he said.**

**He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it chose to his eyes and examined it carefully.**

**"Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches… inflexible… rosewood… and containing… dear me…"**

**"An 'air from ze 'ead of a Veela," said Fleur. **

"I didn't know you could use Veela hair," Arthur said interested.

"You can use any magical creature's 'air," Fleur said. "Zough, Veela 'air is rare."

**"One of my grandmuzzer's."**

Fleur nodded proudly.

**So Fleur was part Veela, thought Harry, making a mental note to tell Ron… then he remembered that Ron wasn't speaking to him.**

"That's not good," Bill said, a hint of a smile on his face. "If he doesn't know that, then Ron could up making an absolute fool of himself because he didn't know you were a Veela."

Fleur smiled. Ah yes, she remembered that he did do something like that right before the Yule Ball.

"Oh, I hope so," Sirius whispered so softly only Remus heard him.

**"Yes," said Mr. Ollivander, "yes, I've never used Veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands… however, to each his own, and if this suits you…"**

"Eet does," she said pulling out her wand right then and looking at it warmly.

**Mr. Ollivander ran his fingers along the wand, apparently checking for scratches or bumps; then he muttered, "_Orchideous_!" and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip.**

**"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," said Mr. Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur with her wand. **

"What a gentleman," Fleur giggled. Bill looked at her from the corner of his eye and made a mental note.

**"Mr. Diggory, you next." Fleur glided back to her seat, smiling at Cedric as he passed her.**

**"Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" said Mr. Ollivander, with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric handed over his wand. **

"Well, he'd know, as he somehow remembers every wand he's ever sold," Arthur declared.

"Amazing memory," Kingsley said enviously.

**"Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn… must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches… ash… pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition… You treat it regularly?"**

**"Polished it last night," said Cedric, grinning.**

"At least he knows how to treat it right," Molly said.

**Harry hooked down at his own wand. He could see finger marks all over it. **

**He gathered a fistful of robe from his knee and tried to rub it clean surreptitiously. Several gold sparks shot out of the end of it. Fleur Delacour gave him a very patronizing look, and he desisted.**

"HEY!" stormed Sirius, looking at Fleur, "Just because he's younger than you, doesn't mean that you have to give him hard time."

Fleur sighed; she hadn't realized how cold she had been to Harry before the Second Task.

"You're right," she said regretfully. "I would never been able to get zrough some of ze zings 'e 'as! But like I said, I 'ardly knew 'im."

**Mr. Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wand, pronounced himself satisfied, and then said, "Mr. Krum, if you please."**

**Viktor Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered and duck-footed, toward Mr. Ollivander. He thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.**

**"Hmm," said Mr. Ollivander, "this is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I… however…"**

"Gregorovitch," said Remus thinking for a moment, "You know… that name sounds familiar."

Sirius looked pensive for a minute before nodding, "Yeah, that old foreign wandmaker. I've heard a few rumors about him. Heck, I remember that my parents wanted to go all the way up there for me to get my wand."

"Why?" Molly asked in surprise. "Is he…?"

"Nah," Sirius said waving his hand. "I don't think that he's interested in Dark Arts. But I remember hearing dad tell us that years ago there was a rumor that Gregorovitch got a hold of the Elder wand and was making copies."

"The Elder Wand?" Tonks repeated. "What, from you mean the wand from the Tale of the Three Brothers? That wand?"

"The very same," Sirius answered lightly.

"Padfoot the Elder wand is just a legend," Remus chuckled. "No one could really take that rumor seriously. I think that Gregorovitch started it to help improve business."

Out in the hall, Albus was trying to hide his discomfort as he felt the very wand they were talking about in his pocket.

"Yes," Arthur said. "It's just a tale for children though. I doubt that particular wand exists, although there are probably wands made of elder out there, I doubt any of them are the Unbeatable Wand from the story."

"An unbeatable wand," Sirius sighed dreamy at the idea of possessing it. "Think of the possibilities… I'd crush Voldemort until there was nothing but dust left… and then I'd move onto Snape…" Albus was glad that Tonks continued before Sirius dwelled too much on the idea.

**He lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes.**

**"Yes… hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he shot at Krum, who nodded.**

**"Rather thicker than one usually sees… quite rigid… ten and a quarter inches… _Avis_!"**

**The hornbeam wand let off a blast hike a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight.**

"I think that he's just showing off now," Tonks giggled.

**"Good," said Mr. Ollivander, handing Krum back his wand. "Which leaves … Mr. Potter."**

**Harry got to his feet and walked past Krum to Mr. Ollivander. He handed over his wand.**

**"Aaaah, yes," said Mr. Ollivander, his pale eyes suddenly gleaming. "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember."**

**Harry could remember too. He could remember it as though it had happened yesterday…**

"What 'appened?" Fleur asked.

"Well, Fleur," Arthur explained and she looked up at him curiously. "The truth is… Harry and Voldemort's wands are… brothers. Their phoenix feather core came from the same phoenix. That was how Harry escaped from him last June."

"And that is the textbook definition of irony," Sirius said.

"Please say he doesn't talk about the connection Harry's wand has to Voldemort," Molly said.

"No, 'e doesn't," Fleur answered, but she was looking stunned. She had no idea… what were the odds of two enemies having twin wands?

**Four summers ago, on his eleventh birthday, he had entered Mr. Ollivander's shop with Hagrid to buy a wand. Mr. Ollivander had taken his measurements and then started handing him wands to try. Harry had waved what felt like every wand in the shop, until at last he had found the one that suited him - this one, which was made of holly, eleven inches long, and contained a single feather from the tail of a phoenix. Mr. Ollivander had been very surprised that Harry had been so compatible with this wand. "Curious," he had said, "curious," and not until Harry asked what was curious had** **Ollivander explained that the phoenix feather in Harry's wand had come from the same bird that had supplied the core of Lord Voldemort's.**

"Phoenix feathers are also one of the most powerful wand cores," Bill said thoughtfully.

"Wow," Fleur said in amazement. Everyone else shivers at that despite the fact that they have heard it before.

"That really is a horrible thought," said Molly, shuddering.

"There's nothing wrong with Harry's wand, just as there's nothing wrong with Harry," said Remus firmly.

**Harry had never shared this piece of information with anybody. He was very fond of his wand, and as far as he was concerned its relation to Voldemort's wand was something it couldn't help - rather as he couldn't help being related to Aunt Petunia. **

"That is an excellent point," Sirius said annoyed again. "After meeting Harry, you'd never guess that he's related to filth like the Dursleys."

**However, he really hoped that Mr. Ollivander wasn't about to tell the room about it. He had a funny feeling Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill might just explode with excitement if he did.**

**Mr. Ollivander spent much longer examining Harry's wand than anyone else's.  
Eventually, however, he made a fountain of wine shoot out of it, and handed it back to Harry, announcing that it was still in perfect condition.**

"Well, that's one less thing to worry about," Arthur said.

**"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges' table. "You may go back to your lessons now - or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end-"**

"Something good at last," Sirius smirked. "He doesn't have to go back to Snape and Potions. Wonder who the old bat had to poison instead?"

**Feeling that at last something had gone right today, Harry got up to leave, but the man with the black camera jumped up and cleared his throat.**

**"Photos, Dumbledore, photos!" cried Bagman excitedly. "All the judges and champions, what do you think, Rita?"**

"Who cares about what she thinks?" said Bill in disgust.

**"Er - yes, let's do those first," said Rita Skeeter, whose eyes were upon Harry again. "And then perhaps some individual shots."**

**The photographs took a long time. Madame Maxime cast everyone else into shadow wherever she stood, and the photographer couldn't stand far enough back to get her into the frame; eventually she had to sit while everyone else stood around her. Karkaroff kept twirling his goatee around his finger to give it an extra curl;**

They all rolled their eyes.

**Krum, whom Harry would have thought would have been used to this sort of thing, skulked, half-hidden, at the back of the group.**

"Viktor 'ates photos," Fleur said. "'E plays for ze game, not for ze fame."

"Well, my opinion of him just jumped up," Sirius said sounding a little happier. "He sounds like a decent bloke."

"'E's really very shy most of the time," Fleur smile. "So 'e doesn't like talking unless 'e 'as somezing to say."

"Who knew that a world famous Quidditch star gets stage fright," Tonks laughed.

**The photographer seemed keenest to get Fleur at the front, but Rita Skeeter kept hurrying forward and dragging Harry into greater prominence. **

"Can't they just make up their mind?" Molly asked annoyed.

Albus nodded. He felt so bad for the champions… they were being treated like some prize show dogs.

**Then she insisted on separate shots of all the champions. At last, they were free to go. **

**Harry went down to dinner. Hermione wasn't there - he supposed she was still in the hospital wing having her teeth fixed. He ate alone at the end of the table, then returned to Gryffindor Tower, thinking of all the extra work on Summoning Charms that he had to do. Up in the dormitory, he came across Ron.**

Sirius narrowed his eyes; wondering what was going to happen this time.

"Oh, I hope they don't fight," moaned Molly sadly.

"I hope they do," muttered Sirius, but he said this almost silently. "Someone needs to knock some sense back into Ron's thick head."

"Ron'll come round," said Remus optimistically. "They just need a little time on their own."

"Once they cool down," Arthur added hopefully.

**"You've had an owl," said Ron brusquely the moment he walked in. He was pointing at Harry's pillow. The school barn owl was waiting for him there.**

"Well, at least they hadn't broken into a fight yet," Bill pointed out.

"Not yet," Moody added lightly.

**"Oh - right," said Harry.**

**"And we've got to do our detentions tomorrow night, Snape's dungeon," said Ron. He then walked straight out of the room, not looking at Harry. For a moment, Harry considered going after him - he wasn't sure whether he wanted to talk to him or hit him,**

"I'd just hit him and get it over with," Sirius suggested.

"Not everything can be solved with violence, Sirius," Kingsley said quietly. "I'm sure that if they just cooled down and talked, they could work this out."

"You make it sound so easy," Sirius groaned. No, once a friendship like this was broken, it's going to take nothing short of a miracle to make up.

**both seemed quite appealing - but the lure of Sirius's answer was too strong. Harry strode over to the barn owl, took the letter off its leg, and unrolled it.**

Sirius looked up, knowing that this letter was from him.

**_Harry -_**

**_I can't say everything I would like to in a letter, it's too risky in case the owl is intercepted - we need to talk face-to-face. Can you ensure that you are alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November?_**

"Sirius you aren't really thinking about breaking into the school again," Molly gasped. "We all know how badly that went before."

"I used the Floo," he answered as if that justified his past actions. They all shook their heads in amazement.

"You really are mad aren't you?" Tonks asked him conversationally.

He grinned back. "Call me whatever you want. But I had to see him with my own eyes."

"I still think that trying to contact Harry via Floo isn't the smartest idea," said Remus. "I'm sure that you could've…"

"I could've," Sirius said, breaking him off. "But I want to make sure he was safe."

Remus shook his head half exasperated, and half fondly. Sirius was definitely one man in a million.

**_I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself and while you're around Dumbledore and Moody I don't think anyone will be able to hurt you. _**

The grin immediately vanished, knowing full well that wasn't true in the slightest.

**_However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very risky, especially right under Dumbledore's nose._**

"And yet he did," Sirius said bitterly.

**_Be on the watch, Harry. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd of November as quickly as you can._**

**_Sirius_**

"And that's it!" Tonks said throwing the book back onto the table. "Getting epic huh? And we aren't even halfway through the book yet!"

"How much longer should we keep reading?" Arthur asked.

Kingsley chucked his watch. "It's past noon. I have to head back to the office soon anyway, so how about one or two more chapters and then we call it a night?"

"Fine by me," Sirius said stretching out on the couch. "But who's reading next?"

Remus sighed as he took the book from the table. "I guess I will. **Chapter 19: The Hungarian Horntail.**"

**(Sorry for the wait. But I'm in school, and I've got three reports that I need to do by next week as well as the final to take. So you're all going to have to make do with this chapter until I'm done. Hope you enjoyed it.)**


	23. The Hungarian Horntail

**(Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling! I own nothing)**

**Chapter 22: The Hungarian Horntail**

Remus sighed as he took the book from the table. "I guess I will. **Chapter 19: The Hungarian Horntail.**"

He stared at the picture of the four tethered dragons, and it only confirmed his fears.

"That's the dragon he faced in the First Task," Bill said at once, remembering what Charlie had told him.

"Thanks for pointing that out for us," Tonks answered sarcastically, "We honestly had no idea."

"That's just brilliant," Sirius groaned. First Rita and now dragons… this story just keeps getting better and better.

Fleur looked slightly pale at the reminder and Sirius and Molly were white. While they both knew he was fine, they didn't want to hear about him dealing with an angry dragon.

"But Harry's ok," said Sirius, more to comfort himself than the others. "We all know that. Is this the first task?"

"Maybe," Remus said slowly and he just bravely went on.

**The prospect of talking face-to-face with Sirius was all that sustained Harry over the next fortnight, the only bright spot on a horizon that had never looked darker.**

"Doesn't that make you feel all good inside, Sirius?" Tonks giggled and Sirius flushed, but inwardly he was delighted to hear that his godson thought of him like this.

**The shock of finding himself school champion had worn off slightly now, and the fear of what was facing him had started to sink in. **

Sirius bit his lower lip. Harry definitely knew about the dragons by that night in the common room. He had told him about them after all; so he must've somehow found out about them around this time.

"I'm afraid that's how the task works," Remus said worriedly. "To test the wizards daring and courage, they're not just going to tell them what it is that they have to do."

Fleur was very careful to avoid everyone's eyes as focused only on the cover of the book. She knew that she wasn't going to like hearing about this…

**The first task was drawing steadily nearer; he felt as though it were crouching ahead of him like some horrific monster, barring his path. He had never suffered nerves like these; they were way beyond anything he had experienced before a Quidditch match,**

"Well," commented Fleur reasonably. "Zat's probably because in Quidditch you aren't risking your life."

"Clearly you need to read about the Quidditch matches that he plays in," muttered Mad-Eye with a smirk. "He somehow finds even little things a risk to his life."

Fleur looked skeptical at this but Bill just chuckled. "It's nothing," he assured her. "All Quidditch games are dangerous after all."

Fleur looked satisfied, and Remus read on.

**not even his last one against Slytherin, which had decided who would win the Quidditch Cup. **

"Which Gryffindor crushed them in a humiliating defeat thanks to him," muttered Sirius proudly.

**Harry was finding it hard to think about the future at all; he felt as though his whole life had been heading up to, and would finish with, the first task.**

"Well, he's being just a little dramatic," said Tonks airily.

"He had to get past a dragon_," _Molly said biting her lip. "Of course he would be afraid!"

"Well, Charlie and the other Dragon Tamers were there as well," Arthur reminded her soothingly. "They're there to make sure that they're safe."

Fleur didn't say anything, but knew better than that—after what happened to Cedric.

**Admittedly, he didn't see how Sirius was going to make him feel any better about having to perform an unknown piece of difficult and dangerous magic in front of hundreds of people, but the mere sight of a friendly face would be something at the moment. **

Tonks looked over at him and smiled. "Well, I don't know about friendly…" she said slowly and he shoved her shoulder.

"Careful," he warned her lightly. He ran a tired hand over his thin face; oh, how he wished that he could go back to the way he looked before Azkaban.

**Harry wrote back to Sirius saying that he would be beside the common room fire at the time Sirius had suggested; and he and Hermione spent a long time going over plans for forcing any stragglers out of the common room on the night in question. If the worst came to the worst, they were going to drop a bag of Dungbombs, but they hoped they wouldn't have to resort to that - Filch would skin them alive.**

"Oh, I'm sure that he would," Sirius smirked happily. Ah, that brought back so many happy memories of being threatened by Filch.

"Well, you went out of your way to drop Dungbombs whenever he was around, so I think that would've scarred him eventually," Remus reasoned with a smile.

"I made his life interesting!" Sirius said, mock outraged in his voice, and unable to hide the smile. "You think that he would be a little more grateful for that!"

**In the meantime, life became even worse for Harry within the confines of the castle, for Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly colored life story of Harry. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Harry; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Harry, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, **

Fleur pursed her lips. She remembered that article and how outraged she and her classmates had been.

"Can't that woman even try to get her facts right?" Bill asked rolling his eyes. "It wouldn't have been that difficult to go and ask them how to spell their names!"

**and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all.**

"I'm sure that he loved that," Tonks said dryly.

"I think that it had been his father who was upset instead of Cedric," Bill said, remembering meeting Cedric and Amos Diggory at school the day of Third Task.

"I think that the real problem would be with Ron," Kingsley said carefully, and they all looked at him, understanding in their faces.

"And I don't think that Harry would be thrilled about it either," said Arthur darkly. "He hates being made to be like this tragic hero, and that's what Rita has been going for."

**The article had appeared ten days ago, and Harry still got a sick, burning feeling of shame in his stomach every time he thought about it. Rita Skeeter had reported him saying an awful lot of things that he couldn't remember ever saying in his life, let alone in that broom cupboard.**

"Don't know why people read her," Mad-Eye said in disgust. "Only about five percent of it is actually true if that much."

"But the thing is," Kingsley reminded them. "That's the kind of thing that people would want to read. They rather read an exciting lie, than the boring truth."

"And no doubt people will want to hear some phony sob story about how their tragic hero has been forced to go through all sorts made-up hardships," said Sirius angrily. "Reporters are vultures… parasites."

"I'm almost afraid to read it," Remus said, but he bravely went on.

**_I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now… _**

"Well, I think that's a tiny bit of truth," Remus interrupted himself.

"Yeah," Sirius said slowly. "I can't argue with that, but that's his privacy, not something that everyone needs to know."

"No one's disagreeing with you," Tonks said calmly.

**_Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it… _**

"Yes, because every fourteen year old boy I know would admit that they cry every night," Sirius said mockingly. "Honestly, who would believe that?" he asked in disgust not noticing that Molly's cheeks went slightly red.

**_I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me…_**

"Oh, what a load of rubbish!" Sirius cried out. "I mean, I'm sure that they're proud of Harry, but come on! There is no teenage boy who would say something this… sappy!"

"But I'm sure that people loved that one line," Moody grunted in amusement.

"This is humiliating," Bill said shaking his head.

**But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than transforming his "er's" into long, sickly sentences: She had interviewed other people about him too.**

"So she's lying," Bill said simply.

"To bad no one will want to believe that," Albus whispered to himself, agreeing with Kingsley completely knowing that people want an exciting lie, than the truth.

**_Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school._**

"Well, he is," Remus said at once. "Maybe not in all his subjects, but he is also very talented. I saw that when I was there."

"Even if that's true, I don't think that Ron loved that," Bill said idly; he was sure that this wouldn't help his little brother want to make things right with Harry.

"This isn't going to be good," Tonks said.

**From the moment the article had appeared, Harry had had to endure people — Slytherins, ****mainly — quoting it at him as he passed and making sneering comments.**

They were all glaring at the book, knowing that it was just another example of unfairness.

**"Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"**

**"Since when have you been one of the top students in the school, Potter? Or is this a school you and Longbottom have set up together?"**

"Like they're ones to talk," Tonks snorted. "From what I've heard, the Slytherins all have the brains of trolls!"

"Besides, I've heard from Professor Sprout that Neville is a Herbology protégée," Remus said confidently. "I predict that he'll be doing some great things."

**"Hey - Harry!"**

**"Yeah, that's right!" Harry found himself shouting as he wheeled around in the corridor, having had just about enough. "I've just been crying my eyes out over my dead Mum, and I'm just off to do a bit more…"**

"Something tells me he just told off someone he didn't want to," Kingsley said raising his eyebrows. And sure enough…

**"No - it was just - you dropped your quill."**

**It was Cho. **

They all shook their heads in silent laughter.

"The poor guy," Bill said grinning. "He just can't catch a break."

"Of all the people," said Sirius his eyes behind his hand, which were starting to water up from laughter, "It's the one girl that he has a crush on he just told off. He has the worst luck imaginable!"

"You only _just_ realized that?" Mad-Eye asked.

**Harry felt the color rising in his face.**

**"Oh - right - sorry," he muttered, taking the quill back.**

**"Er… good luck on Tuesday," she said. "I really hope you do well."**

"Well, that was nice of her," Molly said smiling. "At least some people were on Harry's side."

"I think she likes him," Tonks smirked and wiggled her perfectly trimmed eyebrows.

**Which left Harry feeling extremely stupid.**

"I really don't blame him there," Sirius chortled. "But then again, James had done a lot stupider things whenever Lily was around, so he really shouldn't feel too bad. It could've been a lot worse. At least he wasn't trying to show off."

**Hermione had come in for her fair share of unpleasantness too, but she hadn't yet started yelling at innocent bystanders; in fact, Harry was full of admiration for the way she was handling the situation.**

**"_Stunningly pretty?_ _Her?_" Pansy Parkinson had shrieked the first time she had come face-to-face with Hermione after Rita's article had appeared. "What was she judging against - a chipmunk?"**

"Says the girl who looks like a pug," muttered Tonks in revulsion. "And Hermione is pretty!"

**"Ignore it," Hermione said in a dignified voice, holding her head in the air and stalking past the sniggering Slytherin girls as though she couldn't hear them. "Just ignore it, Harry."**

"Easier said zan done," Fleur said evenly.

**But Harry couldn't ignore it. Ron hadn't spoken to him at all since he had told him about Snape's detentions. Harry had half hoped they would make things up during the two hours they were forced to pickle rats' brains in Snape's dungeon, **

"That's got to be nothing short of torture," Sirius sighed. "I mean, just sitting in detention from Snape is bad… but to pickle brains in that crypt of his?"

"We never 'ad detentions like zat at Beauxbatons," Fleur said at once, and she made a face of the idea of handling rat's brains.

"Well, maybe Snape should take a few leafs from your book," Sirius told her commented.

**but that had been the day Rita's article had appeared, which seemed to have confirmed Ron's belief that Harry was really enjoying all the attention.**

"From what we've heard how can he possibly think he enjoyed it?" Sirius demanded harshly.

"Jealously," Kingsley answered simply. "You can't think clearly with it and believe things that you normally would."

"How in the name of Merlin can he believe that crap in the first place?" Sirius demanded coldly. "They've been best friends since they first met! Hasn't he realized yet that Harry hates all this? Now after his name comes out of the goblet, he turns against him and forgets everything he knows about his friend."

"Yes, but you can't deny that Harry does get all the attention, and you can't really blame Ron for being jealous," said Remus.

"But it's not his fault," Sirius snapped.

"We know, Sirius," Remus assured him. "Ron's just not thinking straight."

Albus firmly agreed where he stood in the dark hallway. Jealousy is a terrible curse… jealousy is a disease, love is a cure. The young mind often mistakes one for the other, but they are almost incompatible; one emotion hardly leaves room for the other.

**Hermione was furious with the pair of them; she went from one to the other, trying to force them to talk to each other, but Harry was adamant: He would talk to Ron again only if Ron admitted that Harry hadn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire and apologized for calling him a liar.**

"While I think that he should forget his pride this once and talk to Ron about it, I do think that he has a good point," Remus admitted. "They will need to get rid of all of the tension between them if they are to truly reconcile, otherwise there's always a chance it could happen again later."

"It's Ron's fault anyway," Sirius muttered. "He needs to be the one to man up and say that he was wrong."

**"I didn't start this," Harry said stubbornly. "It's his problem."**

**"You_ miss him_!" Hermione said impatiently. "And I _know_ he misses you -"**

**"_Miss him_?" said Harry. "I don't _miss him_…"**

"His lying hasn't gotten any better after all this time," Sirius said, using a tragic tone.

"I highly doubt that Hermione would ever believe that," Remus sighed, "After everything they've been through, it's only understandable that they would all miss being together."

"He's just trying to suck it up like all men do," Tonks confirmed and Fleur nodded firmly by her side. What was wrong with me showing their soft spots once in awhile?

**But this was a downright lie. Harry liked Hermione very much,** **but she just wasn't the same as Ron. **

**There was much less laughter and a lot more hanging around in the library when Hermione was your best friend. **

"Probably like having Remus for a best friend," Sirius said and he elbowed Remus in the side. Now, he knew how it felt… he cared about Moony greatly, he was his only remaining friend from school after all… but at the same time he was no James.

**Harry still hadn't mastered Summoning Charms, he seemed to have developed something of a block about them, and Hermione insisted that learning the theory would help. They consequently spent a lot of time poring over books during their lunchtimes.**

"What fun," Sirius said sarcastically.

"Some of us like reading, Sirius," Remus reminded him.

"Only those who don't know how to talk to girls," Sirius said to him with a grin and Remus pinched his arm painfully in retaliation.

**Viktor Krum was in the library an awful lot too, and Harry wondered what he was up to. Was he studying, or was he looking for things to help him through the first task? **

Moody shook his head doubtfully. Either Krum is a bookworm like Hermione, or… more likely… he's up to something. He can't be up to very much in a library, but he doesn't seem to be the bookworm type either. Great, another suspect to watch.

"I think it was to watch Hermione," Tonks smiled. "I remember reading about how Krum had a crush on Hermione."

"Yes," Molly said, still kicking herself for believing that Hermione had been playing with boys hearts.

"Oh, well that explains it," Moody said sounding sick. Albus shook his head fondly—knowing that talking about love had always been an awkward subject to someone like Alastor.

**Hermione often complained about Krum being there - not that he ever bothered them - but because groups of giggling girls often turned up to spy on him from behind bookshelves, and Hermione found the noise distracting.**

**"He's not even good-looking!" she muttered angrily, glaring at Krum's sharp profile. "They only like him because he's famous!**

"If she theenks zat zen why did she go to ze ball with 'im?" Fleur said confused.

"She went to the ball with him?" Remus asked surprised.

Fleur nodded with a smile. "Yes, I zought zat zey were such a cute couple."

"Yeah, but at this point, she doesn't know that he was watching her," Tonks laughed.

"So we have another stalker?" Sirius asked lightly.

"Sirius, be nice," Tonks scolded.

**They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that Wonky Faint thing -"**

"It's pronounced _Wronski Feint_," Sirius said his eyes twitching in annoyance. Really, how can someone so smart honestly not have a clue about the greatest sport ever created?

"Well, she never was a Quidditch fan," Molly reasoned.

"You think that she would've learned the names right from having two Quidditch heads for best friends," Tonks said calmly.

**"Wronski Feint," said Harry, through gritted teeth. Quite apart from liking to get Quidditch terms correct, it caused him another pang to imagine Ron's expression if he could have heard Hermione talking about Wonky-Faints.**

"I think that he would flip out," Arthur said wisely, knowing how seriously Ron took Quidditch.

**It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. The days until the first task seemed to slip by as though someone had fixed the clocks to work at double speed. Harry's feeling of barely controlled panic was with him wherever he went, as ever-present as the snide comments about the _Daily Prophet _article.**

"You know it's got to be bad," Mad-Eye grunted. "If you can still worry about something while listening to snide remarks about the lies about you in the paper."

"You should be used to that, Mad-Eye," Tonks said brightly. "You get that on a daily basis! Of course, whenever anyone would bother you, you usually put them in the hospital."

"Oh, so you want to be St. Mungo's next patient?" he threatened her and she smiled back brightly.

**On the Saturday before the first task, all students in the third year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade. Hermione told Harry that it would do him good to get away from the castle for a bit, and Harry didn't need much persuasion.**

**"What about Ron, though?" he said. "Don't you want to go with him?"**

_'I'm sure she does,'_ Albus thought, _'but she wants to be there with both of her best friends.'_

**"Oh… well…" Hermione went slightly pink. "I thought we might meet up with him in the Three Broomsticks…"**

"There's no way Harry will agree to that unless Ron apologizes," Bill predicted, shaking his head.

**"No," said Harry flatly.**

**"Oh Harry, this is so stupid -"**

**"I'll come, but I'm not meeting Ron, and I'm wearing my Invisibility Cloak."**

"I think that's for the best," Kingsley said sympathetically. "This way he can go into the village and not have to worry about people giving a hard time."

"Yeah, give him a break for a change," Sirius agreed.

**"Oh all right then…" Hermione snapped, "but I hate talking to you in that cloak, I never know if I'm looking at you or not."**

"I hear you, Hermione," Remus chuckled, remembering all the times that he would try to talk to James when he was underneath it. Sometime he would talk for awhile, only to realize that James had wondered off and he was talking to himself.

**So Harry put on his Invisibility Cloak in the dormitory, went back downstairs, and together he and Hermione set off for Hogsmeade.**

**Harry felt wonderfully free under the cloak; he watched other students walking past them as they entered the village, most of them sporting Support Cedric Diggory! badges, but no horrible remarks came his way for a change, and nobody was quoting that stupid article.**

"Then maybe he should just keep the cloak on him all the time," Bill offered.

**"People keep looking at me now," said Hermione grumpily as they came out of Honeydukes Sweetshop later, eating large cream-filled chocolates. "They think I'm talking to myself."**

"Or you can just say that you're just reciting your homework to yourself," Tonks offered helpfully.

**"Don't move your lips so much then."**

"That's nice," Molly rolled her eyes.

**"That's easy for you to say, you're in the cloak," Hermione huffed. ****"Come on, please just take off your cloak for a bit, no one's going to bother you here."**

**"Oh yeah?" said Harry. "Look behind you."**

**Rita Skeeter and her photographer friend had just emerged from the Three Broomsticks pub. **

"Yeah, I'd keep the cloak on to," Bill said at once.

**Talking in low voices, they passed right by Hermione without looking at her. Harry backed into the wall of Honeydukes to stop Rita Skeeter from hitting him with her crocodile-skin handbag. When they were gone, Harry said, "She's staying in the village. I bet she's coming to watch the first task."**

"In other words, see if she can get more dirt on Harry," Tonks interpreted.

"Well, I don't know how, but she sure did," Remus muttered frowning, recalling that article that has caused them so many problems.

**As he said it, his stomach flooded with a wave of molten panic. He didn't mention this; he and Hermione hadn't discussed what was coming in the first task much; he had the feeling ****she didn't want to think about it.**

"Of course she wouldn't," Molly said unhappily. "She must've been so worried about him. I'm sure that she must've been almost as worried about the First Task as Harry was."

"At least she didn't have to be the one to do it," Kingsley said.

**"She's gone," said Hermione, looking right through Harry toward the end of the street. "Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it? You don't have to talk to Ron!" she added irritably, correctly interpreting his silence.**

"Good, we don't want to hear about him right now," Sirius scowled under his breath.

Albus raised his head in interest. That was impressive… the fact that they were all so close and in tune with each other, that they could almost tell what the other was thinking… it was amazing.

**The Three Broomsticks was packed,** **mainly with Hogwarts students enjoying their free afternoon, but also with a variety of magical people Harry rarely saw anywhere else. Harry supposed that as Hogsmeade was the only all-wizard village in Britain, it was a bit of a haven for creatures like hags, who were not as adept as wizards at disguising themselves.**

**It was very hard to move through crowds in the Invisibility Cloak, in case you accidentally trod on someone, which tended to lead to awkward questions. Harry edged slowly toward a spare table in the corner while Hermione went to buy drinks. On his way through the pub, Harry spotted Ron, who was sitting with Fred, George, and Lee Jordan.**

**Resisting the urge to give Ron a good hard poke in the back of the head, he finally reached ****the table and sat down at it.**

"Why didn't he?" Sirius whispered to Remus under his breath. "I think that it would've done them both some good."

"Because Ron would know it was him," Remus reminded him. "The only other people who knew about his cloak were Dumbledore and Snape."

**Hermione joined him a moment later and slipped him a butterbeer under his cloak.**

**"I look like such an idiot, sitting here on my own," she muttered. "Lucky I brought something to do."**

**And she pulled out a notebook in which she had been keeping a record of S.P.E.W. members. **

"Well, it sounds like that list is growing," Sirius said sarcastically.

**Harry saw his and Ron's names at the top of the very short list.**

**It seemed a long time ago that they had sat making up those predictions together, and Hermione had turned up and appointed them secretary and treasurer.**

"Like I said," Sirius said pompously. "The name is everything! She should change it!"

"Don't give her such a hard time, Sirius," Molly told him firmly.

**"You know, maybe I should try and get some of the villagers involved in S.P.E.W.," Hermione said thoughtfully, looking around the pub.**

**"Yeah, right," said Harry. He took a swig of butterbeer under his cloak. "Hermione, when are you going to give up on this spew stuff?"**

"When the house-elves are free," Arthur explained. "And I don't think she's going to settle for anything less than that."

"Right," Moody said rolling his eye. "Good luck with that."

**"When house-elves have decent wages and working conditions!" she hissed back. "You know, I'm starting to think it's time for more direct action. I wonder how you get into the school kitchens?"**

"Find the painting with the bowl of fruit on it," Sirius began at once, but Fleur asked him.

"'Ow would you know zat?"

Remus smiled and explained to her, "Because he and James practically lived in there. They could never stop eating."

"I prefer to think that I appreciate good cooking," Sirius said, his mouth drooling at the thought of the house-elves cooking.

**"No idea, ask Fred and George," said Harry.**

"Of course, they _would_ know," Molly sighed exasperated.

"I'm so proud of them," Sirius said dotingly, a hand over his heart.

**Hermione lapsed into thoughtful silence, while Harry drank his butterbeer, watching the people in the pub. All of them looked cheerful and relaxed. Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot were swapping Chocolate Frog cards at a nearby table; both of them sporting _Support Cedric Diggory!_ badges on their cloaks.**

"And I thought that they got along with Harry," Molly said narrowing her eyes.

"Well, they are Hufflepuffs, they should be allowed to wear those badges," Bill pointed out to his mother.

"No, it shouldn't," Sirius grumbled.

Albus privately agreed that those badges only caused trouble for everyone—but at the same time, he could understand their feelings and loyalty to their House; he couldn't blame them for that.

**Right over by the door he saw Cho and a large group of her Ravenclaw friends. She wasn't ****wearing a Cedric badge though… this cheered up Harry very slightly.**

Most of the room laughed, Harry's behavior whenever Cho was around just seemed to make everything seem a little more light-hearted.

**What wouldn't he have given to be one of these people, sitting around laughing and talking, with nothing to worry about but homework? **

"I wish," Sirius sighed. However fate seemed to think strongly against this.

**He imagined how it would have felt to be here if his name hadn't come out of the Goblet of Fire. He wouldn't be wearing the Invisibility Cloak, for one thing. Ron would be sitting with him. The three of them would probably be happily imagining what deadly dangerous task the school champions would be facing on Tuesday. **

Fleur shuddered; the three tasks have been nothing but horrible experiences for her. While she was glad she had a chance to compete, she wished she never heard of the Triwizard Tournament.

**He'd have been really looking forward to it, watching them do whatever it was… cheering on Cedric with everyone else, safe in a seat at the back of the stands…**

**He wondered how the other champions were feeling. Every time he had seen Cedric lately, he had been surrounded by admirers and looking nervous but excited. Harry glimpsed Fleur Delacour from time to time in the corridors; she looked exactly as she always did, haughty and unruffled. **

Remus stopped for a moment and they all looked at her. She blushed again, and looked away. "I was seventeen," she said simply. "Eet's 'ow I dealt wiz pressure."

**And Krum just sat in the library, poring over books.**

The women smirked.

**Harry thought of Sirius and the tight, tense knot in his chest seemed to ease slightly. **

Sirius's grin was back at that one sentence, relieved that his godson was slowly starting to trust him more an more.

**He would be speaking to him in just over twelve hours, for tonight was the night they were meeting at the common room fire - assuming nothing went wrong, as everything else had done lately…**

**"Look, it's Hagrid!" said Hermione.**

**The back of Hagrid's enormous shaggy head - he had mercifully abandoned his bunches - emerged over the crowd. Harry wondered why he hadn't spotted him at once, as Hagrid was so large, but standing up carefully, he saw that Hagrid had been leaning low, talking to Professor Moody. Hagrid had his usual enormous tankard in front of him, but Moody was drinking from his hip flask. **

"Polyjuice Potion," Moody's eyes glared at the book, his magical eye was trembling with suppressed fury. He longed to grab that book and throw it into a bonfire so he wouldn't have to listen to this.

**Madam Rosmerta, the pretty landlady, didn't seem to think much of this; she was looking askance at Moody as she collected glasses from tables around them. Perhaps she thought it was an insult to her mulled mead, but Harry knew better. Moody had told them all during their last Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that he preferred to prepare his own food and drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards to poison an unattended cup.**

"And it's convenient to use when you're trying to impersonated me and have a good way to hide Polyjuice Potion," Moody growled.

"Now that' a pleasant though—it's easy to poison a drink," Tonks said happily. "Guess Snape isn't the only one Harry should be worried about—hope he paid attention to the antidote lesson and… Oh, wait he wasn't there for that part of the less was he?"

"Don't talk like that," Sirius said at once.

"I don't think that we need to be worrying about poisoning at Hogwarts," Remus told Sirius.

"Why not?" Moody grumbled. "It was easy for a Death Eater to hide there for almost a year. And look at everything else that's been happening there in the last few years? Who knows? There might be some poisoning next year if not this one."

"Thanks so much for that happy thought, Mad-Eye," Sirius said shaking his head. _'Note to self,' _he thought. _'Never go to Moody when you need reassurance.'_

**As Harry watched, he saw Hagrid and Moody get up to leave. He waved, then remembered that Hagrid couldn't see him.**

A few snorts of laughter rang around the room at that. It was so cute that it was funny…

**Moody, however, paused, his magical eye on the corner where Harry was standing. He ****tapped Hagrid in the small of the back (being unable to reach his shoulder), muttered something to him, and then the pair of them made their way back across the pub toward Harry and Hermione's table.**

"How on earth can that eye of yours see through the Cloak?" asked Molly bewildered.

"Just a few useful spells and the proper proportions," he grinned back as his magical eye spun around to look at them all in turn, including the door where Dumbledore hid behind, before it flipped up to look out the back of his head.

**"All right, Hermione?" said Hagrid loudly.**

"Nice Hagrid," Remus smiled.

"Subtlety never was one of his strong points," Arthur said warmheartedly.

**"Hello," said Hermione, smiling back.**

**Moody limped around the table and bent down; Harry thought he was reading the S.P.E.W. notebook, until he muttered, "Nice cloak, Potter."**

"Well, we all think so," Sirius said happily.

Albus smiled. They had no idea how special that cloak was…

**Harry stared at him in amazement. The large chunk missing from Moody's nose was particularly obvious at a few inches' distance. Moody grinned.**

**"Can your eye - I mean, can you -?"**

**"Yeah, it can see through Invisibility Cloaks," Moody said quietly. "And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you."**

**Hagrid was beaming down at Harry too. Harry knew Hagrid couldn't see him, but Moody had obviously told Hagrid he was there. Hagrid now bent down on the pretext of reading the S.P.E.W. notebook as well, and said in a whisper so low that only Harry could hear it, "Harry, meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear that cloak."**

"What's that about? Why would Hagrid want to meet him so late?" Molly asked startled.

Kingsley frowned and said, "That's never happened before. Normally, he's the one telling him _not_ to sneak out, but now here he is… but I do know that he wouldn't ask him to come out at night if it wasn't important."

Arthur thought it over before a look of realization came over his face. "He's going to show him the dragons," he whispered.

Fleur looked up in surprise. So she wasn't the only one who knew what was coming for the First Task. She had felt bad that she was the only one who had an advantage… but what about Viktor and Cedric?

"Isn't that cheating?" Tonks asked.

"Only if you get caught," Sirius grinned back.

**Straightening up, Hagrid said loudly, "Nice ter see yeh, Hermione," winked, and departed. Moody followed him.**

**"Why does Hagrid want me to meet him at midnight?" Harry said, very surprised.**

**"Does he?" said Hermione, looking startled. "I wonder what he's up to? I don't know whether you should go, Harry…" She looked nervously around and hissed, "It might make you late for Sirius."**

"Typical," Sirius moaned. "Of all nights…?"

"Did he make it to see you?" Arthur asked him.

"Well, yes but…"

"Then there's nothing you need to worry about," he answered smiling.

**It was true that going down to Hagrid's at midnight would mean cutting his meeting with ****Sirius very fine indeed; Hermione suggested sending Hedwig down to Hagrid's to tell him he couldn't go - always assuming she would consent to take the note, of course - Harry, however, thought it better just to be quick at whatever Hagrid wanted him for. He was very curious to know what this might be; Hagrid had never asked Harry to visit him so late at night.**

"And it's a good thing he did," Bill muttered. "I don't envy anyone who had to face one of those things on their own without knowing."

"The idea that you expect children to go up against a dragon without telling them is just awful anyway!" Molly said firmly.

"Better they find out this way than pass out in front of everyone when they see it for the first time," Moody agreed.

**At half past eleven that evening, Harry, who had pretended to go up to bed early, pulled the Invisibility Cloak back over himself and crept back downstairs through the common room. Quite a few people were still in there. The Creevey brothers had managed to get hold of a stack of _Support Cedric Diggory_! badges and were trying to bewitch them to make them say _Support Harry Potter!_ instead. **

"Why don't they just make their own badges?" Molly asked no one in particular, "Wouldn't it be easier?"

"Not always," Kingsley reasoned. "I think that making something from scratch is often much more difficult."

Mad-Eye smirked again. It looks like these two seem just a bit overly enthusiastic. Ok, maybe a _lot_ overly enthusiastic. Therefore it may not occur to Harry, but the Creevey brothers would be extremely loyal to him if he ever needed them.

**So far, however, all they had managed to do was get the badges stuck on POTTER STINKS. Harry crept past them to the portrait hole and waited for a minute or so, keeping an eye on his watch. Then Hermione opened the Fat Lady for him from outside as they had planned. He slipped past her with a whispered "Thanks!" and set off through the castle.**

"They had it all worked out," Sirius smirked. He was so proud… if only they could've used their teamwork for pranks instead…

**The grounds were very dark. Harry walked down the lawn toward the lights shining in Hagrid's cabin. The inside of the enormous Beauxbatons carriage was also lit up; Harry could hear Madame Maxime talking inside it as he knocked on Hagrid's front door.**

**"You there, Harry?" Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around.**

**"Yeah," said Harry, slipping inside the cabin and pulling the cloak down off his head. "What's up?"**

**"Got summat ter show yeh," said Hagrid.**

**There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid. **

"How can he be so excited about this?" Molly demanded exasperated.

"Well, he would be if he was about to see a dragon," Tonks reminded them. "You know Hagrid."

"I just hope that they thought to keep a close watch on the eggs," Sirius muttered under his breath. Norbert had been bad enough… he didn't want Hagrid to ever get his hands on another baby dragon.

**He was wearing a flower that resembled an oversized artichoke in his buttonhole. It looked as though he had abandoned the use of axle grease, but he had certainly attempted to comb his hair - Harry could see the comb's broken teeth tangled in it.**

**"What're you showing me?" Harry said warily, wondering if the Skrewts had laid eggs, or Hagrid had managed to buy another giant three-headed dog off a stranger in a pub.**

Albus smiled, knowing that Hagrid would do something like that again if given the chance. Thankfully, three-headed-dogs were such a rare creature in this world that he didn't think that he would have to worry about that.

**"Come with me, keep quiet, an' keep yerself covered with that cloak," said Hagrid. "We won' take Fang, he won' like it…**

**"Listen, Hagrid, I can't stay long… I've got to be back up at the castle by one o'clock -"**

**But Hagrid wasn't listening; he was opening the cabin door and striding off into the night. Harry hurried to follow and found, to his great surprise, that Hagrid was leading him to the Beauxbatons carriage.**

"Oh, is this a date?" Tonks laughed.

"Sounds like it," Kingsley smiled.

Fleur was smiling as well. Madame Maxime had grown very fond of Hagrid during their time at the castle last year.

**"Hagrid, what -?"**

**"Shhh!" said Hagrid, and he knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands.**

**Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid.**

**"Ah, 'Agrid… it is time?"**

**"Bong-sewer," said Hagrid, beaming at her, and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps.**

"Es 'e trying to say bonjour?" Fleur asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Because 'is accent ees terrible!"

"I think he might be," Bill laughed out loud.

"How cute," Sirius grinned. "Hopefully, he'll have her back to the carriage before her students realize that she's gone out on a date."

Fleur vented her feelings by aiming a kick at him.

**Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses, with Harry, totally bewildered, running to keep up with them. Had Hagrid wanted to show him Madame Maxime? He could see her any old time he wanted… she wasn't exactly hard to miss… **

"True," muttered Remus, trying hard to keep a straight face, while Fleur frowned at that. Harry had always seemed so polite…

"I'm sure that he meant it in a nicer way," Bill assured her. "I don't think that was supposed to be an insult. He's just in a rush and he was just thinking that you know?"

Fleur looked over at him before she nodded. "I… suppose. I guess zat I would want to 'urry as well."

**But it seemed that Madame Maxime was in for the same treat as Harry, because after a while she said playfully, "Wair is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"**

**"Yeh'll enjoy this," said Hagrid gruffly, "worth seein', trust me. On'y - don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."**

**"Of course not," said Madame Maxime, fluttering her long black eyelashes.**

"Oh, she's so lying, I'm sure that she told you as soon as she got home," Tonks said looking at Fleur.

"She might of a… accidently let it slip the next morning," Fleur muttered, blushing and looking away.

"So two of the Champions knew," Moody said conversationally.

**And still they walked, Harry getting more and more irritated as he jogged along in their wake, checking his watch every now and then. Hagrid had some harebrained scheme in hand, which might make him miss Sirius. If they didn't get there soon, he was going to turn around, go straight back to the castle, and leave Hagrid to enjoy his moonlit stroll with Madame Maxime.**

**But then - when they had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight - Harry heard something. Men were shouting up ahead … then came a deafening, earsplitting roar… Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. Harry hurried up alongside them - for a split second, he thought he was seeing bonfires, and men darting around them - and then his mouth fell open.**

**Dragons. Four fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting - **

Sirius shook his head. Couldn't Hagrid have found a gentler way to break this to Harry?

**torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks. There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns, snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; **

"Ze Swedish Short-Snout," Fleur said at once, recognizing the description from the statue that Cedric had. "Cedric… 'e faced zat one."

**a smooth-scaled green one, which was writhing and stamping with all its might; **

"That sounds like a Common Welsh Green," Kingsley said at once.

"Zat's ze one I faced," Fleur added with a shiver. The memory of her staring up into the bright yellow eyes of that overgrown lizard still entered into her dreams once in awhile.

**a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face, which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; **

"And since we all know that Harry faced the worst of all," Sirius groaned. "That had to be the one that Viktor fought."

Fleur nodded. "Ze Chinese Fireball."

**and a gigantic black one, more lizard-like than the others, which was nearest to them.**

"So that must be the legendary Hungarian Horntail," Bill said slowly. "The most vicious of all dragons."

"And it's just typical that Harry got that one," Sirius groaned pounding the arm of his seat. None of them spoke, all of them wondering what must be going through Harry's mind at this moment.

**At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs. Mesmerized, Harry looked up, high above him, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with vertical pupils like a cat's, bulging with either fear or rage, he couldn't tell which… **

"I'm going to go more along the lines of rage," Sirius suggested.

"Yeah, I figure that if I woke up in some strange place with all these wizards around me, I'd probably go nuts to," Tonks agreed.

**it was making a horrible noise, a yowling, screeching scream.**

**"Keep back there, Hagrid!" yelled a wizard near the fence, straining on the chain he was holding. "They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!"**

Sirius's eye was twitching horribly, and Molly had gone white.

**"Is'n' it beautiful?" said Hagrid softly.**

"WHAT?" screeched Molly. "How can he say something like that? He's calling a vicious, fire-breathing dragon… beautiful?!"

"Err, actually, I'm going to have to disagree with that…" Sirius said in amazement. "Though this is just my opinion, I think those dragons are some nasty girls."

"Yeah, I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I really don't think that they're Hagrid's type," Tonks spoke up uncomfortably.

"I'm sure that even someone like Charlie would admit that," Bill nodded.

**"It's no good!" yelled another wizard. "Stunning Spells, on the count of three!"**

**Harry saw each of the dragon keepers pull out his wand.**

**_"Stupefy!"_**** they shouted in unison, and the Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides – **

Molly shook her head. She knew that her second son's job was dangerous, but she never asked too many questions. Now she wished that it stayed like that.

**Harry watched the dragon nearest to them teeter dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide in a silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though still smoking - then, very slowly, it fell. Several tons of sinewy, scaly black dragon hit the ground with a thud that Harry could have sworn made the trees behind him quake.**

Fleur trembled at the memories. She leaned in closer to Bill, feeling safer just listening to his breathing. As if nothing could hurt her as long as she was here with him.

**The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked forward to their fallen charges, each of which was the size of a small hill. They hurried to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands.**

**"Wan' a closer look?" Hagrid asked Madame Maxime excitedly. **

"Not really," Molly whimpered.

**The pair of them moved right up to the fence, and Harry followed. The wizard who had warned Hagrid not to come any closer turned, and Harry realized who it was – Charlie Weasley.**

**"All right, Hagrid?" he panted, coming over to talk. "They should be okay now - we put them out with a Sleeping Draft on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet - but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all -"**

"You don't say?" Remus asked just as Tonks asked just as sarcastically, "Wonder why?"

They both looked at each other for a quick second before looking away with a blush.

**"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with something chose to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. Harry could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid.**

"Wow, she's still partially conscience after that," Tonks said startled.

"Horntails are the toughest and meanest of all dragons," Remus said knowingly, "So I wouldn't be surprised if she was still vaguely aware of what was going on.

"Just Harry's terrible luck he gets stuck with a girl like that," Sirius sighed.

**"This is a Hungarian Horntail," said Charlie. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one — a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray — and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."**

**Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the stunned dragons.**

**"I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid," Charlie said, frowning. "The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming - she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?"**

"That defeats the whole purpose of the task," Kingsley stated calmly.

"I think its better this way," Molly said firmly. "How can you expect teenagers to face a dragon without so much as a clue to what they're up against? They aren't professional Dragon Handlers… they won't know what to do against one!"

"I hear you there," Sirius whispered under his breath.

**"Jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em," shrugged Hagrid, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons.**

**"Really romantic date, Hagrid," said Charlie, shaking his head.**

They all burst out laughing.

"Well, you can't say that it's not memorable!" Sirius laughed. "Going to visit angry, fire-breathing dragons…there's a date you won't be forgetting any time soon! And that's the whole point to a date!"

**"Four…" said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do - fight 'em?"**

"I see, he's asking questions for Harry," Arthur realized.

"Good thing, he'll need to know," Remus muttered.

"That is if he didn't pass out already," Mad-Eye muttered under his breath.

**"Just get past them, I think," said Charlie. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing ****Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why… **

"Probably because the fairer species are also the more vicious," said Sirius thoughtfully to Remus.

"They really don't realize how dangerous a mother can get when protecting her children," he muttered back. "Look at Lily…"

"That is a perfect example," Sirius nodded.

**but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. **

"Just typical, isn't it?" Sirius couldn't help but say once more.

"'E really does 'ave terrible luck, doesn't 'e?" Fleur asked.

"Fleur, you don't know the half of it," Bill said to her.

**Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look."**

"Why is that?" Molly said worriedly.

"Because eet 'as spikes all down…" Fleur began, but Remus read out for her: **Charlie pointed toward the Horntail's tail, and Harry saw long, bronze-coloured spikes protruding along it every few inches.**

Molly was suddenly wishing she didn't hear that.

**Five of Charlie's fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at ****the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing.**

"He better not be thinking what I think he's thinking," said Molly darkly.

"I'm sure that Charlie thought ahead about that," Bill smiled, "He knows Hagrid after all." And sure enough: **"I've got them counted, Hagrid," said Charlie sternly. Then he said, "How's Harry?"**

"See?" Bill said happily. "You can always count on Charlie!" He knew that the two of them thought so much alike, that he had predicted that Hagrid might be tempted to do this.

**"Fine," said Hagrid. He was still gazing at the eggs.**

They all snorted, knowing that _fine_ was the last thing Harry must've been after all this.

**"Just hope he's still fine after he's faced this lot," said Charlie grimly, looking out over the dragons' enclosure. "I didn't dare tell Mum what he's got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about him…" **

"As would Lily," said Remus knowingly, grimacing when he imagined what Lily's reaction would have been if she knew what her son was going through.

**Charlie imitated his mother's anxious voice. "'_How could they let him enter that tournament, he's much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit!' _She was in floods after that _Daily Prophet _article about him. _'He still cries about his parents! Oh bless him, I never knew!'_"**

Molly turned bright red. How in the world did she end up believing that article? She should've known better.

"You didn't actually believe that junk did you?" Sirius demanded. "Didn't you see who wrote it? It was written by Rita Skeeter, of all people! You know that she lies for a living."

"I did, but it was so sweet that I couldn't help it," Molly said defensively.

"But you know Harry," Bill replied with a grimace at his mother. "He isn't the sort of person who would ever say anything like that to just anyone! Especially not a reporter."

"I know," she muttered embarrassed. "I just couldn't help it…"

"And that's why Skeeter is still employed," Moody said in his bored tone. _'Cause of sentimental women I bet…'_

**Harry had had enough. Trusting to the fact that Hagrid wouldn't miss him, with the attractions of four dragons and Madame Maxime to occupy him, he turned silently and began to walk away, back to the castle.**

**He didn't know whether he was glad he'd seen what was coming or not. **

"Glad," Sirius said at once. "Now he knows what's coming, he can think of a way to get past it."

**Perhaps this way was better. The first shock was over now. Maybe if he'd seen the dragons for the first time on Tuesday, he would have passed out cold in front of the whole school… **

"No, he wouldn't," Remus disagreed, shaking his head. "How many other teenagers could stand their ground and fight back like he has?"

"I theenk 'e was ze most impressive out of all of us," Fleur admitted.

**but maybe he would anyway… He was going to be armed with his wand - which, just now, felt like nothing more than a narrow strip of wood — against a fifty-foot-high, scaly, spike-****ridden, fire-breathing dragon. And he had to get past it. With everyone watching. How?**

"He's as positive as always," Arthur said evenly.

"For someone who's in his position, I think that's a pretty good question," Kingsley said. "Good thing that he works best under pressure."

Mad-Eye was thinking of a different question. "What do you all think? Do dragons prefer their wizards rare, medium, well done, or extra-crispy?"

"SHUT UP!" Sirius yelled at him.

**Harry sped up, skirting the edge of the forest; he had just under fifteen minutes to get back to the fireside and talk to Sirius, and he couldn't remember, ever, wanting to talk to someone more than he did right now — when, without warning, he ran into something very solid.**

**Harry fell backward, his glasses askew, clutching the cloak around him. A voice nearby said, "Ouch! Who's there?"**

"Who'd he run into?" Bill asked at once.

"I'm getting to it, Bill," Remus said patiently.

**Harry hastily checked that the cloak was covering him and hay very still, staring up at the ****dark outline of the wizard he had hit. He recognized the goatee… it was Karkaroff.**

"Why am I not surprised?" Sirius asked raising his eyebrows. "So he's cheating."

"We could call Harry and Fleur that, too, you know," said Remus and Fleur looked down at her feet.

"Not really," Arthur said fairly. "After all, Harry didn't know that Hagrid was going to show him what was coming in the First task."

"And it's not your fault that Madame Maxime let it slip," Bill whispered to her and she smiled brilliantly back at him. Just hearing his voice like that seemed to make her so happy… why was he so different from every other man she ever met?

**"Who's there?" said Karkaroff again, very suspiciously, looking around in the darkness. Harry remained still and silent. After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal; he was looking around at waist height, as though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees and started to edge forward toward the place where the dragons were.**

"And once he sees them, he'll tell Krum," Moody summarized.

"So Cedric was the only one who didn't know what was coming," Tonks said. "That's hardly fair."

Albus smiled widely. If he knew Harry as well as he _thought_ he did, then he also suspected that Cedric would know very soon.

**Very slowly and very carefully, Harry got to his feet and set off again as fast as he could without making too much noise, hurrying through the darkness back toward Hogwarts.**

**He had no doubt whatsoever what Karkaroff was up to. He had sneaked off his ship to try and find out what the first task was going to be. He might even have spotted Hagrid and Madame Maxime heading off around the forest together – they were hardly difficult to spot at a distance… and now all Karkaroff had to do was follow the sound of voices, and he, like Madame Maxime, would know what was in store for the champions.**

"They should've just told the champions what it would be in the first place," Sirius said. "Would've saved them a lot of time and trouble."

"Yeah," Tonks declared. "I mean, it takes a lot of guts and daring to _know_ that you have to face a dragon than being dragged off and fight one without knowing about it until it's too late."

Fleur nodded. Knowing about the dragons had been far worse than having no idea.

**By the looks of it, the only champion who would be facing the unknown on Tuesday was Cedric.**

**Harry reached the castle, slipped in through the front doors, and began to climb the marble stairs; he was very out of breath, but he didn't dare slow down… He had less than five minutes to get up to the fire.**

Sirius held his breath, before he remembered that he did speak to Harry that night. He had no idea that it had been so close though.

**"Balderdash!" he gasped at the Fat Lady, who was snoozing in her frame in front of the portrait hole.**

**"If you say so," she muttered sleepily, without opening her eyes, and the picture swung forward to admit him. **

"Wow, that was usually polite for her," Sirius remarked.

"Well, you and James were out of bed almost every night," Remus reminded him.

**Harry climbed inside. The common room was deserted, and, judging by the fact that it smelled quite normal, Hermione had not needed to set off any Dungbombs to ensure that he and Sirius got privacy. **

**Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and threw himself into an armchair in front of the fire. The room was in semidarkness; the flames were the only source of light. Nearby, on a table, the _Support Cedric Diggory_! badges the Creeveys had been trying to improve were glinting in the firelight. They now read _POTTER REALLY STINKS_. **

"I can see that they're really improving it," Tonks laughed. "I think that the Slytherins would love them."

**Harry looked back into the flames, and jumped. Sirius's head was sitting in the fire. If Harry hadn't seen Mr. Diggory do exactly this back in the Weasleys' kitchen, it would have scared ****him out of his wits.**

"Well, I've noticed that your face does seem to scare a lot of people," Tonks teased him and Sirius shoved her shoulder playfully.

"Once again," Remus told him cheerfully. "You make one hell of an entrance."

"Of course," Sirius said proudly. "Like I'm going to give that part of me up!"

**Instead, his face breaking into the first smile he had worn for days, he scrambled out of his chair, crouched down by the hearth, and said, "Sirius - how're you doing?"**

**Sirius looked different from Harry's memory of him. When they had said goodbye, Sirius's face had been gaunt and sunken, surrounded by a quantity of long, black, matted hair - but the hair was short and clean now, Sirius's face was fuller, and he looked younger, much more like the only photograph Harry had of him, which had been taken at the Potters' wedding.**

"That's good," Remus said looking at his oldest friend with relief. It sounds like he was starting to recover from the years of imprisonment of Azkaban.

"Looks like being on the run with Buckbeak has been good for you, Sirius," commented Arthur.

"Well, it's better than Azkaban," he answered honestly.

**"Never mind me, how are you?" said Sirius seriously.**

They all groaned at that as Sirius laughed; even in the hall, Albus had to work hard to keep his laughing down.

"Who knew you could be serious," Moody said darkly. And when he saw Black open his mouth, he added, "And if you try to make a joke about that, you are a dead man."

"Ruin my fun why don't you?" Sirius asked grumpily.

**"I'm -" For a second, Harry tried to say "fine" – **

"Give me some credit, Harry," said Sirius dryly. "As if I'd believe that after everything that's happening!"

"He just doesn't want you to worry about him," Arthur explained to him.

**but he couldn't do it. Before he could stop himself, he was talking more than he'd talked in days - about how no one believed he hadn't entered the tournament of his own free will, how Rita Skeeter had lied about him in the Daily Prophet, how he couldn't walk down a corridor without being sneered at - and about Ron, Ron not believing him, Ron's jealousy…**

"This is good for him," Kingsley said in his deep voice. "Get that all off his chest. I'm sure that he'll feel better."

**"… and now Hagrid's just shown me what's coming in the first task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner," he finished desperately.**

**Sirius looked at him, eyes full of concern, eyes that had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them - that deadened, haunted look He had let Harry talk himself into silence ****without interruption, **

"I could tell that he needed to say all that before he exploded," Sirius said grimly. He also had wanted to draw their talk out for as long as possible before he was forced to leave again—after all it had been months since he had seen his godson, and several more months before they were able to meet face-to-face again.

**but now he said, "Dragons we can deal with, Harry, but we'll get to that in a minute – **

"WHAT!" stormed Molly and she looked over at Sirius in complete disbelief. "What do you mean? What could possibly be worst than having to fight a dragon?"

"I was going to get to it!" he snapped back.

**I haven't got long here… I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. **

"Sirius that's illegal," Tonks pointed out peacefully, as if she was just telling him that his dinner fork went on the other side of the plate.

"Didn't have much of a choice," Sirius responded politely like they were discussing the matter over tea. "I had to see him and the only way that I could was with the Floo Network. And I knew for a fact that the wizard family wasn't going to be home that night, so I slipped in and out before they got home and no one's any the wiser."

"Had they caught you, I'm sure that would've been a cheerful surprise for them," Remus commented. "The convicted mass murderer, Sirius Black, in your house waiting for you."

"Yeah, I figured that it wouldn't be good for me to overstay my welcome," Sirius admitted.

**There are things I need to warn you about."**

"Why not just quickly telling him about how to get past the dragons first and then go into details?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah," Sirius nodded, seeing that probably would've been the better action, "But he got there in the end didn't he? So it all works out."

**"What?" said Harry, feeling his spirits slip a further few notches… Surely there could be nothing worse than dragons coming?**

**"Karkaroff," said Sirius. "Harry, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"**

"He does now," Moody said grouchily. He was fully aware that the reason those scum of the earth showed up at the World Cup was to remind people that they were still out there.

**"Yes - he - what?"**

**"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year – to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."**

**"Karkaroff got released?" Harry said slowly - his brain seemed to be struggling to absorb yet another piece of shocking information. "Why did they release him?"**

**"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," said Sirius bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names… he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place… **

Moody snorted. "That's not a surprise. Karkaroff sounds like a real role model—just the kind you want to be teaching your kids."

"And you were the one who put him in Azkaban?" Tonks asked him happily. "That would certainly explain why you two don't get along so well."

"Talk about holding a grudge," Moody yawned. "Just get over it already!"

"Why did they give him the chance to swap names?" asked Sirius coldly, "They gave him multiple trials to squeeze out all the names that he could give them, and I didn't even get one! Just what is with government these days?"

"Like I said before," Moody said drinking from his flask. "Government either has to be obeyed or overthrown. Personally, I'm more favorable to option number 2. However, even I have to admit that it was nowhere near as corrupted as it is now."

"Yeah, well, you were known as an evil mass murderer, and people wouldn't want you outside would they?" Arthur asked him.

"Their lost. I could've given them more names than Karkaroff anyway," Sirius pointed out crossly.

**He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."**

**"Okay," said Harry slowly. "But… are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing."**

**"We know he's a good actor," said Sirius, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the _Daily Prophet, _Harry…"**

**"- you and the rest of the world," said Harry bitterly.**

"Can't argue with that logic," Tonks nodded.

**"- and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. **

"Actually, I think that they succeeded," Arthur said bitterly and Moody was grinding what was left of his teeth together.

**I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."**

"Well," Moody said, a slight smirk playing on his mouth, "If they want to believe that, I won't try to change their minds."

"I see that you're still as modest and humble as I remember," Tonks said fondly.

**"So… what are you saying?" said Harry slowly. "Karkaroff's trying to kill me? But - why?"**

**Sirius hesitated.**

**"I've been hearing some very strange things," he said slowly. "The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark… and then - did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"**

"I hate this," Molly said upset. "I hate just knowing the truth while they're all still wandering around, trying to figure out what's going on."

"You and the rest of us," Kingsley said sadly. They all knew what truly happened to Bertha and what Voldemort was planning… it was almost painful to hear just how lost and confused they all were.

**"Bertha Jorkins?" said Harry.**

**"Exactly… she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumoured to be last… and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"**

"So Voldemort's still hanging out in Albania? Not according to the dream in chapter 1," Moody said gruffly.

"Wow, you actually sound reasonable here, Padfoot," Remus said teasingly, and Sirius grinned back.

**"Yeah, but… it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" said Harry.**

"Not exactly," Sirius said, his grin fading at once and he whispered to himself, "She met a rat."

**"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a ****few years above your Dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."**

"Bertha Jorkins," said Molly furiously. "And they still act like she's just gotten lost or something."

"Of course they are," Sirius said bitterly. "Fudge is in charge after all and pretending something doesn't exist is what he does best."

**"So… so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" said Harry. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"**

"No, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have someone else there," Bill pointed out.

**"I don't know," said Sirius slowly, "I just don't know… Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."**

"Ok, the good news is that Harry wasn't just imagining things with his scar…" Tonks said.

"The bad news is that Harry wasn't just imagining things," Sirius finished for her bitterly. And then to try and lighten things up he said, "Of course, we know from the first book the easiest way of all to fight a dragon is simple—just call Charlie Weasley."

They all started laughing.

**"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," said Harry grinning bleakly. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."**

**"Right - these dragons," said Sirius, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way, Harry. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell - dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon -"**

**"Yeah, I know, I just saw," said Harry.**

**"But you can do it alone," said Sirius. "There is away, and a simple spell's all you need. Just -"**

**But Harry held up a hand to silence him, his heart suddenly pounding as though it would burst. He could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind him.**

"WHAT!" they all cried except for Sirius, who knew this was coming.

"That is so typical, as soon as he's about to get the information he needs, he's interrupted," Tonks sighed.

"They couldn't have waited, what, another five minutes or something?" Arthur said dejectedly.

"He's able to get past the dragon didn't he? Don't know what everyone's fussing about," Moody said and earned himself some glares.

"What were you going to say if you had a chance?" Kingsley asked Sirius.

"I was going to suggest the Conjunctivitus Curse," Sirius confessed. "But he got past it without my help… so I guess that it's alright."

**"Go!" he hissed at Sirius. "Go! There's someone coming!"**

**Harry scrambled to his feet, hiding the fire - if someone saw Sirius's face within the walls of Hogwarts, they would raise an almighty uproar - the Ministry would get dragged in - he, Harry, would be questioned about Sirius's whereabouts - Harry heard a tiny pop! in the fire behind him and knew Sirius had gone. He watched the bottom of the spiral staircase. Who had decided to go for a stroll at one o'clock in the morning, and stopped Sirius from telling him how to get past a dragon? It was Ron. **

"Ron?" they all repeated in disbelief.

"You mean I panicked and left because of Ron?" Sirius growled angrily.

"Of course, Ron didn't know that the two of you were meeting!" Arthur said quickly.

**Dressed in his maroon paisley pyjamas, Ron stopped dead facing** **Harry across the room, and looked around.**

**"Who were you talking to?" he said.**

"Don't think that was any of your business," Tonks said under her breath.

**"What's that got to do with you?" Harry snarled. "What are you doing down here at this time of night?"**

**"I just wondered where you -" Ron broke off, shrugging. "Nothing. I'm going back to bed."**

"I theenk 'e was worried," Fleur said slowly.

Albus nodded in silent agreement; even when you try to pretend that you don't care, the heart just won't accept that.

**"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harry shouted. He knew that Ron had no idea what he'd walked in on, knew he hadn't done it on purpose, but he didn't care - at this moment he hated everything about Ron, right down to the several inches of bare ankle ****showing beneath his pajama trousers.**

Molly sighed miserably; she just hated hearing how her youngest son and his best friend were acting towards each other.

**"Sorry about that," said Ron, his face reddening with anger. "Should've realized you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practicing for your next interview in peace."**

"Ronald!" cried his parents at the same time.

"What has gotten into him?" Bill demanded. "This isn't like him! This is just getting ridiculous. This has to be more than jealousy."

"He just doesn't know how to say what he wants to," Kingsley explained. "Hurting someone is a lot easier than admitting that you're wrong."

"Well, he just proves again and again what an idiot he is!" Sirius barked.

**Harry seized one of the POTTER REALLY STINKS badges off the table and chucked it, as hard as he could, across the room. It hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off.**

"That's it, Harry!" cheered Sirius, not caring what the Weasley's thought of him at that moment.

"I can't believe that they're acting like this," Molly said startled.

"There's only so much you can take before you have to take your anger out on something," Moody said coolly.

**"There you go," Harry said. "Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a ****scar now, if you're lucky… that's what you want, isn't it?"**

"I think it is the attention he wants not the scar," Tonks said of them spoke, waiting for Ron's reaction.

"Hey, you can't have one without the other," Sirius snapped at her. "Ron wants to have the same attention that Harry has, then he needs to get a scar."

**He strode across the room toward the stairs; he half expected Ron to stop him, he would even have liked Ron to throw a punch at him, but Ron just stood there in his too-small pajamas, and Harry, having stormed upstairs, lay awake in bed fuming for a long time afterward and didn't hear him come up to bed.**

"I really hate hearing about this," Molly simpered, sounding close to tears again.

"We all do, Molly," Arthur said comfortingly, taking hold her hand tightly. "But now, hopefully, Ron is realizing that he's being stupid, though Harry's not acting much better."

"It's Ron's fault this started in the first place," Sirius said stubbornly, giving Molly a hard look. "Harry doesn't go for violence like that. He must be angry for this to happen. With any luck, it'll show Ron just how much he's hurting his best and he'll try to see that Harry's not the problem."

"Shall we retire for the night?" asked Arthur quickly, hoping for a change of subject.

"No," Sirius and Molly said at once. They both glared back at each other, before Sirius added, "I want to hear the First Task."

No one objected to that, and Arthur asked, "Well, then… who wants to read now?"

"I guess…" Fleur said slowly, "I will." She took the book from Remus and read out, "**Chapter 20: The First Task**."


	24. The First Task

******(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 23: The First Task**

"I guess…" Fleur said slowly, "I will." She took the book from Remus and read out, "**Chapter 20: The First Task**."

So here it was… the First Task… Fleur was now seriously regretting offering to read now as she barely glanced at the image of the flying book—knowing that this wasn't going to be a good chapter.

"Oh, that's just great," Sirius muttered bitterly. He had been dreading this chapter since the start of the book. Though he knew it was coming, and that Harry was going to make it out alive, it didn't make it any easier to listen to. "We finally get to see how well he did."

"This won't be good on my nerves," Molly said shaking her head.

"You're telling me," Sirius agreed under his breath.

"Well," Fleur said thinking back, "'E did better zan we all did."

"That doesn't mean that I'm gonna like it," Sirius groaned.

**Harry got up on Sunday morning and dressed so inattentively that it was a while before he realized he was trying to pull his hat onto his foot instead of his sock. **

Everyone snorted, and Remus chortled, "I don't think that will work as well as your sock, Harry."

"Boy, he must really be out of it," Arthur stated.

"Can you blame him?" Tonks asked them.

**When he'd finally got all his clothes on the right parts of his body, he hurried off to find Hermione, locating her at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, where she was eating breakfast with Ginny. Feeling too queasy to eat, Harry waited until Hermione had swallowed her last spoonful of porridge, and then dragged her out onto the grounds. There, he told her all about the dragons, and about everything Sirius had said, while they took another long walk around the lake.**

"Just the thing that you wanted to hear first thing in the morning," Tonks said sarcastically. "Being told by your best friend that they're about to fight a dragon. I'd kill to know what was going through her head when he told her."

"Probably thought that he was joking until she realized he wasn't laughing," Moody grunted. He then smirked. That would've been funny to watch the amusement fade from her eyes and slowly replaced by panic.

"Why is it that every time you smile, I'm worried?" Tonks asked cautiously.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he told her coolly.

**Alarmed as she was by Sirius's warnings about Karkaroff, Hermione still thought that the dragons were the more pressing problem.**

"No offense to Harry, but I'm with Hermione on this one," Bill stated.

"I definitely agree with zat," Fleur nodded firmly. "Worry about 'im after ze task."

**"Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening," she said desperately, "and then we can worry about Karkaroff."**

**They walked three times around the lake, trying all the way to think of a simple spell that would subdue a dragon. **

Kingsley let out a long whistle, "Three times…"

"I think that Conjunctivitis Curse would be the best choice, you know to the dragon's eye, it is their weakest spot," Remus said.

"Well, they figured it out sooner or later," Moody grunted. "So get back to the story already."

"It's so nice to see you so patient, Mad-Eye," Tonks informed him evenly.

**Nothing whatsoever occurred to them, so they retired to the library instead. **

Sirius groaned, "The library… why is it _always_ the library?"

"Believe it or not, Sirius," Remus said tolerantly, "But the library is a good place to go for information."

"But it's the library," Sirius moaned through gritted teeth, as if the world library was a punishment.

Remus just shook his head fondly, remembering how the teenage Sirius used to say the same thing whenever they had to go to the library for homework.

"You want the kid to live past the First Task don't ya?" Moody barked and that shut Sirius up at once. "Ah huh, I thought so."

**Here, Harry pulled down every book he could find on dragons, and both of them set to work searching through the large pile.**

"All this searching and he ends up using the Summoning Charm," Sirius said, as if hoping to show them how useless it is to go looking through the library. "Look at all the wasted time! It didn't tell them anything."

"I'm sure that if they looked long enough they would've," Kingsley said calmly. "But that's hardly the point here.

**"Talon-clipping by charms… treating scale-rot… This is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy…**

They all burst out laughing at that.

**"Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate… ' But Sirius said a simple one would do it…**

**"Let's try some simple spellbooks, then," said Harry, throwing aside _Men Who Love Dragons Too Much._**

"That sure sounds like Hagrid," Arthur chuckled.

"If there was ever a book that Hagrid would write," Bill laughed. "It would be that one."

**He returned to the table with a pile of spellbooks, set them down, and began to flick through each in turn, Hermione whispering nonstop at his elbow.**

**"Well, there are Switching Spells… but what's the point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous… **

"A dragon with wine-gums for fangs?" Kingsley repeated, looking amused. "Well that would be something interesting to see and that would make it a little less dangerous but…"

"I really don't think that'll help you get past it and grab the egg," Sirius finished for him.

**The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide … I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall… **

Albus smiled widely, as far as he knew Minerva never actually transfigured a dragon… not only because of its size and power, but because it's also astonishingly magic-resistant. Though he knew that she would love a chance to prove she could… she always did love a challenge.

**unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself? Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing O.W.L. practice papers…"**

"It's not even Christmas in her Fourth Year and she's doing practice papers," Sirius whimpered before he smacked himself in the forehead. "What is with kids these days?"

"Why do you talk about Hermione wanting to do well in school if it's a bad thing?" Molly demanded.

"Oh, doing well in school is fine," Sirius said at once. "But come on, having fun is what being young is all about! If it weren't for me and James, Remus here—" he clapped a hand on Remus's shoulder and finished, "He would've spent all his time reading instead of having fun!"

Remus smiled, "Well, you two sure made life interesting, I'll say that much."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sirius muttered, before he shoved him playfully. "But in case it wasn't…"

"It was a compliment!" he laughed out. "Really! If it hadn't been for you guys, I might never have had any fun!"

"That's more like it," he told him.

The others laughed at the exchange. "Eet's nice to 'ave friends like zat," Fleur whispered to Bill who nodded in accord.

**"Hermione," Harry said, through gritted teeth, "will you shut up for a bit, please? I'm trying to concentrate."**

"Now, that wasn't' nice," Molly scolded lightly.

"He's up against a dragon, I think we can excuse him for being a bit rude just this once," Tonks reminded her.

**But all that happened, when Hermione fell silent, was that Harry's brain filled with a sort of blank buzzing, which didn't seem to allow room for concentration. He stared hopelessly down the index of _Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed._ Instant scalping… but dragons had no hair…**

"Actually, I think I read that a few special breeds of dragon do have hair," Remus said at once.

"Now is probably not the time, Remus," Arthur told him politely as Sirius shoved him again.

**pepper breath… that would probably increase a dragon's firepower… horn tongue… just what he needed, to give it an extra weapon…**

"Yeah, I think that you can forget about those," Tonks nodded. "Dragons are already dangerous enough without the extra help."

**"Oh no, he's back again, why can't he read on his stupid ship?"**

Sirius suddenly smirked, "Now, I wonder who she's talking about here?"

**said Hermione irritably as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look over at the pair of them, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. **

"Oh, I think that he was only surly because Harry was sitting there with Hermione," Tonks grinned in a sing-song voice.

Fleur giggled, knowing that was exactly what bothered Viktor.

**"Come on, Harry, we'll go back to the common room… his fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away… "**

**And sure enough, as they left the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past them, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist.**

"That's sad," Tonks sighed, her grin fading slightly. "They're an insult to all women. They wouldn't be looking twice at him if he wasn't a world famous Quidditch player."

"What else did you expect?" Bill asked her.

**Harry barely slept that night. When he awoke on Monday morning, he seriously considered for the first time ever just running away from Hogwarts. But as he looked around the Great Hall at breakfast time, and thought about what leaving the castle would mean, he knew he couldn't do it. It was the only place he had ever been happy… **

Sirius felt as if a cold hand was gripping his heart painfully. This was almost too much to listen to; Molly started to sniffle at those words.

**well, he supposed he must have been happy with his parents too, but he couldn't remember that.**

"Oh, he was," Sirius said at once and Remus nodded at his side. "He hardly ever cried… James would always make him laugh… and Lily…" he trailed off.

"They must've loved him very much," Arthur sighed sadly.

"They sure did," Remus smiled.

Albus bowed his head, knowing full well just how difficult a decision for Lily and James to have made that night. Not giving up their lives to protect their son… he knew that they die a thousand deaths to protect Harry—but to only die only once and to never see him grow up. That would've been the most painful thing they felt when they faced down Voldemort.

"Zat's 'orrible," Fleur said sadly. "How can 'e deal wiz zat?"

"I know," Bill whispered back. "But that's just proves that Harry's a lot tougher than he looks."

**Somehow, the knowledge that he would rather be here and facing a dragon than back on Privet Drive with Dudley was good to know; it made him feel slightly calmer. **

Fleur blinked in astonishment. "You mean zat 'e would razzer be 'ere fighting a dragon zan go 'ome?"

"Let's just say that Harry and his relatives don't get along very well," Arthur said vaguely.

"That's the understatement of the century," Sirius grumbled bitterly.

"I truly don't know what to say about that," Molly added shaking her head; it was bad enough that Harry lost his parents, but to have a home life that was so terrible was more than she could bear.

"Now you know it has _got_ to be bad if you rather be fighting a dragon than go home to your relatives," Sirius growled.

"Well, he's gonna feel like he's living in a zoo with the horse, walrus, and pig there with him," Moody explained and they laughed. Except for Fleur who looked at him baffled.

"I'll explain later," Bill said, though he was hoping that she would conveniently forget about asking about Harry's home life later.

**He finished his bacon with difficulty (his throat wasn't working too well), and as he and Hermione got up, he saw Cedric Diggory leaving the Hufflepuff table.**

"Who here wants to bet what happens next?" Tonks smiled at them all.

"So 'e told 'im about ze dragons," Fleur said nodding in understanding. "Zat explains it. Because Cedric looked like 'e knew what 'e was doing when 'e left ze tent…"

"So he goes and helps out his opposition Sirius said exasperatedly.

"Would you let someone you know go up against a dragon without warning him first?" Kingsley asked.

"Depends on the person," he answered, thinking sullenly of Snape.

"But at least all the Champions are starting off evenly," Molly said happily.

_'Not quite,' _Albus thought. Harry was still at a big disadvantage against three older students… then again, he had done better than all three of them. Further proof that age was no guarantee of power…

**Cedric still didn't know about the dragons… the only champion who didn't, if Harry was right in thinking that Maxime and Karkaroff would have told Fleur and Krum…**

"I wouldn't be against that," Tonks commented happily and Fleur had to agree. The day of the First Task, none of the Champions seemed surprised… though she wasn't paying too much attention to them at the moment… the only thing that had been going through her mind was that there was a full-grown dragon waiting for her on Monday.

**"Hermione, I'll see you in the greenhouses," Harry said, coming to his decision as he watched Cedric leaving the Hall. "Go on, I'll catch you up."**

**"Harry, you'll be late, the bell's about to ring -"**

**"I'll catch you up, okay?"**

**By the time Harry reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was with a load of sixth-year friends. Harry didn't want to talk to Cedric in front of them; **

"Well, that makes sense," Arthur said. "Even if he had, they probably wouldn't believe him. They just think that he made that up to scare Cedric."

"Wish he had told him," Sirius muttered. Oh, the expressions on their faces when they saw that Harry was telling the truth would've been priceless.

"But they could've gotten Harry into some serious trouble if he did," Remus pointed out and Sirius sighed in disappointment.

"True," he grunted. "No one's supposed to know about that… especially the Champions."

**they were among those who had been quoting Rita Skeeter's article at him every time he went near them. He followed Cedric at a distance and saw that he was heading toward the Charms corridor. This gave Harry an idea. Pausing at a distance from them, he pulled out his wand, and took careful aim.**

**_"Diffindo!"_**

Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and Arthur all burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Molly asked bewildered.

"So he can talk to Cedric without his friends there!" Tonks called out with a grin. "He's gonna split his bag and get him on his own."

**Cedric's bag split. Parchment, quills, and books spilled out of it onto the floor. Several bottles of ink smashed.**

**"Don't bother," said Cedric in an exasperated voice as his friends bent down to help him. "Tell Flitwick I'm coming, go on…"**

**This was exactly what Harry had been hoping for. **

"Thatta boy, Harry," Sirius said proudly.

**He slipped his wand back into his robes, waited until Cedric's friends had disappeared into their classroom, and hurried up the corridor, which was now empty of everyone but himself and Cedric.**

"Not a bad plan," Moody said simply.

"If only he could use that mind of his to more mischievous uses," Sirius said tragically.

**"Hi," said Cedric, picking up a copy of _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration _that was now splattered with ink. "My bag just split… brand-new and all…"**

"Like Harry doesn't already know," Tonks laughed. "He was the one who caused it to split!"

"I don't think that he should mention that to him," Remus added. "Just to be on the safe side…"

**"Cedric," said Harry, "the first task is dragons."**

"Nice Harry," Remus sighed. "Get straight to the point."

"Couldn't he have broken the news to him a little more gently?" Arthur asked.

"Well, he got his point across well," Mad-Eye mentioned and Tonks roared with laughter.

"That sounds like something you'd do, Mad-Eye," she laughed. "Don't bother beating around the bush and get to the good stuff!"

"Pussy-footing around only makes it worse," he said sourly. "Better that you face it head on rather than just waiting around letting the suspense grow so that when you _finally know the answer_," he said this part just a little extra loudly for Dumbledore's benefit, "It doesn't kill you on the spot."

"That's a cheerful way to look at life, Mad-Eye," Kingsley said deeply.

**"What?" said Cedric, looking up.**

**"Dragons," said Harry, speaking quickly, in case Professor Flitwick came out to see where Cedric had got to. "They've got four, one for each of us, and we've got to get past them."**

**Cedric stared at him. Harry saw some of the panic he'd been feeling since Saturday night flickering in Cedric's gray eyes.**

"Only someone with either nerves of steel, or is a complete idiot wouldn't panic about facing a dragon in just a day," Tonks summarized.

Bill smiled; he wondered which category Charlie would fall under?

**"Are you sure?" Cedric said in a hushed voice.**

**"Dead sure," said Harry. "I've seen them."**

**"But how did you find out? We're not supposed to know…"**

"That doesn't apply to Harry," Sirius said grudgingly. "He always finds out somehow."

"I'm still not sure if that's a bad thing or not," Molly sighed.

**"Never mind," said Harry quickly - he knew Hagrid would be in trouble if he told the truth. **

Albus nodded. He would've hated to have seen Hagrid in trouble just for trying to help a friend.

**"But I'm not the only one who knows. Fleur and Krum will know by now - Maxime and Karkaroff both saw the dragons too."**

**Cedric straightened up, his arms full of inky quills, parchment, and books, his ripped bag dangling off one shoulder. He stared at Harry, and there was a puzzled, almost suspicious look in his eyes.**

"I think that he must've just realized who it was who split his bag," Tonks said with a grin.

"Nothing that a little magic can't fix," Sirius waved his hand dismissively.

**"Why are you telling me?" he asked.**

"That's a bit ungrateful of him," Sirius snapped.

"Hey, if it were me, I'd want someone to give me a heads up before I walked out and was roasted extra crispy," Tonks spoke up.

"He's probably just wondering why his competition is helping him out," Kingsley explained. "I mean, after all the trouble he's been having since he became Champion, he sudden goes out of his way to help one of the other Champions? I'd find that a little suspicious myself."

"Just proves that he's a good person," Sirius said firmly.

"And no one would dare bet against that, Sirius," Arthur smiled.

**Harry looked at him in disbelief. He was sure Cedric wouldn't have asked that if he had seen the dragons himself. Harry wouldn't have let his worst enemy face those monsters unprepared - well, perhaps Malfoy or Snape…**

"Well, suppose we could all make exceptions for them," Sirius grunted.

"Oh, I don't know," Remus said carefully. "After all, you just said that he's a good person, Sirius. And from what we've learned about him, I doubt that he would let even them face a dragon without a warning."

"Yes, I agree," Tonks spoke up. "He's too noble for something like that. Besides, seeing Malfoy pee his pants at the idea of fighting a dragon would be too good to pass up."

**"It's just… fair, isn't it?" he said to Cedric. "We all know now… we're on an even footing, aren't we?"**

Moody snorted. "Actually, I think that Potter just thought it was unfair that Diggory wasn't having nightmares like the rest of them."

They all laughed at that.

"Fair point," Sirius laughed. "It wouldn't be fair that they all lost sleep over it and he didn't."

**Cedric was still looking at him in a slightly suspicious way when Harry heard a familiar clunking noise behind him. He turned around and saw Mad-Eye Moody emerging from a nearby classroom.**

**"Come with me, Potter," he growled. "Diggory, off you go."**

Moody's eyes narrowed. What was that imposter up to now?

"He better not have done anything to him," Sirius threatened menacingly.

"I doubt it," Bill said. "He needs Harry alive… he's probably going to help Harry figure out a way past the First Task."

**Harry stared apprehensively at Moody. Had he overheard them?**

**"Er - Professor, I'm supposed to be in Herbology -"**

**"Never mind that, Potter. In my office, please…"**

**Harry followed him, wondering what was going to happen to him now. What if Moody wanted to know how he'd found out about the dragons? Would Moody go to Dumbledore and tell on Hagrid, **

"If it had been you, Mad-Eye, would you?" Tonks asked him.

"Probably not," he answered. "What's it matter to me? It's none of my business."

"You are such a nice person, you know that right?" she told him merrily, and his eye just glared at her in retaliation.

**or just turn Harry into a ferret? **

"No, Malfoy had it coming to him since the day he was born," Sirius smirked. "I can see now why it was so difficult to suspect that Moody was on the wrong side… cause he finally taught Malfoy a lesson."

**Well, it might be easier to get past a dragon if he were a ferret, Harry thought dully, he'd be smaller, much less easy to see from a height of fifty feet…**

"Well, that's unusually optimistic for him," Kingsley chuckled.

"Yeah," Remus agreed. "Usually he expects the worst and that's it. Well, it's a start."

**He followed Moody into his office. Moody closed the door behind them and turned to look at Harry, his magical eye fixed upon him as well as the normal one.**

**"That was a very decent thing you just did, Potter," Moody said quietly.**

"Something that we need more of in this world," Albus whispered. So few people think about doing the right thing anymore…

**Harry didn't know what to say; this wasn't the reaction he had expected at all.**

**"Sit down," said Moody, and Harry sat, looking around.**

**He had visited this office under two of its previous occupants. In Professor Lockhart's day, the walls had been plastered with beaming, winking pictures of Professor Lockhart himself.**

"Don't remind me," Sirius began to gag.

**When Lupin had lived here, you were more likely to come across a specimen of some fascinating new Dark creature he had procured for them to study in class. **

They all looked up at the blushing Remus.

"Isn't he cute when he's embarrassed?" Sirius asked in a teasing tone, causing Remus to pinch his arm hard.

"Oww!" he called loudly, and rubbed the place where it was now stinging.

"What?" Fleur asked looking up but Sirius just shook his head at her, before throwing a dirty look at Remus's innocent expression.

**Now, however, the office was full of a number of exceptionally odd objects that Harry supposed Moody had used in the days when he had been an Auror.**

"Actually," Moody said grumpily, "Those are _my_ things!"

**On his desk stood what looked like a large, cracked, glass spinning top; Harry recognized it at once as a Sneakoscope, because he owned one himself, though it was much smaller than Moody's. In the corner on a small table stood an object that looked something like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial. It was humming slightly.**

"Secrecy Sensor," Bill said at once, recognizing the description.

"Well, it _was_," Mad-Eye grunted. "Till that scum broke everything!"

**What appeared to be a mirror hung opposite Harry on the wall, but it was not reflecting the ****room. Shadowy figures were moving around inside it, none of them clearly in focus.**

"And that would be a Foe-Glass," Kingsley said deeply. "Those are the most useful of Dark Detectors… though still heavily flawed."

"Fat lot of good they ever did to me," Moody growled.

**"Like my Dark Detectors, do you?" said Moody, who was watching Harry closely.**

**"What's that?" Harry asked, pointing at the squiggly golden aerial.**

**"Secrecy Sensor. Vibrates when it detects concealment and lies… no use here, of course, too much interference - students in every direction lying about why they haven't done their homework. Been humming ever since I got here.**

_'That's because you were the only one doing the concealing and lying,'_ Moody thought angrily.

"Wow," Tonks said sarcastically, "And you don't think that you might be the one behind it would it Crouch Jr.?"

"No," Sirius joined in mockingly, "I can't see how that could be possible."

**I had to disable my Sneakoscope because it wouldn't stop whistling. It's extra-sensitive, picks up stuff about a mile around. Of course, it could be picking up more than kid stuff," he added in a growl.**

**"And what's the mirror for?"**

**"Oh that's my Foe-Glass. See them out there, skulking around? I'm not really in trouble until I see the whites of their eyes. That's when I open my trunk."**

At those words, Moody's eye was twitching horribly.

**He let out a short, harsh laugh, and pointed to the large trunk under the window. It had ****seven keyholes in a row. Harry wondered what was in there, **

"No you don't want to know," Molly whispered before they all looked up at Moody. His magical eye looked at each of them in turn before he asked grouchily, "What?"

"Nothing," Fleur said quickly and went on.

**until Moody's next question brought him sharply back to earth.**

**"So… found out about the dragons, have you?"**

**Harry hesitated. He'd been afraid of this - but he hadn't told Cedric, and he certainly wasn't going to tell Moody, that Hagrid had broken the rules.**

"Yeah," Sirius cheered. "Rebellion against authority! That's what I like to see!"

**"It's all right," said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. "Cheating's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and always has been."**

"That's true," Arthur agreed. "In this tournament, the best plan to stay alive is to cheat."

"That's still a little dishonorable," Remus said carefully.

"Only is if you get caught," Sirius disagreed.

**"I didn't cheat," said Harry sharply. "It was - a sort of accident that I found out."**

"You cheated Harry," Tonks said.

"Well, he didn't mean too," Kingsley offered. "It was Hagrid who showed him."

**Moody grinned. "I wasn't accusing you, laddie. I've been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won't be. They'll have told their champions everything they can. ****They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They'd like to prove he's only human."**

**Moody gave another harsh laugh, and his magical eye swivelled around so fast it made Harry feel queasy to watch it.**

"I know how you feel, Harry," Tonks grimaced. "It's almost as disgusting watching him take it out."

As if to prove a point, Moody pulled out his wand and conquered up a glass of water and pulled his eye out. Fleur let out a tiny shriek but he just grinned at her as he plopped the eyeball into the water.

"Do you do that every night?" Tonks asked curiously as the eyeball swirled around in the water. "Like how some old timers pull out their teeth and keep them in a glass on their bedside table?"

He just looked over at her and smiled as if to say, _'That's for me to know and you to find out.'_

Out in the hall, Albus was thinking of something he just realized. That harsh laugh of the imposter Moody happened whenever he was telling himself a private joke. He first noticed it when he mentioned in class that he was only going to be teaching one year, and here it was when he commented on the trunk… and again when he mentioned how he, Dumbledore, was only human.

He shut his eyes and smiled. It's unbelievable how little we notice until we stop to think of it.

**"So… got any ideas how you're going to get past your dragon yet?" said Moody.**

**"No," said Harry.**

**"Well, I'm not going to tell you," said Moody gruffly. "I don't show favoritism, me. **

"Of course you do Mad-Eye," Tonks said as if it was obvious and batted her eyelashes at him. "After all, I'm your favorite."

"No, you're not," Mad-Eye scowled in her direction, which only served to make Tonks grin wider. "You are without a doubt the biggest pain in my side that I've ever had."

She just grinned back and leaned back in her seat.

Sirius leaned over and whispered to Remus, "Sorta reminds me on how we used to act."

"Yes," Remus answered. "I love you like I love a headache, Padfoot."

He grinned. "Love ya too Professor Moony."

**I'm just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is – play to your strengths."**

**"I haven't got any," said Harry, before he could stop himself.**

"'E 'as such low confidence," Fleur whispered.

"I know, it's been bugging me since book one," Sirius scoffed. "If he doesn't have any strengths, then there's no hope for the rest of us. Honestly, sometimes I worry about that boy."

"But he can't do a Summoning Charm yet," Remus reminded them.

"You're forgetting who his best friend his," Tonks smirked.

**"Excuse me," growled Moody, "you've got strengths if I say you've got them. Think now. ****What are you best at?"**

Tonks and Kingsley both roared with laughter at that—having heard the real Moody say that many times to the Auror trainees. Moody on the other hand was grudgingly admitting that Crouch at least did his homework of studying him so well that he couldn't blame others for not being able to see the truth.

Not that he was any happier about it.

**Harry tried to concentrate. What was he best at? Well, that was easy, really –**

**"Quidditch," he said dully, "and a fat lot of help -"**

"Of course it is!" Sirius called out. "You out-flew all the competition from what I've heard!"

"It was a brilliant plan," Fleur admitted. If she had been comfortable on a broom, she might've tried it… but she was afraid of heights…

**"That's right," said Moody, staring at him very hard, his magical eye barely moving at all. "You're a damn good flier from what I've heard."**

"Oh, he's a thousand times better than just _good_," Sirius said, as if someone was saying that Christmas Dinner was a small snack.

**"Yeah, but…" Harry stared at him. "I'm not allowed a broom, I've only got my wand…"**

**"My second piece of general advice," said Moody loudly, interrupting him, "is to use a nice, simple spell that will enable you to get what you need."**

**Harry looked at him blankly. What did he need?**

"Come on, kid," Moody muttered annoyed. Really, for someone who's supposed to be smart, sure is dense sometimes.

**"Come on, boy…" whispered Moody. "Put them together… it's not that difficult…"**

**And it clicked. He was best at flying. He needed to pass the dragon in the air. For that, he needed his Firebolt. And for his Firebolt, he needed –**

**"Hermione,"**

Everyone laughed and Sirius said, "Yeah, when you're in trouble go to Hermione!"

**Harry whispered, when he had sped into greenhouse three minutes later, uttering a hurried apology to Professor Sprout as he passed her. "Hermione - I need you to help me."**

**"What d'you think I've been trying to do, Harry?" she whispered back, her eyes round with anxiety over the top of the quivering Flutterby Bush she was pruning.**

**"Hermione, I need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon."**

"Yeah, I need to learn this charm or else I'll be fried to a crisp and eaten," Tonks said. "But no pressure."

"Makes me wonder what those two would've done without her," Kingsley wondered.

"They'd probably would be dead," Tonks said teasingly.

**And so they practiced. They didn't have lunch, but headed for a free classroom, where Harry tried with all his might to make various objects fly across the room toward him. He was still having problems. The books and quills kept losing heart halfway across the room and dropping hike stones to the floor.**

**"Concentrate, Harry, concentrate…"**

**"What d'you think I'm trying to do?" said Harry angrily. "A great big dragon keeps popping up in my head for some reason… Okay, try again…"**

A few of them let out a few chuckles.

"Well," Fleur said flipping the page, "Zat's no excuse to be rude."

"Yeah, but you of all people should realize the amount of stress he's under right now," Bill teased. "I'm sure you must've bitten off a few heads while you were trying to figure out how to do the tasks."

Fleur couldn't deny that.

**He wanted to skip Divination to keep practicing, **

"Yeah, skip a useless subject and learn something that's actually useful," Sirius agreed.

**but Hermione refused point blank to skive off Arithmancy, and there was no point in staying without her. He therefore had to endure over an hour of Professor Trelawney, who spent half the lesson telling everyone that the position of Mars with relation to Saturn at that moment meant that people born in July were in great danger of sudden, violent deaths.**

"Strange that she's making that prediction right before the First Task," Molly said darkly and Tonks laughed again.

"What are the odds?" she chortled.

**"Well, that's good," said Harry loudly, his temper getting the better of him, "just as long as it's not drawn-out. I don't want to suffer."**

"That's it!" Sirius grinned widely. "There's that cheek I was looking for!"

**Ron looked for a moment as though he was going to laugh; he certainly caught Harry's eye for the first time in days, **

"Well, that's a good sign," Remus said slowly.

"Still not an apology though," Sirius grunted.

**but Harry was still feeling too resentful toward Ron to care. He spent the rest of the lesson trying to attract small objects toward him under the table with his wand. He managed to make a fly zoom straight into his hand, though he wasn't entirely sure that was his prowess ****at Summoning Charms - perhaps the fly was just stupid.**

"If you ask me," Remus began, "The biggest problem is his lack of confidence in his own abilities."

"That might be why he works so well under pressure, because he doesn't have time to think about it," Kingsley said.

"Sounds like the secret to his success is not thinking," Moody declared.

**He forced down some dinner after Divination, then returned to the empty classroom with Hermione, using the Invisibility Cloak to avoid the teachers. They kept practicing until past midnight. They would have stayed longer, but Peeves turned up and, pretending to think that Harry wanted things thrown at him, started chucking chairs across the room. **

"Of course he would," Bill said. "He always shows up when you don't need him."

"Why don't zey just get rid of zat 'orrible poltergeist?" Fleur asked them.

"I'm afraid that's easier said than done, Fleur," Kingsley chuckled. "Peeves is an indestructible spirit of chaos since the school was founded. He comes with the building. Hogwarts is stuck with him."

**Harry and Hermione left in a hurry before the noise attracted Filch, and went back to the Gryffindor common room, which was now mercifully empty.**

**At two o'clock in the morning, Harry stood near the fireplace, surrounded by heaps of objects: books, quills, several upturned chairs, an old set of Gobstones, and Neville's toad, Trevor. Only in the last hour had Harry really got the hang of the Summoning Charm.**

"Thank God," Molly whispered.

"Yeah," said Sirius. "One less thing for us all to worry about."

**"That's better, Harry, that's loads better," Hermione said, looking exhausted but very pleased.**

**"Well, now we know what to do next time I can't manage a spell," Harry said, throwing a rune dictionary back to Hermione, so he could try again, "threaten me with a dragon. Right…" **

"That would be an effective way to get students to learn," Bill grinned. "Make them learn a spell by threatening to feed them to a dragon."

"Maybe I should've used that threat to get you and your brothers to clean up your room once in awhile," Molly suggested and Bill flushed. Which only got worse with Fleur cooed into his ear, "You are so cute when you're embarrassed."

**He raised his wand once more. "Accio Dictionary!" The heavy book soared out of Hermione's hand, flew across the room, and Harry caught it.**

"He learns a hard spell like that overnight," Arthur said. "Amazing what they can do when they apply themselves."

**"Harry, I really think you've got it!" said Hermione delightedly.**

**"Just as long as it works tomorrow," Harry said. "The Firebolt's going to be much farther away than the stuff in here, it's going to be in the castle, and I'm going to be out there on the grounds…"**

"Oh, take away my good mood, Harry," Sirius groaned.

"Don't worry," Fleur reassured them. "'E managed eet just fine."

"Besides," Mad-Eye spoke up. "He has a scary ability to pull off a miracle just when you need it most."

**"That doesn't matter," said Hermione firmly. "Just as long as you're concentrating really, really hard on it, it'll come. Harry, we'd better get some sleep… you're going to need it."**

"How can you expect him to sleep when he has a dragon to face in the morning, Hermione?" Kingsley asked.

"Good question," Tonks said thinking it over. "I'll have to ask Charlie how he does it. There's got to be some kind of trick otherwise he wouldn't be able to get any sleep."

**Harry had been focusing so hard on learning the Summoning Charm that evening that some of his blind panic had heft him. It returned in full measure, however, on the following morning. The atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure - though of course, they didn't yet know what they would find there.**

**Harry felt oddly separate from everyone around him, whether they were wishing him good luck or hissing _"We'll have a box of tissues ready, Potter"_ as he passed.**

"No need to guess to hard who they were," Bill said.

"Slytherins," Sirius growled angrily. "I'd love to see how they would've taken it if it had been them."

**It was a state of nervousness so advanced that he wondered whether he mightn't just lose his head when they tried to lead him out to his dragon, and start trying to curse everyone in ****sight. **

"That sounds like you, Mad-Eye," Tonks interrupted again. "Is this how it started off for you? You just started trying to curse…"

"You want me to turn you into a ferret or something?" he threatened her.

She laughed again as she held up her hands. "Ok, just asking. No need to get so grumpy about it. Though I guess this was how it started off for y-?"

But before she could finish asking, Mad-Eye finally took his eye out of the glass and stuck it back in his head so that it could glare evilly at her.

**Time was behaving in a more peculiar fashion than ever, rushing past in great dollops, so that one moment he seemed to be sitting down in his first lesson, History of Magic, and the next, walking into lunch… **

"Time always seems to have a bad habit of speeding up when you would give anything to just stop it completely," Remus stated grimly.

**and then (where had the morning gone? the last of the dragon-free hours?), Professor McGonagall was hurrying over to him in the Great Hall. Lots of people were watching.**

**"Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now… you have to get ready for your first task."**

**"Okay," said Harry, standing up, his fork falling onto his plate with a clatter.**

**"Good luck, Harry," Hermione whispered. "You'll be fine!"**

**"Yeah," said Harry in a voice that was most unlike his own.**

**He left the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall. She didn't seem herself either; in fact, she looked nearly as anxious as Hermione. **

"Well, she must be terrified for him," Bill said anxiously.

"One of her favorite students is in a dangerous life-threatening tournament, of course she would be worried about him," Molly snapped back.

**As she walked him down the stone steps and out into the cold November afternoon, she put her hand on his shoulder.**

**"Now, don't panic," she said, "just keep a cool head… We've got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand… the main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you… are you all right?"**

"Way to make him feel better, Minerva," Kingsley said deeply.

**"Yes," Harry heard himself say. "Yes, I'm fine."**

"Think that she believed that?" Tonks questioned. They all looked up at each other and they all said at the same time, "Not at all."

"Who would?" Arthur questioned.

**She was leading him toward the place where the dragons were, around the edge of the forest, but when they approached the clump of trees behind which the enclosure would be clearly visible, Harry saw that a tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view.**

"So they planned on keeping what you were facing a secret up until then?" asked Molly going pale. "If you honestly didn't know what was coming, don't they realize how dangerous that could've been?"

"Zey did tell us just before we walked out zere," Fleur said. "Listen…"

**"You're to go in here with the other champions," said Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky sort of voice, "and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr. Bagman is in there… he'll be telling you the - the procedure… Good luck."**

**"Thanks," said Harry, in a flat, distant voice. She left him at the entrance of the tent. Harry went inside.**

**Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a low wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy.**

"What did 'e expect me to be?" Fleur asked them. "Excited?"

"It's that annoying observation of his," Bill smirked at her. "He notices everything."

"Something that you could all learn from," Mad-Eye grunted at them.

**Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Harry supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Harry entered, Cedric gave him a small smile, which Harry returned, feeling the muscles in his face working rather hard, as though ****they had forgotten how to do it.**

"That's sad," Tonks said. You have to be pretty miserable to forget how to smile.

**"Harry! Good-o!" said Bagman happily, looking around at him. "Come in, come in, make yourself at home!"**

**Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again. **

"Well, he can be happy because he's not the one who has to fight a dragon," Sirius said angrily. "But can he talk in a little less jolly way?"

"He's an idiot," Moody said. "What else do you expect from someone with less brains than a Bowtruckle?"

**"Well, now we're all here - time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" - he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different - er - varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too… ah, yes… your task is to collect the golden egg!"**

"From an angry nesting mother dragon," Tonks finished up. "Yeah, that won't be difficult at all!"

**Harry glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn't reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be sick if they opened their mouths; that was certainly how Harry felt. **

Fleur nodded; she had being feeling quite similar to Harry.

"What were you thinking at that moment?" Arthur asked her.

"Ze only zing zat was going zrough my head was what did I get myself into?" she answered.

**But they, at least, had volunteered for this…**

"When 'e puts eet like zat, eet makes me feel even worse," Fleur sighed; at the time she had been too worried about the dragon to even think about how the other Champions were feeling.

**And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking… Harry felt as separate from the crowd as though they were a different species. And then – it seemed like about a second later to Harry - Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack.**

**"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour.**

**She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck And Harry knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that he had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what was coming.**

"That's not really a surprise," Sirius said.

"Well, of course she did, I wouldn't let one of my students go against a dragon without being forewarned in advanced," Molly said biting her lip.

"Well, that was the purpose of the task," Tonks pointed out.

"I think that they all have bravery and daring just being in the tournament in the first place," Arthur said kindly to Fleur who blushed with pleasure.

**The same held true for Krum. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground.**

**Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-gray Swedish Short–Snout, the number one tied around its neck. Knowing what was left, Harry put his hand into the silk ****bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number four.**

"And of course he would have to go last _and _be stuck with the most vicious dragon," Sirius moaned as he hid his face in his hands.

**It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs.**

**"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now… Harry… ****could I have a quick word? Outside?"**

"So we can't watch how well you guys did?" Tonks asked Fleur in disappointment.

"I was able to watch Viktor and 'Arry once I was done," she answered. "Zey were very remarkable."

"I just realized something," Bill said. "They weren't supposed to know what they were facing, but once they saw those models they would have known, right?"

"Yes," Kingsley said slowly.

"Well, then there's no point in keeping this secret," Bill said at once. "If they really wanted to test their daring, they would've kept this secret until they dragged them right out to face the dragons."

"That would just be cruel," Tonks said as Fleur shivered at the idea and silently grateful that Madame Maxime had told her.

**"Er… yes," said Harry blankly, and he got up and went out of the tent with Bagman, who walked him a short distance away, into the trees, and then turned to him with a fatherly expression on his face.**

**"Feeling all right, Harry? Anything I can get you?"**

**"What?" said Harry. "I - no, nothing."**

**"Got a plan?" said Bagman, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Because I don't mind sharing a few pointers, if you'd like them, you know. I mean," **

"He wants him to cheat?" Molly said in shocked. "Why would he be doing that?"

"He's a judge, he shouldn't be helping the Champions," Bill agreed suspiciously.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Kingsley muttered.

**Bagman continued, lowering his voice still further, "you're the underdog here, Harry … anything I can do to help…"**

**"No," said Harry so quickly he knew he had sounded rude, "no - I - I know what I'm going to do, thanks."**

**"Nobody would know, Harry," said Bagman, winking at him.**

"But if anyone found out, it would get them both in trouble," Molly said frowning. "Surely a judge would know that…"

"I've got a feeling that he's doing this in his own self-interest," Moody grunted.

**"No, I'm fine," said Harry, wondering why he kept telling people this, and wondering ****whether he had ever been less fine. **

"About time he finally starts questioning that," Remus said.

"Hopefully he'll learn to stop," Sirius agreed.

**"I've got a plan worked out, I -"**

**A whistle had blown somewhere.**

**"Good lord, I've got to run!" said Bagman in alarm, and he hurried off.**

_'Good riddance,'_ Mad-Eye thought to himself. "Like he needed help from Bagman."

**Harry walked back to the tent and saw Cedric emerging from it, greener than ever. Harry tried to wish him luck as he walked past, but all that came out of his mouth was a sort of hoarse grunt.**

**Harry went back inside to Fleur and Krum. Seconds later, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to face with the living counterpart of his model.**

"Eet's not a good feeling," Fleur said and was also starting to look a little green at the memory.

**It was worse than Harry could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed… yelled… gasped like a single many-headed entity,** **as Cedric did whatever he ****was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. **

"What did he do?" Remus asked Fleur and she shrugged.

"I told you," she said. "I only watched Viktor and 'Arry. I went out second."

Albus on the other hand nodded. He remembered that day so clearly.

_*Flashback*_

_They brought out the Swedish Short-Snout and she snorted rings of smoke as her silvery blue scales shined in the light and she looked around her nest. She let out a small jet of brilliantly blue flames in warning towards all the people around her—as if daring them to come any nearer. Albus knew that those blue flames were hot enough to reduce timber and bone to ashes in seconds. And is one of the most dangerous species due to its agile flying as well as its hot flames. However, it is also much less agile on the ground because of its lack of forward limbs, which was how the Keepers dealt with her._

_When Cedric had come out, Albus saw him freeze when he came face-to-face with her, but a split second later, he turned his wand onto a large rock on the ground and suddenly, a large black, Labrador was there._

_Albus leaned forward and watched as the dragon went after the dog with a bout of fire, but missed._

_"Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow…" Ludo screamed as the frustrated dragon took a solitary step from her eggs, flapping her wings angrily. Albus could hear the crowd screaming; hear Ludo's voice, louder than them all, though he can't discern what he said as his eyes stayed on Cedric._

_The Hufflepuff ran in the opposite direction of the dog, and try to get a good view of what the dog is doing. On the other side of the arena, the Lab was trying to play with the dragon, running in circles then darting off when it thought the dragon might chase him._

_"He's taking risks, this one!" Ludo then yelled as Cedric crept closer to the nest and Albus was praying the dog would keep the Short-Snout at bay long enough for Cedric to get the egg. But then a burst of flame hit the ground to close to the dog, and he ran off in Cedric's direction._

_Cedric noticed this as well and took this moment to bolt for the egg, but too late! The Short-Snout roared, furious, and took off into the air, flapping its wings and turning her attention onto Cedric. Albus watched as Cedric ran, dived, and ducked out of the way of the flames, to his horror, Cedric raised his arm to protect himself just as the dragon's flame missed his head by inches._

_"Clever move - pity it didn't work!" and Albus wondered if he could get away with stunning Ludo and shutting him up._

_Albus could smell burning hair on the air and he could see that Cedric was burned as he made a run for it. Albus was so close to getting up and putting a stop to it when just at that moment, Cedric reached the nest and scoop up the golden egg with his unburned arm. Cedric rolled away from the rest of the silvery-colored eggs, hugging the golden one to his chest as he ducked, landing on his burnt side._

_And then she was restrained as her keepers came charging out nowhere and stunned her, getting ready to quickly move her. Albus heard the crowd screaming louder than ever, though he kept his eyes on Cedric, who picked himself off the ground, and Professor Sprout came running towards him from the stands looking as white as a ghost._

_"Very good indeed! And now the marks from the judges!" Ludo shouted over the crowd and Albus felt the need to shake him. Cedric was burned; they shouldn't make him stand there in pain any longer than necessary! But Cedric, barely able to stand, continued to hold onto the egg and was being supported by Pomona as they looked at them._

_*End of Flashback*_

He brought himself back to listen to Fleur read: **Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent. And Bagman's commentary made everything much, much worse… horrible pictures formed in Harry's mind as he heard: "Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow"… "He's taking risks, this one!"… "_Clever_ move - pity it didn't work!"**

"They could've least put up some silencing charms around the tent so that they wouldn't have to listen to this," Arthur said, that had to have been torture to listen to.

**And then, after about fifteen minutes, Harry heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg.**

**"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges!"**

**But he didn't shout out the marks; Harry supposed the judges were holding them up and ****showing them to the crowd.**

"I wish they'd tell the scores," Sirius said in disappointment.

"I don't think that it would've been fair to the other Champions," Arthur said looking at Fleur.

"In ze First Task, Cedric did ze worst because 'e was burned," Fleur said thinking back. "Zen it was me… and 'Arry and Viktor were tied een first."

"Wow, wish I could've seen it for myself," Tonks said enviously.

**"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"**

**Fleur was trembling from head to foot; Harry felt more warmly toward her than he had ****done so far as she heft the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. **

"That is very admirable," Bill said to her. "Just walking in with your head high and ready to face whatever was waiting for you…"

"But I was terrified," she confessed to him.

He shook his head. "Only makes it braver. You still did it even though you were scared. I'd be worried for your sanity if you weren't."

She blinked before another wide smile came over her face. "Zank you," she said, forgetting that they were being watched.

They continued to look at each other, until Moody cleared his throat and they both jumped. Blushing, Fleur went back to the book and read out a little loudly: **He and Krum were left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other's gaze.**

**The same process started again…"Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully. "Oh… nearly! Careful now… good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"**

Bill looked worried, and irritated that Bagman was sounding so gleeful that people were risking their lives here. "What happened?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Fleur said smiling. "Eet shot fire at me but it missed."

**Ten minutes later, Harry heard the crowd erupt into applause once more… Fleur must have been successful too.**

Albus nodded and thought back to what happened that round as well.

_*Flashback*_

_Albus was relieved as he watched Pomona lead Cedric towards the medical tent and watched as the Short-Snout and returned minutes later with the smaller green one with smooth scales. The Common Welsh Green._

_This dragon is a relatively subdued breed compared to most and it usually avoided human contact altogether if possible. The Welsh Green's roar was rather distinctive and somewhat melodious as it was dragged out and its earthy brown eggs that were flecked with green had replaced the Short-Snouts eggs this time._

_Fleur came out with her wand held tightly in her hands as she stared up at the dragon. For a moment she and the dragon just stared at each other and suddenly she raised her wand and shouted something._

_A jet of silvery-green light had hit the dragon dead in the eyes and suddenly became slightly hazy. So Fleur was trying to put it into a Bewitched Sleep was she? That is a very difficult spell… and would normally have to be placed on a dragon many times before it begins to even show signs of dozing off._

_Madame Maxime seemed to have realized this as well and she shifted in her seat uncomfortably as she watched her student run around the arena. "Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" Ludo shouted as Fleur dodged a jet of fire and was running around the dragon, shooting the same spell over and over again at her eyes._

_She had been able to keep this up as long as Cedric had taken, continuing to duck behind rocks and boulders whenever the dragon roared, not daring dodge out any longer than she had to. "Oh… nearly! Careful now…" this time Ludo was right. Finally, the spell seemed to be taking effect and the dragon slowly began to sway slightly, as if tired._

_Albus held his breath as she cast the spell one last time and the dragon slowly sank to its knees and closed her eyes… not completely asleep but no longer aware of what was going on around her._

_Fleur took this chance to run up and ducked under the dragon's wing; she had quickly made to pull the egg from the others… but just at that moment, the dragon let out a loud snore and a flame shot out. Fleur screamed and ducked just in time but her skirt had caught fire. It took her about three seconds for her to realize that it was burning and she screamed even louder as she fumbled for her wand._

_"Good lord, I thought she'd had it then!" Ludo shouted as she dosed herself with a stream of water. Soaking wet, she grabbed the egg and ran from the sleeping dragon as fast as she could go. Albus could hear Madame Maxime sigh in relief as he applauded loudly, deeply impressed._

_Fleur stood in front of the judges holding the egg to her as if it was her firstborn and they all put up their scores. She smiled brightly and Albus looked to Madame Maxime to see she was smiling proudly. She was then hurried off to the medical tent to ensure that she had no injuries as the team of wizards went out to drag the resting dragon away._

_*End of Flashback*_

Albus agreed with Bill wholeheartedly. That was truly brave indeed.

**A pause, while Fleur's marks were being shown… more clapping… then, for the third time, the whistle.**

**"And here comes Mr. Krum!" cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Harry quite alone.**

**He felt much more aware of his body than usual; very aware of the way his heart was pumping fast, and his fingers tingling with fear… yet at the same time, he seemed to be outside himself, seeing the walls of the tent, and hearing the crowd, as though from far away.**

**"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling, and Harry heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. "That's some nerve he's showing - and - yes, he's got the egg!"**

"What did he do?" Tonks asked. As Fleur explained, Albus became lost in memories once again…

_*Flashback*_

_"And here comes Mr. Krum!" at those words, Albus felt terror take root. That means that Harry's last with the dreaded Horntail. Why was he surprised? He should've guessed this with Harry's luck. Viktor Krum then slouched out just the Chinese Fireball had been pulled out._

_The Chinese Fireball's scarlet and smooth scaled flashed in the sunlight as her fringe of golden spikes around her face swayed whenever she turned her head. She was angry… the mushroom-shaped flames coming from her nostrils was proof of that. Albus hoped that Viktor was feeling creative… for Chinese Fireballs are some of the fastest and cleverest of all dragons. The Fireball crotched down low over her crimson and gold eggs as she looked down at Viktor—as though she was daring him to try anything. As if he had this planned, Viktor went charging forward as if he wasn't afraid at all. "Very daring!" Ludo screamed._

_Viktor raised his wand and shot a jet of red-orange light straight at the dragon's head. Almost at once, the dragon let out a horrible, roaring shriek of pain and everyone gasped as it shut her eyes and tossing her head wildly from side to side. The Conjunctivitis Charm…_

_The dragon roared and went trampling around in distress, trying to see, shooting off mushroom-haped balls of fire whenever it could, Viktor took shelter behind a boulder as the dragon's crushing weight was dragged over the nest. Albus could see that several of the real eggs were cracked._

_After some time, Viktor seemed to have gathered up his courage and went charging straight towards what remained of the nest while the Fireball was trying to get its sight back. "That's some nerve he's showing - and - yes, he's got the egg!" Ludo screamed and Igor clapped loudly as the dragon keepers went out to gather up the remaining eggs and to deal with the distressed Fireball._

_The judges were supposed to take off points for any damage towards the eggs and most of them gave up reasonable scores. All except for Karkaroff who, predictably, shot up a ten. The crowd clapped as Albus turned to see the large black dragon that now stood there—the crowd screamed louder than ever before. He watched numbly as the twelve wizards struggled with the Horntail. It truly was menacing, with her black scales, yard-long bronze spikes on its scaly tail, and bronze horns protruding from its head. It's cold yellow eyes glared at the crowd as it let out a roar of disapproval and stretched its monstrous leathery wings._

_She let out fire that turned the stone under her feet red-hot in just a few seconds, warning the handlers to get away from her cement-colored eggs._

_Without a doubt, the most dangerous dragon breed out there._

_*End of Flashback*_

**Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished – it would be Harry's turn any moment.**

Everyone tensed up, this was it…

**He stood up, noticing dimly that his legs seemed to be made of marshmallow. He waited. And then he heard the whistle blow. He walked out through the entrance of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside him. And now he was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence.**

**He saw everything in front of him as though it was a very highly colored dream.**

"More like a nightmare," Sirius disagreed, he gulped—terrified of what he might hear…

**There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands that had been magicked there since he'd last stood on this spot. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. **

"And I zought ze Welsh Green was bad," Fleur whispered.

"Any dragon is bad," Bill reassured her. "Though this one sounds like a nasty piece of work."

**The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Harry didn't know or care. It was time to do what he had to do… to focus his mind, entirely and absolutely, upon the thing that was his only chance.**

**He raised his wand.**

**_"Accio_**** Firebolt!" he shouted.**

**Harry waited, every fibre of him hoping, praying… If it hadn't worked… if it wasn't coming… **

"Does he have to think like that?" Sirius demanded to no one in particular.

"It'll come as long so long as he doesn't doubt himself," Remus said at once. "And since he got past this task, it must've worked."

**He seemed to be looking at everything around him through some sort of shimmering, transparent barrier, like a heat haze, which made the enclosure and the hundreds of faces around him swim strangely…**

**And then he heard it, speeding through the air behind him; he turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling toward him around the edge of the wood,**

A wave of enormous relief swept through the room, even Fleur and Dumbledore who were the only ones who had actually been there that day and saw what happened.

**soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in midair beside him, waiting for him to mount. The crowd was making even more noise… Bagman was shouting something… but Harry's ears were not working properly anymore… listening wasn't important…**

**He swung his leg over the broom and kicked off from the ground. And a second later, something miraculous happened…**

**As he soared upward, as the wind rushed through his hair, as the crowd's faces became ****mere flesh-colored pinpricks below, and the Horntail shrank to the size of a dog, he realized that he had left not only the ground behind, but also his fear… he was back where he belonged…**

"Wow," Tonks said, voicing what everyone was thinking. "That is so just… wow."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Kingsley said.

**This was just another Quidditch match, that was all… just another Quidditch match, and that Horntail was just another ugly opposing team.**

Moody suddenly started to laugh. "And we're sure this kid isn't a Seer?" he asked.

They all looked at him in confusion.

"What does that have anything to do with this?" Tonks demanded, wondering what was going through her mentor's mind this time.

"And this is why I wonder how you passed your Auror exams," he said rolling his eyes. "In book three he dreamt of the Slytherins riding dragons just before their final match didn't he?"

They stared before they started laughing as well. Fleur looked over at Bill, about to ask, but he just smiled and quickly explained to her what this was about.

"I swear that kid has to have some kind of Seer blood in him somewhere," Tonks giggled her way back to silence. Once everyone calmed down, Fleur began to read again.

**He looked down at the clutch of eggs and spotted the gold one, gleaming against its cement-colored fellows, residing safely between the dragon's front legs.**

**"Okay," Harry told himself, "diversionary tactics… let's go…"**

**He dived. The Horntail's head followed him; he knew what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where he would have been had he not swerved away… **

Sirius was twitching horribly and Molly's face lost all color.

**but Harry didn't care… that was no more than dodging a Bludger.**

_'More like a rogue Bludger,'_ Moody thought.

**"Great Scott, he can fly!" yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"**

"Wow, he has to be good to stun those two," Kingsley stated.

"He wants to know if Krum should be taking notes," Sirius said grinning from ear to ear. "A world famous Quidditch Star didn't even think of using his broom."

"Viktor said zat 'e was greatly impressed by 'Arry's flying," Fleur informed them.

**Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following his progress; its head revolving on its long neck - if he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy – but better not push it too long, or it would be breathing fire again –**

**Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky - he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes —**

"What?!" Molly gasped and Sirius held his breath.

"It's just his shoulder," Moody told them. "It's not like it ripped it off!"

"If you don't shut up, Mad-Eye," Sirius began threateningly, but Fleur continued as if she hadn't heard a word.

**He could feel it stinging, he could hear screaming and groans from the crowd, but the cut didn't seem to be deep… now he zoomed around the back of the Horntail, and a possibility occurred to him…**

**The Horntail didn't seem to want to take off, she was too protective of her eggs. Though she writhed and twisted, furling and unfurling her wings and keeping those fearsome yellow eyes on Harry, she was afraid to move too far from them… but he had to persuade her to ****do it, or he'd never get near them… the trick was to do it carefully, gradually…**

"Yes, please," Molly said chewing on her lip again. If he rushed in there again, he could end up being killed.

**He began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared…**

**He flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, like a snake before its charmer… Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now… she shot fire into the air, which he dodged… her jaws opened wide…**

Sirius thought that his heart had stopped beating for that moment.

**"Come on," Harry hissed, swerving tantalizingly above her, "come on, come and get me… up you get now…"**

"Harry," Remus groaned. "I don't think that you need to tantalize an angry dragon."

**And then she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane - and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs - he had taken his hands off his Firebolt - he had seized the golden egg –**

"Just like catching a Snitch," Sirius said, beaming with pride.

**And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm, and it was as though somebody had just turned the volume back up - for the first time, he became properly aware of the noise of the crowd, which was screaming and applauding as loudly as the Irish supporters at the World Cup -**

**"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"**

"He got the egg the quickest!" Sirius cheered in pride. "Everyone thought that he'd need to be rescued, but he pulled it off and did it better than anyone else! That's brilliant!"

**Harry saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurrying to meet him, all of them waving him toward them, their smiles evident even from this distance. He flew back over the stands, the noise of the crowd pounding his eardrums, and came in smoothly to land, his heart lighter than it had been in weeks… he had got through the first task, he had survived.**

"That should be a major morale boost," Bill agreed.

"Nothing should make you feel proud of yourself like beating a dragon on your own," Tonks said jokingly.

**"That was excellent, Potter!" cried Professor McGonagall **

"Ok, now you know you've done an amazing job when Professor McGonagall is praising you!" Remus laughed, remembering how difficult it had been for him to get so much as a 'well done' from the woman.

**as he got off the Firebolt - which from her was extravagant praise. He noticed that her hand shook as she pointed at his shoulder. "You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score… over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already…"**

"Why don't I like how she said that?" Tonks said wincing.

"What happened to him?" asked Molly in concern.

"'E was burned," Fleur repeated. "But I 'eard zat eet wasn't serious."

"Ouch," Sirius said.

**"Yeh did it, Harry!" said Hagrid hoarsely. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was the wors' -"**

**"Thanks, Hagrid," said Harry loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown Harry the dragons beforehand.**

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to let that slip, Hagrid," Arthur said loudly. "It would get you all in trouble."

**Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket.**

**"Nice and easy does the trick, Potter," he growled.**

**"Right then, Potter, the first aid tent, please…" said Professor McGonagall.**

Molly nodded, glad that someone responsible was there to take charge.

**Harry walked out of the enclosure, still panting, and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the ****mouth of a second tent, looking worried.**

"Well, if you think about the fact that four students have all been forced to steal an egg from dragons, I should think so," Molly said.

**"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Harry inside. **

Molly nodded firmly again, agreeing wholeheartedly with Madam Pomfrey.

**The tent was divided into cubicles; he could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, ****but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Harry's shoulder, talking furiously all the while. "Last year Dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? **

"Oh no!" Tonks gasped in mock horror. "She had to ask!"

"Well, I don't blame her," Arthur said. "Think about the last few years… there's something dangerous every year. No wonder she's worried."

**You're very lucky… this is quite shallow… it'll need cleaning before I heal it up, though…"**

**She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked and stung, but then poked his shoulder with her wand, and he felt it heal instantly. "Now, just sit quietly for a minute - sit! And then you can go and get your score."**

"Yeah, she gets what she wants or she'll give you a real injury to be worried about," Remus chuckled, having spent most of his school years in the hospital with her.

**She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next door and say, "How does it feel now, Diggory?"**

**Harry didn't want to sit still: He was too full of adrenaline. He got to his feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before he'd reached the mouth of the tent, two people had come darting inside - Hermione, followed closely by Ron.**

"So does he believe that Harry didn't put his name in yet?" Sirius asked, his good mood fading slightly and a frown back on his face. "Cause if he's in there to bug him then I'm gonna…"

"I'm sure that they're going to make up here," Molly interrupted, relief in her tone. "Thank goodness for that. I wasn't sure how much more I could've listened to."

"I notice that it's not until _after_ he's forced to face a dragon that he finally decides to apologize," Sirius hissed under his breath.

**"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear. "You were amazing! You really were!"**

**But Harry was looking at Ron, who was very white and staring at Harry as though he were a ****ghost.**

"Harry's not dead, Ron," Tonks said. "So you don't have to act like he is."

**"Harry," he said, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet - I – I reckon they're trying to do you in!"**

"Finally!" Sirius says dramatically, making everyone laugh. "His brain is working again and he realizes what an idiot he was. About time!"

**It was as though the last few weeks had never happened - as though Harry were meeting Ron for the first time, right after he'd been made champion.**

**"Caught on, have you?" said Harry coldly. "Took you long enough."**

"You tell 'em, Harry," Sirius cheered under his breath.

**Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. Ron opened his mouth uncertainly. Harry knew Ron was about to apologize and suddenly he found he didn't need to hear it.**

"WHAT?!" Sirius demanded in amazement. "Come again? He forgave him? After weeks of abandonment, he doesn't even let him apologize first?"

"Harry could tell that Ron was sorry, so that was enough for him," Arthur stated. "The boy doesn't hold a grudge for long."

"But come on!" Sirius said sourly. "He should've at least waited until Ron apologized before he forgave him that easily!"

Molly was shaking her head in exasperation. Weeks of jealously and anger between the two of them and they make up in seconds. All that worry over them of them for nothing…

**"It's okay," he said, before Ron could get the words out. "Forget it."**

**"No," said Ron, "I shouldn't've -"**

**"Forget it, "Harry said.**

**Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned back**. **Hermione burst into tears.**

"I understand completely, Hermione," Molly stated, wanting to cry as well.

**"There's nothing to cry about!" Harry told her, bewildered.**

**"You two are so stupid!" she shouted, stamping her foot on the ground, tears splashing down her front. Then, before either of them could stop her, she had given both of them a hug and dashed away, now positively howling.**

"I'm sure that it must be difficult being friends with them when they're fighting," Kingsley said deeply.

"Well, in all friendships you have disagreements," Arthur stated simply.

**"Barking mad," said Ron, shaking his head. "Harry, c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores…"**

"As tactless as always," Molly said shaking her head, yet there was a brief smile on her face.

**Picking up the golden egg and his Firebolt, feeling more elated than he would have believed possible an hour ago, Harry ducked out of the tent, Ron by his side, talking fast.**

**"You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground… turned it into a dog… he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. **

"So that's what happened," Remus said. "Well, it was a good idea… but I guess he didn't think about what would've happened if that didn't work."

"So long as it keeps you alive," Sirius added. "Sounds like he expected it to go off without a hitch."

"You should never, never, never, _ever_ think that plans will go off without a hitch," Moody barked. "For Aurors, you must be ready for as many back-up plans as possible."

**Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well - the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away. **

Mad-Eye nodded. After all, when Potter split open Diggory's bag, one of the books that fell out was a text on Advanced Transfiguration. This is just proof that he's good at it.

**And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance - well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire - she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand. **

"That wasn't a bad idea," commented Bill as he looked at her gently.

"Easier said zan done," she confessed. "I must've hit eet wiz zat charm about fifty times before it finally drifted off for me to steal ze egg."

"But still…" Tonks spoke up, "Better to deal with one that's sleeping than one who's awake and angry."

**And Krum - you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying!**

"Yeah," Sirius smirked. "He was probably wondering why he didn't think of it!"

**He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs - they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them."**

"There's Conjunctivitis Charm," Sirius said hurriedly. "Though hearing about it here, I guess that it was a good thing that I never had a chance to tell Harry. He found a better way, that's for sure."

**Ron drew breath as he and Harry reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Harry could see where the five judges were sitting - right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold.**

**"It's marks out of ten from each one," Ron said, and Harry squinting up the field, saw the first judge - Madame Maxime - raise her wand in the air. What looked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.**

"She doesn't show favoritism," Fleur said proudly. "She gave me a nine because my skirt was on fire."

"Good for her," Remus stated politely. Hopefully, Severus could've taken a page from her book about that.

**"Not bad!" said Ron as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder…"**

**Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.**

"Not bad at all," Tonks said happily.

**"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back.**

**Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever.**

**Ludo Bagman - ten.**

"What?" Kingsley said in surprise. "You think that he would've gotten a lower mark because of his arm…"

"He's an idiot," Moody answered in annoyance, "Is this chapter almost over with already?"

"Only a few more pages," Fleur promised.

**"Ten?" said Harry in disbelief. "But… I got hurt… what's he playing at?"**

"Why does he always complain when things are good?" Sirius groaned.

**"Harry, don't complain!" Ron yelled excitedly.**

"Yes, I agree," Sirius said. "Someone's bound to take that away if you're not careful."

**And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too - four.**

"FOUR?!" Sirius yelled out in outrage. "Lousy cheat, he only paused because he was adding everything up and make sure that Harry didn't beat his Champion!"

"Sirius, relax!" Kingsley said loudly. "It's unfair, but Karakroff wasn't going to be playing fair. But it doesn't matter."

Breathing hard like an angry bull, Sirius leaned back in his seat and folded his arms, muttering what he really thought of Karakroff as Fleur continued in a weary sort of way.

**"What?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Four? You lousy, biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!"**

"Yeah, you tell 'em Ron," Sirius growled, in light of Karakroff's low score he completely forgot that he was still angry with Ron.

**But Harry didn't care, he wouldn't have cared if Karkaroff had given him zero; Ron's indignation on his behalf was worth about a hundred points to him. He didn't tell Ron this, ****of course, but his heart felt lighter than air as he turned to leave the enclosure. **

**And it wasn't just Ron… those weren't only Gryffindors cheering in the crowd. When it had come to it, when they had seen what he was facing, most of the school had been on his side as well as Cedric's… he didn't care about the Slytherins, he could stand whatever they threw at him now.**

"Well, who cares what they have to say anyway?" Sirius asked. But he was still frowning. "And I noticed that the rest of the school is suddenly on his side again. So now that he's in the lead they all jump on board and say that they believed in him all along. Why am I not surprise?"

"Sirius," Molly scolded. "Now, I'm sure that when they saw what they were up against, they must've been rooting for Harry as well as Cedric."

"Sure," Sirius grunted. "Though I find it funny that it wasn't until after the task did they start giving him some support."

**"You're tied in first place, Harry! You and Krum!" said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened - but that was unbelievable! **

"I don't think that you slept until you got that letter telling you that Harry made it through in one piece," Bill suggested and Molly smiled vaguely.

"She didn't go to bed until that owl arrived," Arthur chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Thankfully it showed up at around midnight."

**Oh yeah - and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes… Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."**

"With him, or all the Champions?" asked Arthur suspiciously. "What did he want?"

"Wiz all of us," Fleur explained. "'E was explaining ze Second Task."

**Ron said he would wait, so Harry re-entered the tent, which somehow looked quite different now: friendly and welcoming. **

**He thought back to how he'd felt while dodging the Horntail, and compared it to the long wait before he'd walked out to face it… there was no comparison; the wait had been immeasurably worse. **

"I agree," Fleur chimed in.

**Fleur, Cedric, and Krum all came in together. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He grinned at Harry when he saw him.**

**"Good one, Harry."**

**"And you," said Harry, grinning back.**

"An't that sweet?" Tonks cooed. "To see boys getting along?"

"Yes, yes," Sirius said, also feeling emotionally drained, and thinking longingly of his bed upstairs.

**"Well done, all of you!" said Ludo Bagman, bouncing into the tent and looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon. **

"Zat's what I zought too," Fleur stated, wondering who anyone could've been so cheerful when they hadn't done a thing.

"Maybe he was excited for all of you?" Bill suggested, though he had a feeling there was something more to it than that.

**"Now, just a quick few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth - but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open… see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg - because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!"**

"What was the clue?" Tonks asked Fleur, who smiled mysteriously and just read on while Tonks pouted.

**Harry left the tent, rejoined Ron, and they started to walk back around the edge of the forest, talking hard; Harry wanted to hear what the other champions had done in more detail. Then, as they rounded the clump of trees behind which Harry had first heard the dragons roar, a witch leapt out from behind them.**

**It was Rita Skeeter. **

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Bill said rolling his eyes. "Her? She's got some nerve showing up after all the trouble she's caused."

"She didn't honestly think that he would talk to her after that last article did she?" Moody asked raising his eyebrows. "If she did, she's dumber than I thought."

**She was wearing acid-green robes today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them.**

**"Congratulations, Harry!" she said, beaming at him. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"**

**"Yeah, you can have a word," said Harry savagely. "Good-bye."**

Everyone burst out laughing, glad that Rita was finally getting what she deserved.

"Couldn't have picked a better word myself," Sirius said beaming just as widely as when he heard the round with the dragon.

**And he set off back to the castle with Ron.**

"And zat's eet," Fleur said in relief, marking the page before she shut the book tiredly.

"Thank goodness that is over," sighed Molly. "Goodness, I wasn't even there and I'm exhausted."

"That should tie us all over for now," Arthur said before he checked his watch. "I think that's a good place to stop for today. How about we meet back here in a day or so and finish it then?"

In the end, it was decided that they would meet up in three days time and pick up where they left off. They all got up and Sirius picked up the book to take back upstairs, Fleur and Bill were going back to work, and Kingsley and Tonks had to head back to the Ministry before anyone realized they weren't there. To be honest, they were supposed to have been at work over an hour ago…

In all the hustle and bustle, Albus had been able to quietly leave the house without anyone—save for Alastor Moody—noticing.

**(Happy Birthday Harry and J.K Rowling!)**


	25. The HouseElf Liberation Front

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 24: The House-Elf Liberation Front**

_*Bill*_

Bill was blushing crimson red when he walked up the familiar steps of Gringotts bank. He had been nervous around girls before of course… but never like this before. He kept his right arm behind his back the whole time up the steps, bowed his head in respect to the goblins at the door and entered the familiar white building before heading down to one of the offices.

He nodded, and greeted some of his co-workers who yawning and looking tired… because it was so early, everyone was only just arriving. Finally, he stopped outside an office he knew almost as well as his own. He took a deep breath, knocked, and waited for the familiar voice to invite him in. He mustered up his courage and opened the door.

_*Fleur*_

Fleur was sitting at her desk, just finishing up a report when she heard someone knocking. She looked up in surprise; it was still too early for appointments—and called, "Come in."

The door opened, and as soon as she saw who it was, she immediately broke into a smile.

"Bill," she said happily and she got up to greet him.

"Hey Fleur," he said smiling at her, something that caused both of their hearts to beat a little faster. "'Fraid I don't have to long to stay, but I just wanted to see how's the job going?" he asked.

"I am good, zis job eez benefiting me a lot," she replied, fiddling with a strand of her hair. "Especially, with you helping me with my eenglish," she added and he blushed a little deeper.

"Yeah, your English has improved a lot since we first met," he told her.

"Thanks to you, and your lessons," she told him sincerely. She couldn't explain what was happening to her. Throughout her life, she had seen countless guys fall for her only because of her beauty, but never in her life had _she_ fallen for a guy like this…

But Bill, he was handsome—but there was so much more than that… he was kind, funny, brave, and so many other wonderful things that she couldn't think of at the moment as she looked into her warm eyes. The major reason she liked him however was he hadn't fallen for her Veela charms like every other boy. Maybe this was why she had fallen for him… because he hadn't fallen for her first. This had never happened to her before, her emotions were clouding her brain like a fog, making her stare after Bill with a slack jaw, just like boys did with her when she passed them in the street… just what was it about him that made her feel so happy?

She suddenly realized that he seemed to have been hiding something and asked, "What is zat?" pointing to the arm that was behind his back.

"Oh, ah," he answered, blushing slightly. "I just thought of it during…" he looked over his shoulder to make sure that the door was closed, "Those last few chapters?"

"Oh, yes," she replied in understanding. "We are joining ze others to finish eet tomorrow?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we'll meet them at the house at around ten. But the real reason I'm here is because… well, I just…"

Instead of saying anything else, he pulled his arm into full view to reveal the bouquet of flowers that he had been hiding.

Fleur gasped and got up to get a closer look.

"You got these for me?" she choked out as she took them and shut her eyes as she breathed in their sweet scent. "They're gorgeous."

"I got the idea from the Weighing of the Wands, chapter," he smiled. "Just thought that they would cheer you up. Especially, having such a dreary office."

She laughed as she looked around the rather bear and dark room before she beamed back. "Thank you. And I love primroses… zey are one of my absolute favorites."

He grinned back, "Good, I'm glad." He hesitated, and then he asked, "And also… I was actually wondering… if you wanted to grab dinner after you finish your shift tonight? I mean, if you don't have anything planned for tonight?" Bill asked sheepishly, shoving his hands inside his pockets.

Fleur stared at him, for a few seconds unable to believe her ears. And finally she said ecstatically, "No! No, of course not — wait I… what I mean is, I don't 'ave anything else planned for tonight! I would be 'appy to grab dinner with you!"

"Cool," Bill said a smile spreading across his face from ear to ear, "So I guess I'll see you at around five then?"

"Yes," Fleur confirmed, "I'll see you at five."

And with a bow he turned and left the room. Dreamily, she closed her door and was pressing her back against it with a smile—the flowers were pressed to her chest—and she was fighting hard not to let out a squeal of joy.

_*Grimmauld Place*_

"Look a man-eating turkey!" Tonks cried dramatically pointing to Sirius. Sirius, who was halfway through his turkey leg, gave her an annoyed look. "That has got to be the lamest pun I've ever heard," he said grumpily. "And that's something coming from me!"

"Just trying to lighten things up," she answered rolling her eyes. "You seem a bit grouchy today."

He merely gave her a dark look and turned back to his food. At that moment, Remus came in, looking tired—but in a much better mood than his gloomy housemate.

He noticed Sirius sitting there and asked, "Cold turkey? I don't think that's really the best breakfast food, Sirius."

He glowered at the two of them, not saying a word.

"Ok," Remus answered as he took his seat between the two of them.

Sirius's mood had only gotten worst over the last two days, and Remus knew the answer. After reading about the dragon, he knew that his oldest friend wanted more than ever to talk to Harry. The problem was that Harry had not contacted him since Sirius had given him the two-way mirror. He had been worried about that as well. He wanted as badly as Sirius to know how Harry was handling school—especially now that Dumbledore was gone.

And surely Harry would want to be in contact with his godfather, and the two-way mirror was the only safe means of communication left for the two of them. But since the end of the holidays, Sirius had received no word at all.

Sirius's repeated attempts to contact Harry through the mirror met with no avail, and Sirius became as grumpy as ever.

Despite the lack of communication, they were nonetheless able to learn something of what was going on at Hogwarts. Umbridge's numerous "educational decrees" were becoming more and more restrictive; it was to the point now where students and teachers could not even discuss whole subjects for fear of being expelled or sacked.

Tonks was spending nearly all of her free time at the Ministry now with Fudge as paranoid as ever. Remus had been sent out on more recruiting missions, meeting, as usual, with little success. With Greyback in charge of the werewolves, they were all too scared to go against him.

Tonks checked her watch and left for work not long later, leaving the two of them in the dark and dingy kitchen, were they could hear Kreacher muttering to himself in the hall. Remus hadn't given him much thought over the last few weeks, but apparently the elf had been hiding in the attic.

Now that he was around again, they had to be careful what he heard. Luckily, he tended to avoid Sirius as much as possible these days, and as long as Sirius ordered him to stay away from the room and to forbid telling anyone anything should he hear something, he couldn't see the harm.

Not liking the dark look on Sirius's face, he then said, "Sirius… I know that it's hard, but we can't do anything about Harry right now…"

"I know that!" Sirius snapped at him. "Don't you think I know that? Spare me the lectures, Remus. In case you haven't noticed I spend every waking and sleeping hour in this goddamned house, which gives me plenty of time to brood over how my godson is."

Remus paused, knowing that after everything that they found out about Harry, Sirius was dying to speak to him face to face. He then spoke carefully, "Sirius, I know that you must be worried about Harry. So am I… and I'm sure that if you just explain to him-"

"How can I?" said Sirius bitterly. "Kid hasn't used that mirror once. Not bloody once! I have no idea what's going on in that school or what's happening to him. Why won't he just use the damn mirror?"

He honestly had no answer for that. Part of him supposed it was because Harry was afraid Sirius might get caught if he, Harry, used it.

"I wish I could help you, mate," he answered. "But I'm about as useful to Harry right now as you are. I can't get any closer to him than you."

Sirius remained gloomy for the rest of the day and well into the evening. But by the following morning, he seemed to have cheered up slightly when Remus reminded him that everyone was coming back.

Molly and Arthur were the first to arrive with Tonks, followed not long after by Kingsley. Bill and Fleur then turned up about ten minutes later. Fleur was humming to herself as she greeted the others and, curious, Tonks took her aside.

"What's got into you?" Tonks asked her as everyone waited for Moody to arrive and started having long conversations. "I don't think I've ever seen you like this."

"Nothing," she answered a little dreamily. "I just 'ad a wonderful night out last night."

"Really?" Tonks asked in an excited whisper. "A date?"

Fleur nodded back, still a wide smile on her face with that same faraway look in her eyes.

"We went out to dinner and dancing," she whispered happily. "I can't remember ever 'aving such a wonderful night."

"Ohh, did he kiss you?" Tonks asked eagerly, fighting the waves of jealousy.

Fleur sighed. "Just a little one on ze cheek," she confessed. "But eet was still…" she trailed off, unable to find words to how she felt.

"Wow," Tonks said shaking her head. "Do you get this way with all the boys you've dated?"

"Actually," Fleur admitted. "I really 'aven't dated much."

"You're kidding," Tonks said in amazement. "I thought that you would be having boys falling over to date you."

"Well, many 'ave asked me out," Fleur told her. "But I am not so shallow as to go out wiz every boy who asks. I want someone truly different… and zis one is."

"Who is he?" Tonks asked before she looked up to see Bill talking with his parents; he had the same happy, peaceful look in his eyes as Fleur's… and she suddenly remembered how lovey-dovey the two of them were the other day and she stared at Fleur.

"You mean…?" she jerked her head to Bill and she turned even redder than Tonks ever thought possible. "Wow," she smiled at her. "I can see why you waited for the right guy to come."

She smiled back, fighting a giggle. "'E is someone special," she said with a doey-eyed look that made her look even more beautiful than usual. "'E 'as never fallen for my charms like ze other boys. 'E ees… 'e ees…" again she had trouble trying to find the right words.

"Well," Tonks said looking up at Remus, who had his back turned to her as he talked to Kingsley. "You're lucky… at least the guy you like is willing giving it a chance."

"Hmm?" she asked, clearly not listening to a single word she said.

"Nothing," Tonks answered just as the familiar clunking of a wooden leg could be heard outside the door.

In just a few more minutes, Sirius had retrieved the book—that had been locked in his room—and everyone joined in the drawing room.

All except for…

"Aren't you tired of hiding out here in the hallway?" Alastor asked Dumbledore, who was now lurking in his usual place in the hall as everyone else made themselves at home in the room. "Wouldn't it be more comfortable for you to join in there?"

"Maybe," he answered back quietly. "But I prefer to listen without having Sirius yelling at me every few seconds. I promise to join the others very soon. Probably after the Second Task… or maybe… oh, no wait…" he said frowning, suddenly remembering something. "On second thought, it might not be safe to join them once we reach the Third Task…"

"It wasn't your fault what happened," he said gruffly.

"That won't stop Sirius attempting to strangle me," he answered. "And it was my fault," he added to himself. "I should've been able to see from the start what was happening… but I never…"

Just as Alastor hoped his mouth to interrupt, Arthur called out, "You joining us, Alastor?"

Mad-Eye looked to the door and back to Dumbledore. "You can't hide from them forever you know." He then limped past him, he could've sworn he heard the old man sigh just before Sirius read out: "**Chapter 21: The House-Elf Liberation Front.**"

"The House-Elf Liberation Front?" Tonks repeated in amusement. "THELF?"

"Sounds like Hermione might've changed the name," Kingsley said in his deep tones.

"I like it," Sirius said after thinking it all over. "It's better than _Spew_ anyway."

"Like they would want to walk around with a badge that says _THELF_ on it," Tonks said good-naturedly.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione went up to the Owlery that evening to find Pigwidgeon, so that Harry could send Sirius a letter telling him that he had managed to get past his dragon unscathed.**

"Well, maybe not completely unscathed," Molly added under her breath, thinking of those the dragon's tail spikes.

"I remember that letter," Sirius laughed with pride. "I swear he wrote a bloody novel telling every single detail that happened! Definitely one of the better letters I've gotten from him."

**On the way, Harry filled Ron in on everything Sirius had told him about Karkaroff. Though shocked at first to hear that Karkaroff had been a Death Eater, by the time they entered the Owlery Ron was saying that they ought to have suspected it all along.**

"Of course he would say that," Bill muttered with a laugh.

"But why would he think that?" Arthur asked in surprise.

"Wait for it…" Kingsley said and Sirius read: **"Fits, doesn't it?" he said. "Remember what Malfoy said on the train, about his dad being friends with Karkaroff? Now we know where they knew each other. **

"You know, that does make sense," Sirius said in understanding. "Anyone who the Malfoy's like have to be bad news."

**They were probably running around in masks together at the World Cup… I'll tell you one thing, though, Harry, if it was Karkaroff who put your name in the goblet, he's going to be ****feeling really stupid now, isn't he? **

"While, I think that it's a good guess that they were running around in masks at the cup together," Moody barked. "But come on… he's way too cowardly and dense to be behind all this!"

"Must be why Voldemort didn't have him do his dirty work," Remus muttered. "Because he _didn't_ do it."

"Wonder whatever happened to him after he ran off that night," Sirius added to himself in an undertone before he just shrugged and continued.

**Didn't work, did it? You only got a scratch! **

"Oh, I think it was more than a scratch," Molly said, thinking about how deadly those spikes had to have been.

"And besides zere are still two more tasks to get through," Fleur reminded them, and felt chills go up her spine at the reminder.

**Come here - I'll do it -"**

**Pigwidgeon was so overexcited at the idea of a delivery he was flying around and around Harry's head, hooting incessantly. Ron snatched Pigwidgeon out of the air and held him still while Harry attached the letter to his leg.**

**"There's no way any of the other tasks are going to be that dangerous, how could they be?" **

"Famous last words, Ron," Tonks said. "Good thing for you that you weren't the one who had to go through them."

"Oh, zey only get worse from 'ere," Fleur said bitterly and she shook her magnificent head, shivering at the memory of how dangerous it got, seeing her shiver, Bill put his arm around her and she stopped at once. Feeling more at ease with every second.

**Ron went on as he carried Pigwidgeon to the window. "You know what? I reckon you could win this tournament, Harry, I'm serious."**

"Actually, no," Sirius said brightly. "I'm Sirius…"

Groans came from around the room and Remus shoved him hard. "Spare us from any more lame puns."

"And I thought that you were in to bad a mood to play with puns," Tonks pouted at him.

He shrugged and answered, "That was yesterday."

**Harry knew that Ron was only saying this to make up for his behaviour of the last few weeks, but he appreciated it all the same. Hermione, however, leaned against the Owlery wall, folded her arms, and frowned at Ron.**

**"Harry's got a long way to go before he finishes this tournament," she said seriously. "If that was the first task, I hate to think what's coming next."**

"Way to boost his already low confidence, Hermione," Sirius said grimly. Honestly, what was with these two? Both Hermione and Ron need to have work done on their pep talks.

"She's just being realistic," Tonks pointed out defensively.

"Well, she doesn't have to voice every thought inside her head," he answered through gritted teeth. "Come on, let him enjoy himself for once before giving him the gloom and doom speech."

**"Right little ray of sunshine, aren't you?" said Ron. "You and Professor Trelawney should get together sometime."**

Everyone laughed at Ron's comment, wondering how that meeting would've gone.

"It would only be a matter of time before one of them would snap and throttle the other," Moody said sneering. That certainly would be something interesting to hear about. Why doesn't the book go into things like that rather than adolescents going through their awkward teenage years?

**He threw Pigwidgeon out of the window. Pigwidgeon plummeted twelve feet before managing to pull himself back up again; the letter attached to his leg was much longer and heavier than usual - Harry hadn't been able to resist giving Sirius a blow-by-blow account of exactly how he had swerved, circled, and dodged the Horntail. **

"So, how was it?" Remus asked Sirius with enjoyment.

Sirius grinned. "I've still got it upstairs actually. Must've read it a thousand times," commented Sirius, and because he read it so often, he felt that he had been there rooting him on as well… instead of just wishing him luck. It was just good to know that his godson had survived and was doing alright.

**They watched Pigwidgeon disappear into the darkness, and then Ron said, "Well, we'd better get downstairs for your surprise party, Harry – **

"And I'm sure what a great surprise that will be," Bill said sarcastically and Fleur laughed.

"I suppose Ron doesn't know the meaning of the key word in that sentence," Remus shook his head fondly. "A _surprise_ party is usually supposed to be a surprise."

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," Arthur laughed. "Everyone knows that the Gryffindors don't need an excuse to throw a party. And after something like this, of course there will be a celebration."

**Fred and George should have nicked enough food from the kitchens by now."**

"Considering that it's not as difficult as you think it is, then they should've," Sirius laughed. "All you have to do is go down there and ask the house-elves for some food. They're only be too happy to help."

"You would know," Remus asked him lightly and he grinned back in response.

**Sure enough, when they entered the Gryffindor common room it exploded with cheers and yells again. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; Lee Jordan had let off some Filibuster's Fireworks, so that the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean Thomas, who was very good at drawing, had put up some impressive new banners, most of which depicted Harry zooming around the Horntail's head ****on his Firebolt, though a couple showed Cedric with his head on fire.**

"Zat ees 'orrible," Fleur said startled.

"I think that they might've over-exaggerated just a little bit there," Kingsley said carefully. "Of course, I didn't see the task so I can't be sure what happened."

"Now you just don't see such good sportsmanship like that anymore!" said Mad-Eye with a smirk and Sirius burst out laughing.

"True there," he grinned. "Personally, I like to think of it as just payback for all those POTTER STINKS badges."

"But that wasn't Cedric's fault," Molly said slowly.

"He didn't try to put a stop to it either though I noticed," he added to himself, but almost immediately he felt horrible for saying that. After what happens to the boy at the end of the year… he shook his head, trying to just keep himself focused on the book.

**Harry helped himself to food; he had almost forgotten what it was like to feel properly hungry, and sat down with Ron and Hermione. **

"And the three are finally back together," Arthur said sounding relieved. "Thank goodness for that. I was starting to worry about them."

Albus agreed wholeheartedly and nodded firmly. He felt so terrible for all three of them when he watched from afar last year. He remembered how even some of the teachers were growing concerned to how they were acting. It was a bit of a relief to everyone when they finally made up… things just didn't seem right without them together…

**He couldn't believe how happy he felt; he had Ron back on his side, he'd gotten through the first task, and he wouldn't have to face the second one for three months.**

Fleur shivered slightly at the mention of the Second Task; thinking about what could've happened if Gabrielle truly _had_ been in danger.

"Better that they figure it out soon so that they can plan ahead," Moody grunted. "If they leave it for the last second, then they risk not being able to figure out a way."

Sirius bit his lower lip, trying to think of when Harry told him about needing help for the Second Task. _'Perhaps he was able to figure that out on his own?' _he thought to himself when he was unable to think of a letter or anything about having trouble with the task. Feeling a little bit better he read:

**"Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg, which Harry had left on a table, and weighing it in his hands. "Open it, Harry, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"**

"Don't," Fleur advised in warning, forgetting that there was no point. "Eet sounds awful above ze water."

"Why? What is it?" Bill asked her. She just shook her head, they would find out soon.

**"He's supposed to work out the clue on his own," Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the ****tournament rules…"**

"Cheating is a part of the tournament," said Sirius comfortably, looking more upbeat than he had been for days. "Besides, the rules say that only the teachers can't help their champions. And isn't Hermione the one who spent hours preparing and helping Harry for the First Task?"

"Shh," Tonks hushed him sarcastically. "What they don't know won't hurt them."

**"I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too," Harry muttered, so only Hermione could hear him, and she grinned rather guiltily.**

**"Yeah, go on, Harry, open it!" several people echoed.**

**Lee passed Harry the egg, and Harry dug his fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it and prised it open.**

"'E ees going to regret zat," Fleur said knowingly.

**It was hollow and completely empty - but the moment Harry opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room. The nearest thing to it Harry had ever heard was the ghost orchestra at Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party, who had all been ****playing the musical saw.**

"That sounds… unexpected," Kingsley said heavily.

"What in the world is that supposed to be?" Molly asked baffled.

"Well," Remus said, thinking about everything he ever read about merpeople. "Merpeople are sentient beings that live underwater, and are found all over the world. They actually have an advance society and their language, Mermish, is something that only a few wizards have been able to learn. However, since their language can only be heard properly underwater, it sounds like a loud screeching when spoken above water…"

"Now I see how the boys feel when Granger answers a question in class," Moody said bored. "You sound like the book."

"I can't help it…" he shrugged. "I know this stuff."

**"Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears.**

**"What was that?" said Seamus Finnigan, staring at the egg as Harry slammed it shut again. "Sounded like a banshee… maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry!"**

"Even if we didn't know what the Second Task was," Remus said, "I highly doubt that it would've been a banshee. They're not that hard to fight once you know how to handle them."

"Not if your Seamus, his worst fear is a Banshee, remember?" Arthur remembered from the Boggart from the last book.

"Well, he'd be screwed then wouldn't he?" Moody answered.

**"It was someone being tortured!" said Neville, who had gone very white and spilled sausage rolls all over the floor.**

"Oh, poor Neville," Molly whispered.

Sirius and Tonks both looked sick at the thought of being related to someone as evil as Bellatrix. Really, just what kind of rock did she crawl out from?

**"You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"**

"Oh, they wouldn't do something illegal like that," Kingsley said at once. "The tasks are supposed to be challenging, and problem-solving… not torture."

This time it was Bill who shivered—though for him, it was the thought of Fleur going through something like that.

**"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing… maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Harry."**

Mad-Eye raised an eyebrow. The wailing that egg makes must be awfully gruesome. Longbottom was terrified to witness the Cruciatus Curse in his fake Moody's class, while the thing that Finnigan fears most is a Banshee. There is something sinister about that egg, or for some reason they were being reminded of those two boys' grave fears… he thought back to his rules of constant vigilance.

Meanwhile, most of the others burst out laughing.

_'He would've loved that,'_ Bill thought sarcastically… though he had a point… Percy's singing was terrible.

**"Want a jam tart, Hermione?" said Fred.**

**Hermione looked doubtfully at the plate he was offering her. Fred grinned.**

"Wise Hermione," Remus looking at Sirius. He learned the hard way never to except anything from a prankster.

"Why you looking at me?" Sirius asked him.

Remus just shrugged. "No particular reason."

**"It's all right," he said. "I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch -"**

_'Canary Creams,'_ Bill thought smiling, thinking of all the things that the twins have been inventing lately. He looked at his mother, wondering how she would react if what he suspected on where the twins had received the money lately was true…

**Neville, who had just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out. Fred laughed.**

**"Just my little joke, Neville…"**

**Hermione took a jam tart. Then she said, "Did you get all this from the kitchens, Fred?"**

**"Yep," said Fred, grinning at her. He put on a high-pitched squeak and imitated a house-elf. "'Anything we can get you, sir, anything at all!' They're dead helpful… get me a roast ox if I said I was peckish."**

"They have to be the most helpful elves in the world," Sirius laughed, thinking of all the food that he had stolen. He wished he could sneak over there and sample some of their food again… better than the cold turkey from yesterday.

"Sirius, you're drooling," Kingsley pointed to the saliva falling from his mouth.

"I can't help it," he said swallowing and wiping his lips. "It all sounds so delicious…"

**"How do you get in there?" Hermione said in an innocently casual sort of voice.**

They could all see where this was going a million miles away.

"Oh no," said Remus at once, "As much as I agree with equal rights for all, I really hope that she doesn't try to convince the house-elves to go on strike and probably end up really insulting them."

"She better not stop them from cooking," Sirius said, aghast at the very thought. "That's just… cruel!"

**"Easy," said Fred, "concealed door behind a painting of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear, and it giggles and -" He stopped and looked suspiciously at her. "Why?"**

"Boy did he walk right into that one," Tonks said lightly.

"He just gives you the answer you wanted and then asks why?" Moody asked exasperated. "What is it that they teach kids these days?"

**"Nothing," said Hermione quickly.**

"Why can't these kids learn to come up with better lies?" Sirius asked exasperated, "When you say nothing right away like that, it's almost always a lie!"

"And you would know this because…?" Bill asked with pretend interest and he started to whistle in an innocent way that fooled no one.

"Because that was his biggest excuse in school," Remus said knowingly. "At least until he started coming up with better material."

"You wound me, Moony," he said with a hand over his heart. "One would think that you don't care for me."

"I care for you like I care for all the headaches you give me," he said in a polite tone and they all started to laugh.

**"Going to try and lead the house-elves out on strike now, are you?" said George. "Going to give up all the leaflet stuff and try and stir them up into rebellion?"**

"Now _that_ would be something that you don't see every day," Arthur chuckled. "But I doubt that she could ever go that far."

"It would be something to see," Bill agreed.

**Several people chortled. Hermione didn't answer.**

**"Don't you go upsetting them and telling them they've got to take clothes and salaries!" said Fred warningly. "You'll put them off their cooking!"**

"I don't think that the elves would do that," Tonks said confidently. "They love their work and take too much pride in it to let something like that stop them."

"I don't know," Sirius grunted, shooting a nasty look at the door to where Kreacher was lurking somewhere in the house. "I can name a few elves who would do that."

Albus didn't need to see Sirius's face to have a good idea who he was thinking about. He wished that he could do something to help but Sirius and Kreacher, however it is Sirius who must take the first step.

**Just then, Neville caused a slight diversion by turning into a large canary.**

"They turned him into a canary?!" Sirius shouted out laughing, his sour mood fading again at the moment. "Oh, that's bloody brilliant! I've never seen that happen before!"

"That is rather impressive," Remus said smiling; he didn't see how they only received a few O.W.L's.

"And that's a slight diversion?" Molly asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Arthur then said, "Well, compared to what they normally do, it is."

Meanwhile, Fleur whispered to Bill in confusion, "I thought zat zey were only joking about that."

He grinned, knowing that this was something that Fred and George would've done. "I think that they were only joking about joking," he whispered back. When she continued to look confused, he laughed and answered, "They pull stunts like this all the time. You'll get used to them. Though, don't ever take anything they offer you; anything from food to wands… you can almost always guarantee that it's a trick or prank."

"I'll be sure to remember zat," she answered as Sirius continued.

**"Oh - sorry, Neville!" Fred shouted over all the laughter. "I forgot - it was the custard creams we hexed -"**

"Sure he forgot," Tonks snorted, turning her nose into her pig-snout. "And I've just been named the youngest ever Minister of Magic!"

"Better you than Fudge," Sirius said firmly. "I'd vote for ya!"

"And have the whole country go down in flames?" Moody asked and Tonks gave him a dirty look.

"Oh, sure, pick on me!" she said turning her head away and everyone smirked at them.

**Within a minute, however, Neville had moulted, and once his feathers had fallen off, he reappeared looking entirely normal. He even joined in laughing. "Canary Creams!" Fred shouted to the excitable crowd. "George and I invented them - seven Sickles each, a ****bargain!"**

"They are going to be really rich if that is the type of product that they are selling," Kingsley stated with a glance up at Molly. "It looks to me that they could make a fair bit of profit from here already."

Molly bit her lower lip. Though she didn't want to admit it, he did have a good point…

**It was nearly one in the morning when Harry finally went up to the dormitory with Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Before he pulled the curtains of his four-poster shut. Harry set his tiny model of the Hungarian Horntail on the table next to his bed, where it yawned, curled up, and closed its eyes. Really, Harry thought, as he pulled the hangings on his four-poster closed, Hagrid had a point… they were all right, really, dragons…**

"I really hope that he's just saying that because he's in such a good mood and not because he's spending too much time around Hagrid," Sirius pleaded.

"Hopefully, this will be the last dragon that he'll ever encounter," Molly agreed. Sirius glanced up at her—even after all this time here, and all their disagreements—it was still strange to find himself agreeing with her.

**The start of December brought wind and sleet to Hogwarts. Drafty though the castle always was in winter. Harry was glad of its fires and thick walls every time he passed the Durmstrang ship on the lake, which was pitching in the high winds, its black sails billowing against the dark skies. He thought the Beauxbatons caravan was likely to be pretty chilly too. **

"Actually eet was quite warm and comfortable," Fleur stated. "Zere was always a warm fire in ze fireplace, and without all ze windows and cracks zat ze castle 'ad, it wasn't as cold as you would theenk."

"Sounds nice," Bill said smiling.

"Well, eet 'ad to be comfortable," she answered. "We lived there for almost a whole year."

**Hagrid, he noticed, was keeping Madame Maxime's horses well provided with their preferred drink of single-malt whiskey; the fumes wafting from the trough in the comer of their paddock was enough to make the entire Care of Magical Creatures class light-headed. This was unhelpful, as they were still tending the horrible Skrewts and needed their wits about them.**

"Isn't a Care of Magical Creatures class supposed to be teaching about more than just one type of monster—I mean creature?" Tonks asked them.

"Usually they teach about one creature for two or three weeks," Kingsley agreed. "I think that Hagrid should really start on something else."

"Please let it be something less dangerous," Molly begged in an undertone.

**"I'm not sure whether they hibernate or not," Hagrid told the shivering class in the windy pumpkin patch next lesson. "Thought we'd jus' try an see if they fancied a kip… we'll jus' settle 'em down in these boxes…"**

**There were now only ten Skrewts left; apparently their desire to kill one another had not ****been exercised out of them. **

"Really?" Sirius asked lightly. "Now would that really be such a bad thing?"

"I theenk eet would be for ze best if zey are all killed," Fleur said firmly.

"Harsh," Tonks said to her.

"Easy for you to say," she answered darkly. "You never 'ad to fight zem! Believe me, 'e would be doing everyone a favor by letting zem kill each other."

**Each of them was now approaching six feet in length. Their thick gray armor; their powerful, scuttling legs; their fire-blasting ends; their stings and their suckers, combined to make the Skrewts the most repulsive things Harry had ever seen. The class looked dispiritedly at the enormous boxes Hagrid had brought out, all lined with pillows and fluffy blankets.**

"Pillows and fluffy blankets?" Tonks croaked out in amazement. "Really Hagrid?"

"You're forgetting that this is the same man who once gave a baby dragon a teddy bear," Bill reminded her as he stared at the book. "Though… I have to admit that pillows and blankets to Skrewts… that's definitely out there."

"Excusez-moi?" asked Fleur, slightly worried. "'E gives teddy bears to baby dragons?"

"In their first year, he got a dragon egg from a nutjob in a pup and when it hatched, he named it Norbert, and gave it a teddy bear," Bill told her. She stared at him, and when he didn't laugh she knew it wasn't a joke.

"Pardon me," she asked, "No offense to zis 'Agrid… but 'e ees crazy!"

"No, I completely agree with you there," Bill said patting her hand. "Though I guess it's only with his pets that he's like that."

**"We'll jus' lead 'em in here," Hagrid said, "an' put the lids on, and we'll see what happens."**

"I really don't think that's a good idea," Tonks said in a sing-song voice.

"Then don't stop him," Molly whispered under her breath.

**But the Skrewts, it transpired, did not hibernate, and did not appreciate being forced into pillow-lined boxes and nailed in. **

"Yeah, I really don't blame them," Kingsley grunted. "What does he intend to do if they all die?"

"I wish we were zat lucky," Fleur muttered just as Molly spoke up hopefully, "Don't complain… if they don't hibernate it could kill them all!"

"At least those boxes won't be put to waste if they do," Moody stated with a rather evil smirk.

** Hagrid was soon yelling, "Don panic, now, don' panic!" while the Skrewts rampaged around the pumpkin patch, now strewn with the smoldering wreckage of the boxes. Most of the class - Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle in the lead **

"Chickens," Sirius said with a sneer. "Not surprising in the least. He talks big, but he is always the first to run."

"Well, to be fair, not even the teacher knows what's happening," Kingsley pointed out.

**- had fled into Hagrid's cabin through the back door and barricaded themselves in; Harry, Ron, and Hermione, however, were among those who remained outside trying to help Hagrid.**

"Zat was good of zem," Fleur smiled. _'And brave of them as well,'_ she added in an afterthought.

"I don't think that there's anything they won't risk for Hagrid," Arthur smiled.

"Sign of true friends," Albus whispered to himself, glad that Hagrid always had friends to relay on.

**Together they managed to restrain and tie up nine of the Skrewts, though at the cost of numerous burns and cuts; finally, only one skrewt was left.**

**"Don' frighten him, now!" Hagrid shouted as Ron and Harry used their wands to shoot jets of fiery sparks at the skrewt, which was advancing menacingly on them, its sting arched, quivering, over its back. "Jus' try an slip the rope 'round his sting, so he won hurt any o' the others!"**

"No, please just let them kill each other off," Molly whispered. Fleur nodded firmly along with her, and Bill couldn't hide back a smile at that; hopeful that his mother and girlfriend would get along sooner than he hoped.

**"Yeah, we wouldn't want that!" Ron shouted angrily as he and Harry backed into the wall of Hagrid's cabin, still holding the skrewt off with their sparks.**

**"Well, well, well… this does look like fun."**

**Rita Skeeter **

"Whhhhhaaaaat?" Sirius groaned loudly. "Why's that overgrown leech there?"

"Doesn't she have anything better to do than destroy someone else's life?" Tonks asked just as loudly. "I mean… doesn't she have a home to go to?"

"Apparently not," Kingsley said darkly.

**was leaning on Hagrid's garden fence, looking in at the mayhem. She was wearing a thick magenta cloak with a furry purple collar today, and her crocodile-skin handbag was over her arm.**

"I really don't think she wants to give up finding something juicy about Potter and writing about him," Moody said simply. "After all, people want to hear about celebrities—people that everyone knows about. Who wants to hear a story about some nobody?"

"There's your optimistic attitude of yours that we all love, Mad-Eye," Tonks answered sardonically.

He shrugged in a unconcerned way, "Just being honest."

**Hagrid launched himself forward on top of the skrewt that was cornering Harry and Ron and flattened it; a blast of fire shot out of its end, withering the pumpkin plants nearby.**

**"Who're you?" Hagrid asked Rita Skeeter as he slipped a loop of rope around the Skrewt's sting and tightened it.**

**"Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter," Rita replied, beaming at him. Her gold teeth glinted.**

"Yeah, I don't think that her appearance inspires confidence," Bill said.

**"Thought Dumbledore said you weren' allowed inside the school anymore," said Hagrid, frowning slightly as he got off the slightly squashed skrewt and started tugging it over to ****its fellows.**

"I guess that she also has a problem with following rules as well," Arthur said grimly. "I doubt she'd listen to anyone unless she knew that she get into big trouble with the law."

"Strange…" Kingsley muttered, as if he hadn't heard a word Arthur said.

"What ees?" Fleur asked polite, she had taken a liking to this man and his calm demeanor.

"Oh, I'm just thinking that it's not like Dumbledore to ban people from the school, so he must consider Rita to be truly dangerous," he answered. "Wonder why?"

Albus smiled sadly as they all began talk amongst themselves. He knew the damage that the power of the press could do. Everyone tends to believe what they see in the paper… and if she was around trying to find secrets that would be for the best kept hidden, it would only cause problems… not just for Harry, but who knows how many others.

**Rita acted as though she hadn't heard what Hagrid had said.**

**"What are these fascinating creatures called?" she asked, beaming still more widely.**

**"Blast-Ended Skrewts," grunted Hagrid.**

**"Really?" said Rita, apparently full of lively interest. "I've never heard of them before… where do they come from?"**

**Harry noticed a dull red flush rising up out of Hagrid's wild black beard, **

"That can't be a good sign," Arthur said worriedly.

**and his heart sank. Where had Hagrid got the Skrewts from? **

"If you ask me, he's the one who bred them," Sirius said unnecessarily.

"I really hope that no one finds out about that," Tonks said anxiously. "Like he needs anymore trouble."

**Hermione, who seemed to be thinking along these lines, said quickly, "They're very interesting, aren't they? Aren't they, Harry?"**

**"What? Oh yeah… ouch… interesting," said Harry as she stepped on his foot.**

"That's very convincing," Bill muttered sarcastically.

"I don't like that," Remus said in worry. "While, I'm glad that she defended Hagrid, but now she turned Rita's attention onto Harry."

"You're right, that can't end well," Arthur answered.

Albus bit his lower lip, knowing that pretty soon, that woman was only going to cause just more problems for the rest of them.

**"Ah, you're here. Harry!" said Rita Skeeter as she looked around. "So you like Care of Magical Creatures, do you? One of your favorite lessons?"**

"Well, I can't judge…" Tonks said cheerfully, "But I'm willing to bet that it'd be more enjoyable without the Skrewts."

**"Yes," said Harry stoutly. Hagrid beamed at him.**

Albus's eyes twinkle. He knew how much that would've meant to Hagrid—even if Harry didn't mean it. Just the idea is enough…

**"Lovely," said Rita. "Really lovely. Been teaching long?" she added to Hagrid. Harry noticed her eyes travel over Dean (who had a nasty cut across one cheek). Lavender (whose robes were badly singed), Seamus (who was nursing several burnt fingers), and then to the cabin windows, where most of the class stood, their noses pressed against the glass waiting to see if the coast was clear.**

"I might be going out on a limb here, but I don't think that now was the best time for her to be viewing the class," Bill stated carefully.

"Whenever she's around, it's a bad time," Moody replied.

"That is a very fair argument," he nodded.

**"This is o'ny me second year," said Hagrid.**

**"Lovely… I don't suppose you'd like to give an interview, would you? Share some of your experience of magical creatures? The Prophet does a zoological column every Wednesday, as I'm sure you know. We could feature these - er - Bang- Ended Scoots."**

"Is that true?" Molly asked the others. "I don't remember ever reading something like that."

"Not that I'm aware of," Remus answered warily.

"Well, then that's proof that she's lying," Sirius finished with a shrug.

**"Blast-Ended Skrewts," Hagrid said eagerly. "Er - yeah, why not?"**

"He's gonna regret that," Bill said knowingly.

_'He did,'_ Albus thought as he remembered the article that came out after Christmas about him. He was worried that his gamekeeper's confidence was permanently destroyed after that… thankfully he was able to snap himself out of it before that happened.

**Harry had a very bad feeling about this, **

"I've learned to trust Harry's senses," Arthur said at once.

"Just more proof that this is a bad idea," Sirius said bitterly. "She's going to write some horrible article about him as well isn't she?"

"Only if he doesn't tell her anything bad about Potter," Moody said with a shrug. "She doesn't get what she wants from someone, she gets back at them by putting them in an article."

"So be wary everyone!" Tonks said loudly. "Or you'll be her next victim."

"But I've noticed that I haven't seen her writing anything in the paper recently," Kingsley said thoughtfully.

"Like I said," Moody barked. "It's either a bribe or a threat…" He suddenly grinned, "Who's ever behind it, I'd like to shake their hand…"

**but there was no way of communicating it to Hagrid without Rita Skeeter seeing, so he had to stand and watch in silence as Hagrid and Rita Skeeter made arrangements to meet in the Three Broomsticks for a good long interview later that week. Then the bell rang up at the castle, signaling the end of the lesson.**

**"Well, good-bye, Harry!" Rita Skeeter called merrily to him as he set off with Ron and Hermione. "Until Friday night, then, Hagrid!"**

**"She'll twist everything he says," Harry said under his breath.**

"To bad Hagrid isn't thinking about that," Sirius stated grimly.

**"Just as long as he didn't import those Skrewts illegally or anything," said Hermione desperately. They looked at one another - it was exactly the sort of thing Hagrid might do.**

"Nah," Tonks said happily, "He bred them!"

"Which is still illegal," Kingsley reminded her.

**"Hagrid's been in loads of trouble before, and Dumbledores never sacked him," said Ron consolingly. "Worst that can happen is Hagrid'll have to get rid of the Skrewts. Sorry… did I say worst? I meant best."**

"Which Hagrid wouldn't take well to," Arthur said thinking it over.

"In compromise, no party is ever completely happy," Moody grunted. "Him keeping his job and all for destroying monstrous creatures that could end up hurting the students. Not a bad deal if you ask me."

"Besides, he still has his giant spiders in the forest to turn to for comfort," Sirius added, still having sore feelings against Hagrid for sending his godson and Ron into where they could've gotten killed.

"What ees so bad about spiders?" Fleur asked confused.

Bill put his hand on top of hers and answered, "Trust me on this… you don't want to know."

**Harry and Hermione laughed, and, feeling slightly more cheerful, went off to lunch.**

**Harry thoroughly enjoyed double Divination that afternoon; **

"What?" Sirius said in astonishment.

"You're the one with the book," Remus answered, Sirius read the next few lines and then laughed in understanding.

"What now?" Bill questioned in annoyance.

"A miserable class is always much more enjoyable with your best friend there," he answered grinning from ear to ear and read out.

**they were still doing star charts and predictions, but now that he and Ron were friends once more, the whole thing seemed very funny again. Professor Trelawney, who had been so pleased with the pair of them when they had been predicting their own horrific deaths, quickly became irritated as they sniggered through her explanation of the various ways in which Pluto could disrupt everyday life.**

"If you have a bad day, I really don't think that it's because of the planets," Kingsley offered.

"Yeah, blame everyone else," Sirius added under his breath. "Works for me."

**"I would think," she said, in a mystical whisper that did not conceal her obvious annoyance, "that some of us" - she stared very meaningfully at Harry- "might be a little less frivolous had they seen what I have seen during my crystal gazing last night. As I sat here, absorbed in my needlework, the urge to consult the orb overpowered me. **

"Sure it did," Moody grunted, rolling his eyes. Why don't they get to the parts where it's dangerous and exciting already?"

"I think that she should learn to lighten up a little," Tonks commented. "I think that would be a nice change."

"Good luck is so much harder to predict than bad luck," Bill said nonchalantly. "That way, if something bad happens to you then she could claim that she saw it coming and you were warned."

**I arose, I settled myself before it, and I gazed into its crystalline depths… and what do you think I saw gazing back at me?"**

**"An ugly old bat in outsize specs?" Ron muttered under his breath.**

Everyone laughed at that; any traces of negative feelings towards him disappearing blissfully. Even Molly couldn't hide her smile at her son's antics.

**Harry fought hard to keep his face straight.**

"Good luck with that Harry," Sirius said, not bothering to hide the smirk on his face.

"At least he's trying," Remus pointed out with a level look at Sirius. "More than you ever would've."

"Well, I'm not Harry," he said. "I don't care about how the teachers think of me!"

**"Death, my dears."**

Tonks clapped her hands over her mouth and said through her fingers. "You mean you actually _mean_ it this time?!"

They all laughed and when she lowered her fingers, to see that her mouth had turned into a big smile.

**Parvati and Lavender both put their hands over their mouths, looking horrified.**

"Drama queens," Moody said in disgust. "Anyone can do that_. 'I predict that sometime in the near future, Tonks is going to trip over something.'_ See? It's easy?"

Tonks pouted and frowned at him as everyone started to laugh.

"I think that it's safe to assume that'll come true," Sirius joked and everyone agreed with a laugh.

Tonks mocked gasped and said, "How rude of you all!"

**"Yes," said Professor Trelawney, nodding impressively, "it comes, ever closer, it circles overhead like a vulture, ever lower… ever lower over the castle…" She stared pointedly at ****Harry, who yawned very widely and obviously.**

And everyone started to laugh again, loving this carefree chapter—the only one they've had since the Quidditch World Cup chapter.

**"It'd be a bit more impressive if she hadn't done it about eighty times before," Harry said as they finally regained the fresh air of the staircase beneath Professor Trelawney's room. ****"But if I'd dropped dead every time she's told me I'm going to, I'd be a medical miracle."**

"He already is a medical miracle," Sirius said; have forlornly, half proud. "Come on… the Killing Curse, a basilisk, falling from his broom, trolls… Snape…"

"Sirius," Remus smiled. "We get it…"

"If you can survive all these years in class with Snape that _is_ impressive," Tonks chortled happily.

**"You'd be a sort of extra-concentrated ghost," said Ron, chortling, as they passed the Bloody Baron going in the opposite direction, his wide eyes staring sinisterly.**

**"At least we didn't get homework. I hope Hermione got loads off Professor Vector, I love not working when she is…"**

"Oh, well that's nice," Molly said frowning. Really Ron…

"At least he's not saying it to her face," Bill told her; though he personally thought that Ron needed some major help when it came to girls.

**But Hermione wasn't at dinner, nor was she in the library when they went to look for her afterward. The only person in there was Viktor Krum. Ron hovered behind the bookshelves for a while, watching Krum, debating in whispers with Harry whether he should ask for an autograph**

"And he thinks Malfoy is smarming up to him," Moody grunted.

**- but then Ron realized that six or seven girls were lurking in the next row of books, ****debating exactly the same thing, and he lost his enthusiasm for the idea.**

"He's as bad as those girls," Bill said.

"Viktor never liked zat," Fleur said. She overheard Viktor mention that the reason he liked Hermione in the first place was because she didn't swoon over everything he did like all the other girls. Something that she could understand completely… she glanced at Bill and felt at peace with the world when his gentle eyes found hers again.

**"Wonder where she's got to?" Ron said as he and Harry went back to Gryffindor Tower.**

**"Dunno… balderdash."**

**But the Fat Lady had barely begun to swing forward when the sound of racing feet behind them announced Hermione's arrival.**

**"Harry!" she panted, skidding to a halt beside him, the Fat Lady stared down at her, eyebrows raised. "Harry, you've got to come - you've got to come, the most amazing thing's happened- please -"**

"Now what is this about now?" Tonks asked with a yawn and stretching her arms, "What's so amazing?"

"I think that it might have something to do with house-elves?" Moody said bored. He was practically falling asleep here. Why couldn't he wait until they got to something interesting and have them call him? But no… he was stuck listening to this…

"Oh, great," Sirius groaned, but almost immediately he brightened up and said, "Maybe this means that they'll finally go down to the kitchens."

"Most likely," Remus said thinking it over. After all, where else would they find elves in the school?

**She seized Harry's arm and started to try to drag him back along the corridor. "What's the matter?" Harry said.**

"Didn't you hear her?" Tonks asked happily, now almost bouncing in her seat from anticipation. "Apparently it's something amazing! So get going!"

"Hopefully, it's not as boring as this," Moody grunted.

**"I'll show you when we get there - oh come on, quick -"**

**Harry looked around at Ron; he looked back at Harry, intrigued.**

"Best to just do what she says," Bill said knowingly. "Or else she'll just make you come whether you want to or not."

**"Okay," Harry said, starting off back down the corridor with Hermione, Ron hurrying to keep up.**

**"Oh don't mind me!" the Fat Lady called irritably after them. "Don't apologize for bothering me! I'll just hang here, wide open, until you get back, shall I?"**

**"Yeah, thanks!" Ron shouted over his shoulder.**

More laughing came from the room. "Ok, why is it so hard to stay angry with Ron?"

"Because he's funny," Tonks answered as if it was obvious. "It's always hard to stay angry with someone who's a laugh… they make you forget about your anger."

**"Hermione, where are we going?" Harry asked, after she had led them down through six floors, and started down the marble staircase into the entrance hall.**

**"You'll see, you'll see in a minute!" said Hermione excitedly.**

**She turned left at the bottom of the staircase and hurried toward the door through which Cedric Diggory had gone the night after the Goblet of Fire had regurgitated his and Harry's names. Harry had never been through here before. He and Ron followed Hermione down a flight of stone steps, but instead of ending up in a gloomy underground passage like the one that led to Snape's dungeon, they found themselves in a broad stone corridor, brightly lit with torches, and decorated with cheerful paintings that were mainly of food.**

"She's definitely taking them to the kitchens, I'd know that passage anywhere," Sirius grinned. Even now, if he just closed his eyes, he could picture the large kitchen with the hundred elves running around with pots and pans… the delicious smell of their food lofting through the air…

"Sirius, you're drooling again," Tonks pointed out and he was pulled, once again, out of his wonderful daydream.

"How often did you go there?" Bill asked Sirius, guessing what he was thinking of.

"You kidding?" Remus asked him. "I think a better answer would be how often did you leave? He practically lived in there since he discovered the way in!"

"You can never pass up good food!" Sirius said firmly and turned the page.

**"Oh hang on…" said Harry slowly, halfway down the corridor. "Wait a minute, Hermione…"**

**"What?" She turned around to look at him, anticipation all over her face.**

"He probably thinks that Hermione wants them to go in there and help her set all the elves free," Arthur said raising his eyebrows. That sounded like something Hermione would do alright.

"Hopefully she won't," Remus said leaning back into the cushions.

"They won't be too happy about that," Kingsley agreed.

"Something tells me zat we don't need to worry about zat," Fleur said gradually.

**"I know what this is about," said Harry.**

**He nudged Ron and pointed to the painting just behind Hermione. It showed a gigantic silver fruit bowl.**

**"Hermione!" said Ron, cottoning on. "You're trying to rope us into that spew stuff again!"**

**"No, no, I'm not!" she said hastily. "And it's not spew, Ron -"**

**"Changed the name, have you?" said Ron, frowning at her. "What are we now, then, the House-Elf Liberation Front? **

"So Ron was the one who suggested it," Sirius said thinking the name over. "I kinda like it."

"How is walking around with THELF any better?" Tonks asked him smiling.

"It's better than spew isn't it?!" he retorted. "Hermione should give it some serious thought to changing the name if she wants anymore members."

**I'm not barging into that kitchen and trying to make them stop work, I'm not doing it -"**

**"I'm not asking you to!" Hermione said impatiently. "I came down here just now, to talk to ****them all, and I found - oh come on, Harry, I want to show you!"**

"What did she find?" Tonks said sounding a little frustrated that no one was giving her a straight answer. "What does she want to show Harry so badly but doesn't care if Ron's there or not?"

"Sounds like she wants him to see something more than just the house-elves…" Arthur said carefully. "Something that Harry would find interesting."

"Well, what's een ze kitchens besides ze elves?" Fleur asked them.

"Food?" Sirius said hungrily.

"I don't think Hermione dragged Harry all the way down there just for that, Sirius," Molly stated firmly. Though she could understand… the boy was so thin…

Meanwhile, Albus—who was examining his Deluminator—started to smile. He knew full well what this was about and why Hermione wanted him down there. He wondered how they would take to meeting that odd little elf again?

**She seized his arm again, pulled him in front of the picture of the giant fruit bowl, stretched out her forefinger, and tickled the huge green pear. It began to squirm, chuckling, and suddenly turned into a large green door handle. Hermione seized it, pulled the door open, ****and pushed Harry hard in the back, forcing him inside.**

"So he never had a choice in the matter did she?" Tonks laughed. "She's a girl who knows what she wants, that Hermione."

"But resorting to force so easily?" Sirius asked in mock disappointment. "Shame on you Hermione."

"Please can't only get you so far," Moody grunted. "You want something, you sometimes have to force it."

"Though it scares me to admit it," Sirius said to him. "I agree with that."

**He had one brief glimpse of an enormous, high-ceilinged room, large as the Great Hall above it, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end, when something small hurtled toward him from the middle of the room, squealing, "Harry Potter, sir! Harry Potter!"**

Albus smiled widely, knowing that this meeting truly made Dobby's day.

"Is that who I think it is?" Bill asked grinning now.

"I think it just might be," Sirius laughed louder still.

**Next second all the wind had been knocked out of him as the squealing elf hit him hard in the midriff, hugging him so tightly he thought his ribs would break.**

**"D-Dobby?" Harry gasped.**

"Yay! Dobby's back with us!" Tonks cheered and clapped her hands.

"Dobby?" Fleur asked them confused.

"Just a mad house-elf," Bill explained with a chuckle. "You have to read the second book to fully understand everything, but let's just say that Dobby's one of Harry's friends."

Moody snorted. If the elf was a friend, he hated to see an enemy.

**"It is Dobby, sir, it is!" squealed the voice from somewhere around his navel. "Dobby has been hoping and hoping to see Harry Potter, sir, and Harry Potter has come to see him, sir!"**

"I love that elf," Tonks said almost crying with happiness. She had grown to love that little guy since she heard that he blasted Lucius Malfoy right off his high horse. Anyone who can do that to a Malfoy is good in her book.

"You know," Fleur said considerately, "I've seen 'ouse-elves form bonds even wiz people who aren't their masters. But zis Dobby seems to be especially attached to 'Arry. And 'e's only a student."

"You see," Bill explained quickly, before Moody could tell her to be quiet, "Dobby was once the Malfoy's house-elf, but they were just horrible to him."

"Just horrible?" Tonks asked under her breath. "More like cruel…"

"Anyway, Harry tricked Malfoy's dad into setting him free, and now it seems that Dobby's living at Hogwarts," Bill finished.

Fleur just shook her head fondly. "'Arry certainly 'as a talent for 'elping people even when zey don't ask doesn't 'e?"

"That's just one of the strange things about him," Remus said softly. "There's just something special about him that inspires others. I don't know what it is… but one by one, people change because of him."

"Strange indeed," Kingsley nodded. "And the amazing part is that he does it without noticing that he's touching the lives of others…"

They all looked at each other and realized that their lives had been affected some way since the day they first met that strange Harry Potter. Even those who only met him recently, have changed as well… though maybe not as clearly.

Sirius thought that over before he chuckled to himself. He just raised the book and started to read again.

**Dobby let go and stepped back a few paces, beaming up at Harry, his enormous, green, tennis-ball-shaped eyes brimming with tears of happiness. He looked almost exactly as Harry remembered him; the pencil-shaped nose, the bat-like ears, the long fingers and feet – all except the clothes, which were very different. When Dobby had worked for the Malfoys, he had always worn the same filthy old pillowcase. **

"Yeah, he no longer has to wear that pillowcase," Molly said, glad for Dobby and the happiness he has now.

"Oh, I can't wait to hear what he's wearing," Sirius grinned. "House-elves aren't known for their fashion sense."

**Now, however, he was wearing the strangest assortment of garments Harry had ever seen; he had done an even worse job of dressing himself than the wizards at the World Cup. **

Sirius laughed hard. "This is gonna be good!"

"Hurry up!" Tonks cried, actually leaning over to see if she could read it ahead of him. He pushed her back and read out loud: **He was wearing a tea cozy for a hat, on which he had pinned a number of bright badges; a tie patterned with horseshoes over a bare chest, a pair of what looked like children's soccer shorts, and odd socks. One of these, Harry saw, was the black one Harry had removed from his own foot and tricked Mr. Malfoy into giving Dobby, thereby setting Dobby free. The other was covered in pink and orange stripes.**

It was too much for Sirius and he burst out laughing again just as Tonks began to crack up and said, "That's definitely a fashion statement."

"More like a fashion disaster," Fleur said shaking her head.

**"Dobby, what're you doing here?" Harry said in amazement.**

**"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby squealed excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!"**

"Oh good, Winky is there as well," Molly said, she had been worried about what would happen to that poor elf since she was last seen being sacked by Mr. Crouch.

**"Winky?" said Harry. "She's here too?"**

**"Yes, sir, yes!" said Dobby, and he seized Harry's hand and pulled him off into the kitchen between the four long wooden tables that stood there. Each of these tables, Harry noticed as he passed them, was positioned exactly beneath the four House tables above, in the Great Hall. At the moment, they were clear of food, dinner having finished, but he supposed that an hour ago they had been laden with dishes that were then sent up through the ceiling to their counterparts above.**

Albus smiled at the description; that's exactly how the food is brought up.

**At least a hundred little elves were standing around the kitchen, beaming, bowing, and curtsying as Dobby led Harry past them. They were all wearing the same uniform: a tea ****towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and tied, as Winky's had been, like a toga.**

"Nah, I like Dobby's uniform a lot better," Sirius laughed again. "It's definitely one of a kind!"

"I agree," Arthur laughed.

**Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace and pointed.**

**"Winky, sir!" he said.**

**Winky was sitting on a stool by the fire. Unlike Dobby, she had obviously not foraged for clothes. She was wearing a neat little skirt and blouse with a matching blue hat, which had holes in it for her large ears.**

"Looks like Crouch at least gave her decent clothes before he forced her to leave," Molly said frowning.

**However, while every one of Dobby's strange collection of garments was so clean and well cared for that it looked brand-new, Winky was plainly not taking care other clothes at all. ****There were soup stains all down her blouse and a burn in her skirt.**

"Oh no," Tonks said, her grin fading at the description of Winky. "She doesn't sound like she's doing too well is she?"

"Ya think?" Sirius asked softly to himself. She sounded like she was in depression… and he knew better than anyone what that was like. But he didn't tell them that as he just trudged on.

**"Hello, Winky," said Harry.**

**Winky's lip quivered. Then she burst into tears, which spilled out of her great brown eyes and splashed down her front, just as they had done at the Quidditch World Cup.**

"It's been months, you think she cheer up by now," Moody said, clearly getting bored again. _'She's free to do whatever she wants, she shouldn't be wasting her tears on that creep Crouch.'_

**"Oh dear," said Hermione. She and Ron had followed Harry and Dobby to the end of the kitchen. "Winky, don't cry, please don't…"**

**But Winky cried harder than ever. **

The women in the room frowned, feeling terrible for the elf, and wonder how she's doing now. Hopefully, after over a year in the kitchens, she'll start to cheer up and move on… though they all highly doubted it.

**Dobby, on the other hand, beamed up at Harry.**

**"Would Harry Potter like a cup of tea?" he squeaked loudly, over Winky's sobs.**

**"Er - yeah, okay," said Harry.**

**Instantly, about six house-elves came trotting up behind him, bearing a large silver tray ****laden with a teapot, cups for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a milk jug, and a large plate of biscuits.**

"Now why can't Kreacher be like that?" Sirius asked to no one in particular.

"Because you both hate each other?" Tonks suggested and he nodded, unable to find anything wrong with that statement.

Albus merely sighed, he could just hear Kreacher's bullfrog voice downstairs, muttering to himself. He was certain that if Sirius started treating Kreacher more kindly, then perhaps…?

**"Good service!" Ron said, in an impressed voice. Hermione frowned at him, but the elves all looked delighted; they bowed very low and retreated.**

**"How long have you been here, Dobby?" Harry asked as Dobby handed around the tea.**

**"Only a week. Harry Potter, sir!" said Dobby happily. "Dobby came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir. You see, sir, it is very difficult for a house-elf who has been dismissed to get a new position, sir, very difficult indeed -"**

"But why would that be?" Tonks asked confused. "Normally, people would be glad for a house-elf. I figure that the first wizarding household he asks would be glad to get one."

They shrugged, unable to answer until Sirius said: **At this, Winky howled even harder, her squashed-tomato of a nose dribbling all down her front, though she made no effort to stem the flow.**

**"Dobby has travelled the country for two whole years, sir, trying to find work!" Dobby squeaked. "But Dobby hasn't found work, sir, because Dobby wants paying now!"**

"Oh, that explains it," Remus said. "People won't be too tempted for a house-elf who wants to be paid."

"I'm with Dobby though," Tonks said steadfastly. "If I have to do housework for a living, I at least want to be paid for it."

**The house-elves all around the kitchen, who had been listening and watching with interest, all looked away at these words, as though Dobby had said something rude and embarrassing. Hermione, however, said, "Good for you, Dobby!"**

**"Thank you, miss!" said Dobby, grinning toothily at her. "But most wizards doesn't want a house-elf who wants paying, miss. _'That's not the point of a house-elf,'_ they says, and they ****slammed the door in Dobby's face! Dobby likes work, but he wants to wear clothes and he wants to be paid. Harry Potter… Dobby likes being free!"**

"I'm liking this elf the more we hear about him," Sirius said grinning. Anyone who loves freedom as much a she did is ok in his book.

"'E ees most certainly different," Fleur said giggling at the funny elf's behavior.

"Go for it Dobby!" Tonks called out, as if hoping he could hear her.

**The Hogwarts house-elves had now started edging away from Dobby, as though he were carrying something contagious. **

**Winky, however, remained where she was, though there was a definite increase in the volume other crying.**

**"And then, Harry Potter, Dobby goes to visit Winky, and finds out Winky has been freed too, sir!" said Dobby delightedly.**

"I don't think that he should've said that in front of her," Molly said worriedly.

**At this, Winky flung herself forward off her stool and lay face-down on the flagged stone floor, beating her tiny fists upon it and positively screaming with misery. **

"Call me crazy, but I really don't think she likes being free as Dobby does," Arthur said, feeling pity for her.

"Well, I don't think that Winky had as miserable life with the Crouch's like Dobby did," Remus pointed out. "Crouch must've been at least decent with her… the Malfoy's couldn't have cared less."

_'And that was what caused the beginning of their downfall,'_ Albus thought. Here was proof that just because they were house-elves, doesn't mean that they can't fight back. Dobby knew what they were doing was wrong, and couldn't accept it. That was why he worked so hard to try and stop it from happening… because of the cruelty that he had suffered at their hands, he wanted nothing more than to be free from them.

Harry certainly must've been the first person who had ever been kind to him, which is why he is so loyal to him. And unless Sirius changes and starts to at least be decent to Kreacher, something like that could happen to him. He would have to have a word with him about that again…

**Hermione hastily dropped down to her knees beside her and tried to comfort her, but nothing she said made the slightest difference. Dobby continued with his story, shouting shrilly over Winky's screeches.**

_'That would be interesting to watch,'_ Moody thought, with another dark grin.

**"And then Dobby had the idea. Harry Potter, sir! 'Why doesn't Dobby and Winky find work together?' Dobby says. 'Where is there enough work for two house elves?' says Winky. And Dobby thinks, and it comes to him, sir! Hogwarts! So Dobby and Winky came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir, and Professor Dumbledore took us on!"**

Albus nodded, only have been too happy to do so. It was evening, just after the First Task in fact when the two elves came to him and asked for a job.

_*Flashback*_

_Albus was relaxing in his office, feeling more tired than he had in days. But in a good way this time. It was over… at least for now. One task down, only two more to make it through and this was over. Now if only they can go as well as they did today… though his exhaustion from the previous weeks were finally taking their toll and he started to doze off where he sat in his throne-like chair._

_At least until two loud CRACKS echoed around his office and Albus sat bolt-upright, half thinking that he was under attack… only to realize that no one was there. Confused, he looked around his seemingly empty office…_

_And then heard a squeaky voice from the floor in front of his desk call out, "Professor Dumbledore, sir!"_

_Albus quickly looked over the edge to see two house-elves standing there, a male and female. The male, he recognized at once as the Malfoy's former elf, Dobby. He was dressed in the strangest assortment of clothes that Albus had ever seen… including a tea-cozy for a hat._

_He sighed in relief and smiled at them both. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise. You both gave me quite a shock. I wasn't expecting anyone to show up this late."_

_Albus then looked to the female elf, and with realization, he saw that it was Winky. Barty's former elf whom he sacked over the summer from what he heard. He frowned slightly as he took in her dirty and tired appearance—her bloodshot eyes and drooping ears. While she was dressed in normal clothes that fit her perfectly, she looked rather like Mundungus after one of his drinking benders._

_"Dobby and Winky?" he questioned politely as Dobby bowed so low that his nose touched the floor._

_"Professor Dumbledore, sir!" Dobby said looking up respectfully. "Such an honor it is, sir! Dobby is glad that Dobby could talk to you like this."_

_Albus chuckled as he leaned back in his seat and started to relax again. "I am glad that we can finally properly speak as well, Dobby," he said smiling at him and Dobby bowed again._

_"Professor Dumbledore, sir, Dobby and Winky has come to find work!" Dobby said hopefully as Winky sniffled at his side._

_"Oh?" Albus asked interested. "Do tell."_

_"Well… you see sir," Dobby squeaked, looking at the floor. "Dobby has traveled the country for two whole years now, sir, trying to find work! But Dobby hasn't found work, sir, because Dobby wants paying for his work now!"_

_Albus didn't say anything for a moment as he surveyed Dobby over the top of his glasses with a kind smile. The elf didn't see it however as he just continued to look down at the floor, as if he was afraid that he would get into trouble for saying something like that._

_"Ahh, Dobby, and why did you come to Hogwarts looking for work?" Albus asked him curiously._

_Dobby addressed the carpet, "Ah, sir!" he squeaked. "Dobby has heard that Professor Dumbledore is a great Wizard, and is very kind towards house-elves! Dobby is wanting to be paid for his work and is also wanting Winky to have a job with Dobby!" Dobby told him, but Winky didn't help Dobby by saying anything._

_"I see," Albus said looking at Winky who started to cry. "Is that so, Winky? Would you like paying for your work too?"_

_Winky stopped crying for a moment before she looked up at him miserably. "Winky is a disgraced house-elf!" she squeaked almost wildly. "But Winky will never sink to such a level! Winky knows how a house-elf should behave!"_

_"Very well," Albus assured her kindly as he looked towards Dobby, who was looking more nervous by the second. "And tell me Dobby. How much would you like to be paid?" Albus asked him, and for a moment, Dobby looked stunned as he finally looked up and stared up at him through his large eyes._

_"Sir?" he asked slowly and Albus laughed. "Oh, yes, I think that we could do with a couple more house-elves around here. And if you wish to be paid, then I will be more than happy to do so."_

_Dobby broke into a wide smile and bowed low again. "Oh, thank you sir! This means so much to Dobby sir! Dobby cannot tell you!"_

_"Now," he asked as he folded his hands together and surveyed him. "How much would you like to be paid? I am sure that we can come to something that we will be more than happy with."_

_Dobby looked confused for a moment, as if he never thought of it._

_"How about…" Albus suggested, "I will pay you ten Galleons a week and give you weekends off?"_

_To say that Dobby was shocked would be an understatement. Dobby let out a squeak of amazement and fell over in astonishment._

_"Sir!" Dobby squeaked again once he came to and he stared up at him in amazement. "Sir, Dobby knew that you were a kind and great wizard… but never… never has Dobby ever heard…"_

_"Oh, I am serious about this Dobby," Albus said with a laugh. "We deserved to be rewarded once in awhile for our hard work. If this is what you wish, I will be more than happy to oblige."_

_Dobby suddenly shook his bat-like ears and got back unsteadily to his feet as he said with another deep bow, "Sir! Dobby is honored to be working for one who is so generous and good and…"_

_Albus raised his hand up at once. He learned that too much praise will go to your head and Dobby finished by saying, "But, sir, Dobby cannot except sir. Dobby likes being free, but he isn't wanting so much! He likes works much better."_

_"I see," Albus said thinking that over. "Alright then Dobby… how about… a few Galleons a week and several days off a month?"_

_Dobby shivered as if unable to imagine such riches and shook his head. "Ah, sir is still too good to Dobby! But that is still much too much sir. Dobby doesn't mean to be insulting to your kindness sir…"_

_"Why is that Dobby?" Albus asked him kindly, growing fond of the strange little elf._

_"Dobby is liking his freedom sir," he said. "But it has been a long time since Dobby has been able to find work. Dobby misses his work, but he isn't wanting so much!"_

_"Then I am guessing that you do not miss your old masters then, Dobby?" Albus asked, though he knew the answer already._

_Dobby gulped and looked over his shoulder as if he expected Lucius to be standing there. But he then said in a brave voice, "Dobby is not missing his old masters sir, Dobby is not wishing to see his old masters again. Dobby was treated like vermin—and Dobby still has nightmares about it. He didn't like having to punish himself so often, and he is enjoying not having to do so anymore."_

_Predictably, Dobby ran straight to the desk and began banging his head against it screaming, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"_

_"Dobby, stop!" Albus cried quickly and the elf gave himself one last smack before he fell backwards, looking cross-eyed._

_"Dobby, you must not talk about your masters that way," Winky said at once, sounding very angry. "Winky is not dreaming of speaking about her master Mr. Crouch in such a way! Winky wishes to see Mr. Crouch and go home, but she knows she is not able to!" Winky cried again, louder and harder than before._

_"They aren't Dobby's master's anymore, Winky," Dobby answered her firmly. "Dobby is a free elf, and he is wanting to work for Professor Dumbledore in the kitchens here at Hogwarts. Winky should be happy to be having Professor Dumbledore as her new master!"_

_"Winky is not happy, Winky is not wanting a new master," she peeped letting the began falling down her face, not bothering to stop the flow._

_Dobby then quickly turned back to him, as if afraid that Winky got them into trouble. "Sorry Professor Dumbledore sir, Winky is not being used to being a free elf," Dobby said quickly._

_Albus merely smiled at them and said, "It is alright, Dobby. I know that change can be hard for us all. And you do not have to call me 'sir' Dobby."_

_"Yes, sir Dobby does have to call you sir… Professor Dumbledore sir," Dobby said with another bow._

_"I am just saying that, if you wish too, you may call me a barmy old codger if you like, and it wouldn't matter to me," Albus smiled and Dobby stared at him. "Dobby you are a free elf therefore you are not obliged to treat me as your master. You are my employer, not my servant. You are free to choose what you wish and what to say."_

_"But Dobby is not wanting to call you that sir," Dobby said looking shocked. "And Dobby wishes to have one Galleon a week and one day off a month sir! If that is ok with sir…?"_

_Albus laughed again and he got up to show the two of them to the kitchens. "Of course, Dobby. If that is what you want. But if you ever wish for a pay raise, the please feel free to come to me. Now, why don't I show you the kitchens?" he told them and they followed him out of his office and down the stairs._

_*End of Flashback*_

He chuckled to himself, having grown very fond of Dobby—and was only too happy to take them on. He pulled himself out of his memories to listen to the story again.

**Dobby beamed very brightly, and happy tears welled in his eyes again.**

**"And Professor Dumbledore says he will pay Dobby, sir, if Dobby wants paying! And so ****Dobby is a free elf, sir, and Dobby gets a Galleon a week and one day off a month!"**

"That's hardly anything!" Tonks stated in shock. Who would work so hard for so little?

"Well, it is for a house-elf," Kingsley informed her. "It's much more than they're used to."

"Yeah, they've work for free for years," Bill said thinking it over. "I never heard of a house-elf who actually got any money for his work."

"Dobby is one in a million," Arthur chuckled.

**"That's not very much!" Hermione shouted indignantly from the floor, over Winky's continued screaming and fist-beating.**

**"Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a week, and weekends off," said Dobby, suddenly giving a little shiver, as though the prospect of so much leisure and riches were ****frightening, **

Sirius frowned. He hated to admit it, but at least Dumbledore had some morals—though that didn't make him hate him any less for the damage he'd done to his godson.

**"but Dobby beat him down, miss… Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he isn't wanting too much, miss, he likes work better."**

"As with all house-elves," Kingsley stated. "They take great pride in their work."

"I wish my children were like that," said Molly with a sigh.

"Hey," Bill said and she smiled back as Fleur laughed at the expression on his face.

**"And how much is Professor Dumbledore paying you, Winky?" Hermione asked kindly.**

"I don't think she'll like that," Arthur said sadly. "I doubt that she is being paid; she seems to hate freedom. Dobby's one of the odd ones."

"To a house-elf, begin paid is one of deepest shame," Sirius said knowingly. "I know Kreacher would probably drop dead if you offered him that. Say, that's not such a bad idea…"

"Sirius…" Kingsley warned; he just gave him a winning smile and read out before anyone could say anything.

**If she had thought this would cheer up Winky, she was wildly mistaken. Winky did stop crying, but when she sat up she was glaring at Hermione through her massive brown eyes, her whole face sopping wet and suddenly furious.**

**"Winky is a disgraced elf, but Winky is not yet getting paid!" she squeaked. "Winky is not sunk so low as that! Winky is properly ashamed of being freed!"**

**"Ashamed?" said Hermione blankly. "But - Winky, come on! It's Mr. Crouch who should be ****ashamed, not you! You didn't do anything wrong, he was really horrible to you -"**

"That's really not going to help," Remus said raising his eyebrows. "Loyal house-elves don't take well to their masters being insulted."

**But at these words, Winky clapped her hands over the holes in her hat, flattening her ears so that she couldn't hear a word, and screeched, "You is not insulting my master, miss! You is not insulting Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, miss! Mr. Crouch is right to sack bad Winky!"**

**"Winky is having trouble adjusting, Harry Potter," squeaked Dobby confidentially. "Winky forgets she is not bound to Mr. Crouch anymore; she is allowed to speak her mind now, but she won't do it."**

**"Can't house-elves speak their minds about their masters, then?" Harry asked.**

"If they couldn't, then they wouldn't be punishing themselves so often," Remus answered, remembering how Dobby kept punishing himself when he talked ill about his old masters.

**"Oh no, sir, no," said Dobby, looking suddenly serious. "'Tis part of the house-elf's enslavement, sir. We keeps their secrets and our silence, sir. We upholds the family's honor, and we never speaks ill of them – **

"With the Malfoys, it's it more like upholding the family's _dishonor_?" Sirius asked them and Arthur nodded firmly across from him.

"You have no idea how true that is," he told him darkly. "They don't have any honor."

**though Professor Dumbledore told Dobby he does not insist upon this. Professor Dumbledore said we is free to - to-"**

**Dobby looked suddenly nervous and beckoned Harry closer. Harry bent forward.**

**Dobby whispered, "He said we is free to call him a - a barmy old codger if we likes, sir!"**

Everyone laughed.

"That definitely does sound like the sort of mental thing that Dumbledore would say," Bill said grinning.

Fleur shook her head—Dumbledore was completely different from Madame Maxime… but both of them have her respect in different ways.

**Dobby gave a frightened sort of giggle.**

**"But Dobby is not wanting to, Harry Potter," he said, talking normally again, and shaking his head so that his ears flapped. "Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore very much, sir, and is proud to keep his secrets and our silence for him."**

Albus felt himself blushing at the praise, trying hard not to think of it too much.

**"But you can say what you like about the Malfoys now?" Harry asked him, grinning.**

"Hopefully he can tell them something that can be of use," Arthur said interested. Oh, he was still looking for something that would get the Malfoy's in trouble. He had been longing for a chance to get him back for the diary.

"Don't hold your breath," Moody advised.

**A slightly fearful look came into Dobby's immense eyes.**

**"Dobby - Dobby could," he said doubtfully. He squared his small shoulders. "Dobby could tell Harry Potter that his old masters were - were - bad Dark wizards'."**

"That's it?" Sirius said disgruntled. "But everyone, who isn't Fudge that is, already knows that! Wish he'd tell us something we don't already know."

"Why do we have to be related to them?" Tonks asked sadly. Sick at the thought that this family were her uncle, aunt, and cousin… she now had a good idea to how Harry must've felt with his relatives. Here she could fully appreciate just how unpleasant it must've been for the kid to be related to these guys. They're like a wizard version of the Dursleys… she agreed with what Harry said earlier in the third book… she rather live in an orphanage than live with them if she had been in his position.

"Think we did something bad in a past life?" he asked her, bringing her back out of her gloomy thoughts. "You know, really evil and we're now being punished for it with these low lives?"

"_You_…" Remus said looking at him. "I can see. But Tonks…"

As they chuckled, Sirius leaned his head close to Remus's ear and whispered, "And you say that you two don't belong together?"

The smile was wiped off his face at once and he looked down at his feet.

**Dobby stood for a moment, quivering all over, horror-struck by his own daring - then he rushed over to the nearest table and began banging his head on it very hard, squealing, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"**

"No! You can say whatever you like about ze Malfoys," Fleur said at once. "Zey are no longer your masters, Dobby."

"It looks like it's not that easy for them to forget where they came from," Bill said.

"It never is," Kingsley answered sadly. While Dobby's life was, without a doubt, a great improvement, he highly doubted that he could ever forget the trauma that he suffered at the Malfoy's.

**Harry seized Dobby by the back of his tie and pulled him away from the table.**

**"Thank you. Harry Potter, thank you," said Dobby breathlessly, rubbing his head.**

**"You just need a bit of practice," Harry said.**

"Yeah," Sirius said brightly. "Just insult them once a day, and pretty soon, you'll be telling us all sort of juicy stuff!"

**"Practice!" squealed Winky furiously. "You is ought to be ashamed of yourself, Dobby, talking that way about your masters!"**

"Ah, but they aren't his masters anymore," Tonks said at once. "So he can say what he wants!"

**"They isn't my masters anymore, Winky!" said Dobby defiantly. "Dobby doesn't care what they think anymore!"**

"That's it, Dobby!" Sirius cheered. "You tell 'em! No one cares what they think!"

**"Oh you is a bad elf, Dobby!" moaned Winky, tears leaking down her face once more. **

"No, that's Kreacher," Sirius grunted, thinking of the lowly elf downstairs.

"Would you all stop interrupting every line?!" Moody barked at them.

**"My poor Mr. Crouch, what is he doing without Winky? He is needing me, he is needing my ****help! **

Alastor's eyes twitched when he thought of what was going on in that house. She had a fair point… Crouch needed someone there to watch that worm of son. Maybe if he had kept her, none of this would've happened.

**I is looking after the Crouches all my life, and my mother is doing it before me, and my grandmother is doing it before her… oh what is they saying if they knew Winky was freed? Oh the shame, the shame!" She buried her face in her skirt again and bawled.**

**"Winky," said Hermione firmly, "I'm quite sure Mr. Crouch is getting along perfectly well without you. We've seen him, you know -"**

"You have, but he's not in his right mind," Moody said under his breath, so that no one could hear him.

**"You is seeing my master?" said Winky breathlessly, raising her tearstained face out of her skirt once more and goggling at Hermione. "You is seeing him here at Hogwarts?"**

**"Yes," said Hermione, "he and Mr. Bagman are judges in the Triwizard Tournament."**

**"Mr. Bagman comes too?" squeaked Winky, and to Harry's great surprise (and Ron's and Hermione's too, by the looks on their faces), she looked angry again. "Mr. Bagman is a bad ****wizard! A very bad wizard! My master isn't liking him, oh no, not at all!"**

"Well, I'm not saying he's Death Eater bad," Remus said carefully.

"But he's an idiot," Moody grunted. "How he became head of the department, I'll never know. My guess is some Quidditch loving idiots who let him in just cause he had his head cracked open by some stray bludgers. He honestly can't work to save his life."

**"Bagman - bad?" said Harry.**

**"Oh yes," Winky said, nodding her head furiously, "My master is telling Winky some things! But Winky is not saying … Winky - Winky keeps her master's secrets …"**

**She dissolved yet again in tears; they could hear her sobbing into her skirt, "Poor master, poor master, no Winky to help him no more!"**

**They couldn't get another sensible word out of Winky. They left her to her crying and finished their tea, while Dobby chatted happily about his life as a free elf and his plans for his wages.**

"Clothes?" Bill suggested.

"What else would an elf like him use money on?" Tonks laughed.

**"Dobby is going to buy a sweater next, Harry Potter!" he said happily, pointing at his bare chest.**

**"Tell you what, Dobby," said Ron, who seemed to have taken a great liking to the elf, "I'll give you the one my mum knits me this Christmas, I always get one from her. You don't mind maroon, do you?"**

Molly had mixed feelings when she heard that. "While, I'm glad that my sweater was given to someone who appreciates it, I wish he told me. I could've had time to make on for him as well."

"That sounds cute," Tonks cooed. "Maybe I'll send him something this year…"

**Dobby was delighted.**

**"We might have to shrink it a bit to fit you," Ron told him, "but it'll go well with your tea cozy."**

"I think that Hermione's respect for him just rose a little bit," Bill whispered and Fleur smiled.

"I theenk zat was ze point," she smiled. She could tell from the ball that Ron had feelings for Hermione.

**As they prepared to take their leave, many of the surrounding elves pressed in upon them, offering snacks to take back upstairs. Hermione refused, with a pained look at the way the elves kept bowing and curtsying, but Harry and Ron loaded their pockets with cream cakes and pies.**

"Never turn down free food, Hermione," Sirius groaned. "You're gonna regret that someday!"

**"Thanks a lot!" Harry said to the elves, who had all clustered around the door to say good night. "See you, Dobby!"**

**"Harry Potter… can Dobby come and see you sometimes, sir?" Dobby asked tentatively.**

**"'Course you can," said Harry, and Dobby beamed.**

Tonks started to laugh again. "I love this guy… he's so sweet."

"If only Kreacher wasn't such a little…" Sirius began, but fell silent at the grumpy look on Moody's face.

"I'm almost done with the chapter!" he retorted and flipped the page.

**"You know what?" said Ron, once he, Hermione, and Harry had left the kitchens behind and were climbing the steps into the entrance hall again. "All these years I've been really impressed with Fred and George, nicking food from the kitchens - well, it's not exactly difficult, is it? They can't wait to give it away!"**

Sirius burst out laughing. "Can't argue with that!"

**"I think this is the best thing that could have happened to those elves, you know," said Hermione, leading the way back up the marble staircase. "Dobby coming to work here, I mean. The other elves will see how happy he is, being free, and slowly it'll dawn on them ****that they want that too!"**

"Maybe," Remus said carefully. "But I wouldn't be holding my breath because that's not going to happen overnight… or even over the next few years. Slavery is ingrained into them, and that's not likely to change quickly."

**"Let's hope they don't look too closely at Winky," said Harry.**

**"Oh she'll cheer up," said Hermione, though she sounded a bit doubtful. "Once the shock's worn off, and she's got used to Hogwarts, she'll see how much better off she is without that Crouch man."**

"Personally, I think she is as well," Tonks nodded, "Now that she's away from that house, but she doesn't realize that."

**"She seems to love him," said Ron thickly (he had just started on a cream cake).**

**"Doesn't think much of Bagman, though, does she?" said Harry. "Wonder what Crouch says at home about him?"**

**"Probably says he's not a very good Head of Department," said Hermione, "and let's face it… he's got a point, hasn't he?"**

"I'd have to agree with him on that one," commented Moody.

**"I'd still rather work for him than old Crouch," said Ron. "At least Bagman's got a sense of humor."**

"But you'll be stuck cleaning up his messes," Kingsley sighed. "He really doesn't do much himself—his assistance usually do all the work for him. He usually just gets things messed up and tries to brush it off. Especially with that gambling addiction."

**"Don't let Percy hear you saying that," Hermione said, smiling slightly.**

"Yeah," Sirius grumbled, his dislike for the third Weasley boy still strong—though he didn't say anything loud enough for the Weasley's to hear—who were now looking saddened at the mention of Percy's name. "But then again, he'd just walk out on you if he heard that."

**"Yeah, well, Percy wouldn't want to work for anyone with a sense of humour, would he?" ****said Ron, now starting on a chocolate éclair. "Percy wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea cozy."**

Everyone laughed at that, though the Weasleys sounded a bit forced as Sirius closed the book. "And that's it for the THELF chapter," he informed them.

"Good, that had to have been the most pointless chapter yet," Moody complained.

"Maybe for you," Sirius said enigmatically. "But I liked it." It was wonderful to read such a light-hearted chapter for once. He hated that Mad-Eye was trying to take that away.

"Well, now that that chapter's over," Kingsley said comfortably, "Who's next?"

Hopeful that this calm atmosphere lasts a little longer, Arthur volunteered. He took the book and read, "**Chapter 22: The Unexpected Task**."

**(Finally, this chapter had been so difficult to write, especially when I'm trying to put all the other stories up as well. Hope it was worth the wait. Oh, and as for what happened on Fleur and Bill's date? We'll find out during the next break that they take. ;-) Can anyone guess why I choose for Bill to give her primroses? If not, I'll explain that later.)**


	26. The Unexpected Task

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 25: The Unexpected Task**

Hopeful that this calm atmosphere lasts a little longer, Arthur volunteered. He took the book and read, "**Chapter 22: The Unexpected Task**."

"What? You mean there's another task already?" Molly said, her heart speeding up slightly and several of them paled at the thought. "We just got through with the First Task! I thought that they said the second one didn't start until February!"

Albus was thinking hard to what this could mean… now they couldn't have skipped over three months and gone straight to the Second Task did it? No… the First Task was before Christmas that year, which meant that the Yule Ball was coming up and… suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks and he had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing out loud once he realized what this was about.

Apparently Fleur realized the same thing because she was laughing to.

"What's so funny?" Tonks asked her bewildered. "I mean, if another task is up then…?"

"No," she said through her giggles. "It's not talking about one of ze three tasks. I theenk 'Arry is just being over-dramatic 'ere. You see, ze Yule Ball is coming up!"

"The ball?" Kingsley asked deeply. "Well, what's so dangerous about that?"

"Looks like we're about to find out," Bill said smiling as Fleur leaned her head against his shoulder and the two of them watched the book as if it was a very interesting television show.

**"Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?"**

This time it was Sirius's turn to burst out laughing. He couldn't remember how many times that he heard that, however it was always _Potter! Black! Will you pay attention?!_

That sure brought back many a fond memory…

Remus must've been thinking along the same lines because he was grinning as well. He then answered to the other's puzzled expressions, "Sirius and James were told off just like that about five times a day. Just hearing that is so nostalgic…"

They smiled at the peaceful expressions on the two marauder's faces. Arthur stayed quiet for a moment to allow them an extra moment to reminisce… and then he held the book up to his face again and continued.

**Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, and Harry and Ron both jumped and looked up.**

Sirius only beamed wider at the thought. Two young trouble-makers disrupting class? Oh, he was already liking this chapter… he hoped that the rest of it was just as good.

**It was the end of the lesson; they had finished their work; the guinea fowl they had been changing into guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on Professor McGonagall's desk (Neville's still had feathers); they had copied down their homework from the blackboard ("Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches"}.**

"You have to have balls to be able to mess around in McGonagall's class!" Sirius laughed, feeling more upbeat with every word. "All the memorable detentions…" he trailed off as if reliving wonderful memories.

"How could you be glad that they're causing trouble in class?" Molly demanded.

"Because I can look back at them and remember all the fun I had instead of remembering sitting there listening to facts and figures," Sirius said firmly. "I mean, without us, classes would've felt like you were trapped in a no-time-passing-zone. We made class interesting!"

Molly rolled her eyes, Moody on the other hand was thinking about those spells. Cross-species switches? He was sure that this had to be some kind of clue… they didn't overheard these instructions for no reason—suddenly he frowned deeper at the thought of Crouch Jr. Well, what do you know? This is just more foreshadowing with these Transformation spells.

**The bell was due to ring at any moment, and Harry and Ron, who had been having a sword fight with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class, looked up, Ron holding a tin parrot and Harry, a rubber haddock.**

Sirius and Remus both burst out laughing hard again.

"That sounds like something you two would've done," Remus chuckled, knowing full well that they often pulled stunts like that.

"I know!" Sirius gasped, holding onto his ribs because it was starting to hurt. "To be fair, the wand transfigures into something else so it's still should count for Transfiguration!"

"They're fourteen!" Molly shook her head exasperated. "They're a little old to be acting like this."

"You're never too old to stop having fun!" Sirius said waving his hand at her, as if her words were an irritating fly.

"I have nothing against them having fun," Molly snapped, "But there is a time and place for stuff like that."

Knowing that the delicate agreement with Sirius and his wife was already on shaky grounds, Arthur went on reading in hopes of distracting them.

**"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age," said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the pair of them as the head of Harry's haddock drooped and fell silently to the floor - Ron's parrot's beak had severed it moments before - "I have something to say to you all.**

**"The Yule Ball is approaching -**

"Oooooohhhhhhh," Tonks cooed excitedly. Normally, she didn't care much for such formal parties like a ball, but just the idea sounds wonderful… especially if… she glanced over at Remus, who was so focused on the book that Arthur was reading that he didn't notice her. She sighed, wishing that she could get through to him somehow.

"Is that the task?" Bill asked Fleur in confusion as she only beamed wider whenever he talked to her."A ball doesn't sound horrible. I mean, sure some people don't take well to wearing formal attire but…"

"I think that the task is to ask someone to the ball, Bill," Arthur suggested, a big smile on his face.

"That's it?" Moody groaned. That's the task? Great, just his luck. First house-elves, and now dances… why was he here again? The last thing he wanted was to listen to these kids going out on a date. Fleur, Tonks, and Molly on the other hand, all looked excited, and even a few of the men were grinning broadly.

"Only Harry could make asking a girl to a dance sound as dangerous as fighting a dragon," Remus chuckled evenly. "But now we get to see if he's as rude as Sirius was whenever he asked a girl out."

"HEY!" Sirius yelled at him and actually threw one of the throw pillows at him.

"Come on," Remus laughed, brushing his graying hair out of his face. "I'm sure that you remember all the times that they would slap you in the face whenever you asked them out."

"You were slapped?" Tonks asked interested and Remus went on quickly, "He would walk right up to a girl and asked, 'Oi! Wanna snog?' and then she would usually slap him hard in the face."

As they all roared with laughter, Sirius hissed, "Did you have to tell them that?"

Remus leaned in to Sirius and whispered, "Don't pick on me, and I won't pick on you.

"Did James do that to?" Arthur asked, tears of mirth still in his eyes. Remus shook his head, "Nah, he spent most of his time trying to think of a way to get Lily to go out with him."

"Why? Did she 'ate 'im?" Fleur asked confused.

"Well, thinking back, Lily had always been mature for her age," Remus said. "I admit that we were far from that—spent more time in detention than out—but everything about James just seemed to bug her. You know how little boys are when they meet a girl they like… but once we grew up and started acting our age, she started to get to know us. Finally, she agreed to go out with James."

"Personally," Sirius chuckled, "Like I said before, I think that after the countless times that he asked her out, she was so sick of listening to him, that I bet that she said yes just to get him to leave her alone."

"My…" Fleur said as Kingsley and Arthur laughed. "Sounds like love at first sight."

Albus had to stick his fist in his mouth to keep him from laughing out loud. He remembered just how often the two of them would argue… they resembled young Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in fact. He sometimes couldn't figure out how two people, less likely to get married ended up together. Was it some fluke? Or was it simply a matter of one of the greatest mysteries that this world has to offer? A mystery that he himself will never be able to figure out… the nature of love.

He shut his eyes and smiled widely.

Meanwhile, in the room, while everyone was laughing, Bill leaned in to Fleur and asked quietly, "Did you go?"

"Yes," she smiled. "I did 'ave a lot of fun. But ze boy I went wasn't anything special."

Bill wasn't completely sure why he felt relieved.

**a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish -"**

**Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil nudged her hard in the ribs, her face ****working furiously as she too fought not to giggle. They both looked around at Harry,**

"Notice how it said that they both looked at Harry?" Sirius smirked.

"Quite the ladies man," Tonks snorted. "I get the feeling that girls are going to be lining up to ask him."

"Looks like Harry is popular again after going against a dragon," Bill commented softly, though he didn't dare say it too loudly in case Sirius heard. The guy looked like he was finally starting to enjoy the book again and the last thing he wanted was to take that away from him.

**Professor McGonagall ignored them, which Harry thought was distinctly unfair, as she had just told off him and Ron.**

**"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then -"**

**Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.**

**"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down," she said, in a disapproving voice.**

Sirius snorted. He would've loved to have seen her take her hair out once in awhile, it might help her to lighten up a little and take a joke.

**Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle ****the sound. Harry could see what was funny this time: Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense.**

"Oh, she has," Albus whispered smiling ever wider. He remembered Minerva when she first started school with fondness. The girl had always insisted on keeping her hair long and hanging except when she played Quidditch of course. Even after she returned to the castle as a teacher, she kept it long, at least until one of her students had accidently set it on fire… she decided not to risk it again and kept it in that bun.

**"But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."**

_'Then that could be Ron's perfect excuse not to go! He has to wear those ancient robes after all and they're embarrassing enough,'_ Sirius thought with a smirk.

**The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.**

**Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter - a word, if you please."**

**Assuming this had something to do with his headless rubber haddock,**

"Something tells me that it's not about the haddock," Arthur said slowly. "I mean, if it was, then Ron would be there to."

"No," Molly laughed, she had a pretty good idea what this was about… "I think she's trying to talk to him about the Yule Ball."

**Harry proceeded gloomily to the teacher's desk. Professor McGonagall waited until the rest of the class had gone, and then said, "Potter, the champions and their partners -"**

**"What partners?" said Harry.**

"Dance partners from the sound of it," Bill said trying not to laugh, but he was having a hard time trying to keep it from bursting out.

"Dance partners," Fleur repeated happily, she had been looking forward to hearing about the ball again.

**Profesor McGonagall looked suspiciously at him, as though she thought he was trying to be funny.**

"I think that he was just hoping that what he's thinking of was wrong," Tonks said as she leaned back. "I don't think that there's anything that a boy hates more than knowing that he has to get a date for some proper occasion."

"I can't argue with that," Sirius nodded sagely. Just thinking about wearing those ugly dress robes and listening to everyone around you with proper manners and all that was making him crazy just thinking about it.

**"Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter," she said coldly. "Your dance partners."**

**Harry's insides seemed to curl up and shrivel.**

"You know, 'e is being so dramatic about it," Fleur said as they all began to laugh at Harry's description. "Eet was really a wonderful evening."

"For a girl," Sirius muttered to himself innocently.

**"Dance partners?" He felt himself going red. "I don't dance," he said quickly.**

**"Oh yes, you do," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "That's what I'm telling you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball."**

"Yes," Fleur said happily. She looked over at Bill. While she did have fun, she wished that she could've met him before the ball… it would've been so nice to have gone with him…

**Harry had a sudden mental image of himself in a top hat and tails, accompanied by a girl in the sort of frilly dress Aunt Petunia always wore to Uncle Vernon's work parties.**

Sirius couldn't keep it inside. He let out a loud snort, and had to put his head  
between his knees to keep himself from collapsing into fits of laughter as that image entered his mind.

**"I'm not dancing," he said.**

"As a champion, I doubt that he has much of a choice here," Kingsley pointed out. "It's like when his name came out of the Goblet… I think that he will be forced into it."

**"It is traditional," said Professor McGonagall firmly. **

"So are a lot of things, like marrying your cousins," Sirius muttered quietly, his happy mood disappearing slightly. "Some traditions should be thrown out the window and into the garbage where they belong."

**"You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter."**

**"But-I don't-"**

**"You heard me, Potter," said Professor McGonagall in a very final sort of way.**

Sirius grinned once again, remembering that tone as well. Good times…

**A week ago Harry would have said finding a partner for a dance would be a cinch compared to taking on a Hungarian Horntail. But now that he had done the latter, and was facing the prospect of asking a girl to the ball, he thought he'd rather have another round with the ****dragon.**

"Oh yes, he's never asked anyone out before," Kingsley chuckled.

"I can't believe it," Sirius sighed. "He is fourteen and he's never asked a girl out before? I had my first girlfriend at the age of thirteen!"

"Not everyone has to start dating when their young," Molly reminded him.

"Well, look at Remus," Sirius teased. "He was the real lady killer in school. He could've had any girl he wanted but he always said no."

Remus blushed and stuttered as Tonks asked, "Really?"

He turned even redder and looked down as Sirius clapped him on the shoulder. "You kidding? He's the smart, shy, well-behaved marauder! If only he let himself get a girl."

"You might want to sleep with one eye open tonight, Padfoot," Remus whispered to him and Sirius grinned innocently at him.

"Besides," Moody yawned, sounding close to falling asleep. "The kid was too busy trying to save the world to be wasting his time getting a girl."

"Kill the mood, why don't you Mad-Eye," Sirius snapped at the painful reminder.

"Just saying that fighting Voldemort must make it difficult to go out on a date," he yawned again, leaning back and shutting his eyes. "Wake me when something interesting happens."

"Always the spoil sport," Tonks muttered as he shut his normal eye—his magical one still spinning around watching them all.

**Harry had never known so many people to put their names down to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas; he always did, of course, because the alternative was usually going back to Privet Drive,**

Everyone scowled at the mention of the dreadful place.

"Course, I'm sure he could've found a way out of it," Arthur suggested offhanded. "We would've loved to have had him over Christmas if he really didn't want to go."

Molly nodded firmly by his side, however Kingsley spoke up and answered with another grin, "Like I said, I doubt that the champions had a choice."

Fleur shook her head and thought, _'And they think I'm dramatic.'_

**but he had always been very much in the minority before now. This year, however, everyone in the fourth year and above seemed to be staying, and they all seemed to Harry to be obsessed with the coming ball - or at least all the girls were, and it was amazing how many girls Hogwarts suddenly seemed to hold; he had never quite noticed that before. **

"Boys rarely do when they're young," Molly said wisely.

"And even when they're older," Tonks muttered, her eyes flickering to Remus. They're eyes met and he blushed red again as he turned his head so quickly that he cricked his neck. But he didn't pay attention to that as he fought the wave of emotions threatening to get out.

**Girls giggling and whispering in the corridors, girls shrieking with laughter as boys passed them, girls excitedly comparing notes on what they were going to wear on Christmas night…**

**"Why do they have to move in packs?" Harry asked Ron as a dozen or so girls walked past them, sniggering and staring at Harry. "How're you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?"**

"That, Harry," Sirius said pompously, "Is a great mystery that has plagued men since the beginning."

"Looks, like he doesn't have Prongs daring when it come to girls," Remus said brightly, remembering how James had gone right up to Lily and asked her loudly if she would go out with him… which usually resulted in her either punching him or cursing him.

"Something that Lily had been praying for since she found out she was having a baby," Sirius agreed with a snigger. "I remember how she had hoped, that if she ever had a son, then he would be a polite young gentleman."

"Well, she got her wish didn't she?" Molly said proudly. "Now if only some of my sons would learn a bit of that tact…"

"As long as you don't mean me, Mum," Bill asked and she smiled at him. No, out of all her sons, Bill was without a doubt the most tactful.

**"Lasso one?" Ron suggested. **

They all burst out laughing at that.

"Now there's an idea," Sirius chortled, smacking himself in the forehead with his palm. "Why didn't I think of that?!"

"Like you needed too," Remus rolled his eyes. "I swear that your goal was to date every single girl in the castle. You hardly stayed with one for longer than a week… at least the ones who would date you."

"Because they weren't the right one," he grinned back. "I didn't want to waste my time with someone unless they were my perfect other half."

The women shot him dark looks, but they didn't say anything.

**"Got any idea who you're going to try?"**

"Oh, unless I'm wrong, he's thinking about a Miss Cho Chang," Sirius said in a sing-song voice, causing everyone to grin at the thought. Moody, however, was now gently snoring in his seat.

**Harry didn't answer. He knew perfectly well whom he'd like to ask, but working up the nerve was something else… Cho was a year older than he was; she was very pretty; she was a very good Quidditch player, and she was also very popular.**

"Which means she most probably already has a date by now," Arthur said knowingly.

"Oh, that's gonna suck," Sirius winced, knowing that rejection was never a pleasant thing. Yet, that never seemed to stop James funny enough. Every time that Lily said no, or that she would rather date the Giant Squid, it only seemed to make him even more determined.

**Ron seemed to know what was going on inside Harry's head.**

**"Listen, you're not going to have any trouble. You're a champion. You've just beaten a Hungarian Horntail. I bet they'll be queuing up to go with you."**

"I theenk zey were queuing up to ask all of us," Fleur said, thinking of all the boys asking her out and the mountain of girls looking at Cedric and Viktor. Bill looked slightly annoyed about this; something that Tonks noticed.

"Is someone jealous?" Tonks teased him, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Shut up," Bill muttered, uncharacteristically pungent.

**In tribute to their recently repaired friendship, Ron had kept the bitterness in his voice to a bare minimum.**

"Well, he's taking this well," Arthur said carefully; this was certainly a different attitude than before—not that he was complaining… he preferred this to the boys fighting any day.

"Yeah, he's the one who's going to be having trouble finding a date," Bill pointed out.

**Moreover, to Harry's amazement, he turned out to be quite right.**

"Oh, this is gonna be good," Sirius smirked, rubbing his hands together like a little kid expecting a treat.

**A curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl to whom Harry had never spoken in his life asked him to go to the ball with her the very next day. Harry was so taken aback he said no before he'd even stopped to consider the matter.**

"Yeah, he has to be careful who he asks out," Remus said at once. "I mean, if he's not and asks just anyone to the ball, then there's a good chance that the girl might think that he's leading them on."

"Oh, I doubt that," Sirius said bitterly, turning angry again, "Who here wants to be that she was wearing one of those people wearing the badges? Any takers?"

"I only hope he wasn't rude to her at least," Molly said to no one in particular.

**The girl walked off looking rather hurt, and Harry had to endure Dean's, Seamus's, and Ron's taunts about her all through History of Magic. The following day, two more girls asked him, a second year and (to his horror) a fifth year who looked as though she might knock him out if he refused.**

Tonks and Sirius burst out laughing at that, really hating how these chapters were making his emotions going up and down almost constantly. Can't he be given a break for once?

**"She was quite good-looking," said Ron fairly, after he'd stopped laughing.**

**"She was a foot taller than me," said Harry, still unnerved. "Imagine what I'd look like trying to dance with her."**

"Who cares 'ow she looks?" Fleur demanded.

"Well, you have to be careful with rejection," Bill reasoned. "I mean, if she looks like she might knock you out, then I don't think that it would be safe to go with her."

"Besides, if their names haven't even been mentioned, then I doubt that Harry knows much about any of them," Sirius stated.

**Hermione's words about Krum kept coming back to him. "They only like him because he's famous!" Harry doubted very much if any of the girls who had asked to be his partner so far ****would have wanted to go to the ball with him if he hadn't been a school champion. **

"Well, he's thinking everything over," Kingsley said warily.

Sirius frowned, knowing just how true that was. He was sure that those girls were part of the school who had been giving Harry a hard time. And now that his godson showed that he could hold his own against a dragon they're jumping on the bandwagon trying to get on his good side.

"He is also still famous," Arthur pointed out.

"Who cares?" Sirius asked frowning. "He doesn't need them if they only see him as the _Boy-Who-Lived_, or the _Hogwarts champion_."

**Then he wondered if this would bother him if Cho asked him.**

"Good luck with that," Sirius spoke up, a smile playing on his lips again.

**On the whole, Harry had to admit that even with the embarrassing prospect of opening the ball before him, life had definitely improved since he had got through the first task. He wasn't attracting nearly as much unpleasantness in the corridors anymore, which he suspected had a lot to do with Cedric - he had an idea Cedric might have told the ****Hufflepuffs to leave Harry alone, in gratitude for Harry's tipoff about the dragons.**

"Well, that's good of him," Tonks said at once.

"Yeah, funny that he doesn't do that until _after_ the First Task," Sirius said with his eyebrows raised.

**There seemed to be fewer Support Cedric Diggory! badges around too. Draco Malfoy, of course, was still quoting Rita Skeeter's article to him at every possible opportunity, but he was getting fewer and fewer laughs out of it - and just to heighten Harry's feeling of well-being, no story about Hagrid had appeared in the Daily Prophet.**

"Yet," Albus muttered to himself darkly, knowing full well that they would be hearing about foul article about Hagrid and his heritage soon.

**"She didn' seem very int'rested in magical creatures, ter tell yeh the truth," Hagrid said, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione asked him how his interview with Rita Skeeter had gone during the last Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the term. **

**To their very great relief, Hagrid had given up on direct contact with the skrewts now, and they were merely sheltering behind his cabin today, sitting at a trestle table and preparing a fresh selection of food with which to tempt the skrewts.**

"Thank heavens for that," sighed Molly in relief, hopeful that this would be the last they would hear about those terrible monsters.

**"She jus' wanted me ter talk about you, Harry," Hagrid continued in a low voice. "Well, I told her we'd been friends since I went ter fetch yeh from the Dursleys. 'Never had to tell him off in four years?' she said. 'Never played you up in lessons, has he?' I told her no, an ****she didn' seem happy at all. Yeh'd think she wanted me to say yeh were horrible, Harry."**

Albus shook his head. Oh no. Poison-Pen Skeeter had been starting a negative campaign against Harry even this soon? Now, thanks to her, the power of the press had been acting like cowards and been doing their hardest to undermine an innocent teenager…

"Another reason why no one likes her," Bill muttered.

"Really? You mean to tell me that the only reason she wanted an interview was because she wanted Hagrid to tell her all sorts of horrible things about Harry. Wow, I never saw that coming!" said Sirius mockingly.

"She's probably had enough of writing him as a tragic hero," Kingsley frowned, wishing that he could get her fined for the damage that she had caused. "And now wants to stir things up a bit."

**"'Course she did," said Harry, throwing lumps of dragon liver into a large metal bowl and picking up his knife to cut some more. "She can't keep writing about what a tragic little hero I am, it'll get boring."**

"Wow," Arthur grimaced at Kingsley, "You both have the exact same thoughts about Rita."

"Oh, I think that anyone who's ever met her has the same thoughts," he answered deeply.

"And we wouldn't want her to write about anything boring now do we?" Sirius snarled under his breath. "I mean, she has to keep her fans on their toes. Doesn't matter whose life she ruins next so long as she gets the story."

"Yes, that sums her up nicely," Kingsley muttered grimly.

**"She wants a new angle, Hagrid," said Ron wisely as he shelled salamander eggs. "You were supposed to say Harry's a mad delinquent!"**

"You mean he's not?" Bill asked in mock surprise and Fleur laughed again. "Wow, and here I thought that he was the worst sort of evil. You learn something new every day I suppose."

**"But he's not!" said Hagrid, looking genuinely shocked.**

**"She should've interviewed Snape," said Harry grimly. **

"I'm sure that he would've only been too happy to help," Sirius grunted in a bad mood.

"Well, we should be glad that she did," Molly said, personally thanking whatever deity out there preventing that from happening. It only would've given Harry an even harder time and he didn't need that.

**"He'd give her the goods on me any day. 'Potter has been crossing lines ever since he first arrived at this school…'"**

**"Said that, did he?" said Hagrid, while Ron and Hermione laughed.  
"Well, yeh might've bent a few rules. Harry, bu' yeh're all righ' really, aren' you?"**

Everyone laughed again.

"I don't even know how to respond to that," Remus chortled himself back to silence, while thinking about all the countless rules that the three of them had broken.

"Bent a few rules," Sirius laughed loudly. "I'd say that it's more like he smashed them into pieces; but hey, at least he had a good reason."

**"Cheers, Hagrid," said Harry, grinning.**

**"You coming to this ball thing on Christmas Day, Hagrid?" said Ron.**

**"Though' I might look in on it, yeah," said Hagrid gruffly. "Should be a good do, I reckon. **

**You'll be openin the dancin', won yeh, Harry? Who're you takin'?"**

"Yeah, who did he go with?" Sirius asked Fleur curiously.

Fleur opened her mouth, but decided against it; only smirking at him and said, "Oh, you will see."

"Oh, come on," he groaned, but he was still grinning. "I'll find out sooner or later anyway, so why not tell me now?"

"And ruin ze surprise?" she asked happily and he let out another bark of laughter.

"Fine, you win," he said, folding his arms, "But only because I'm enjoying this chapter."

**"No one, yet," said Harry, feeling himself going red again. Hagrid didn't pursue the subject.**

**The last week of term became increasingly boisterous as it progressed. Rumors about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere, though Harry didn't believe half of them - for instance, ****that Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta. **

"If he did, I doubt he would share it with the students," said Kingsley and Albus had to hold his hand up to his mouth.

**It seemed to be fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters. **

Tonks gasped and was now looking at Fleur jealously. "You got to see the Weird Sisters live?" she asked longingly, looking down at her favorite t-shirt, which held their logo and name.

"I take it that you would've loved to have gone?" Sirius asked her cheerfully.

"Are you kidding?" she asked as if she thought he was losing his mind. "I've always wanted to see them play live!"

"Yes," Fleur smiled. "And ze where amazing."

Tonks groaned loudly and lowered her head until it hit against her knee. Taking pity, Arthur kept reading.

**Exactly who or what the Weird Sisters were Harry didn't know, never having had access to a wizard's wireless, but he deduced from the wild excitement of those who had grown up listening to the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) that they were a very famous musical group.**

"He's kidding right?" Tonks gasped, looking up. "He didn't know who they were? They're only like the most famous musical group in the world!"

"Well, I guess that he's not that interested in boy bands," Remus offered, only causing Tonks to stare at him gob-smacked.

**Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up trying to teach them much when their minds were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play games in his lesson on Wednesday, and spent most of it talking to Harry about the perfect Summoning Charm Harry had used during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Other teachers were not so generous. **

"Of course some teachers don't have any sense of fun," Sirius sighed. People like McGonagall who wouldn't let the students play games in class if her life depended on it, and Snape who couldn't take a joke if it bit him in the…

But before he could finish that thought, he heard Arthur going on.

**Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, for example, from plowing on through his notes on goblin rebellions - as Binns hadn't let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn't going to put him off. It was amazing how he could make even bloody and vicious goblin riots sound as boring as Percy's ****cauldron-bottom report.**

"Those poor kids," Bill said. He heard Percy reading out his report over that summer and it had bored him to tears.

"If only they consider getting a new teacher," Tonks stated.

Albus shrugged in the hallway. He didn't have the heart to get rid of Binns, and he knew that another History of Magic teacher would only infuriate him. He wasn't sure what to do about that…

**Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. **

Everyone looked up at each other, each sharing the same thought. If this was how Snape treated his students, then they could only pity any child that he would adopt.

"Snape would no sooner let them play games in games in class than adopt Harry," Tonks said slowly. "That's a joke, right?"

"I hope so," Sirius said shivering at the idea.

**Staring nastily around at them all, he informed them that he would be testing them on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term.**

"Just as long as he's not actually planning on using the poisons on anyone," Molly said anxiously.

"Well, if he is, then I think we all know who he's going to be using it on," Sirius grunted, threats beginning to form in his head again at the thought of that greasy-haired git.

**"Evil, he is," Ron said bitterly that night in the Gryffindor common room. "Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying."**

"Of course," Sirius answered simply. "After all, he's a git."

**"Mmm… you're not exactly straining yourself, though, are you?" said Hermione, looking at him over the top of her Potions notes. Ron was busy building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack – **

"Oh, Ron," Molly groaned, half amused, half disapproving at hearing her son's antics. Arthur and Bill on the other hand both chuckled at that, knowing that was definitely something that he would be doing when there's a test from Snape coming up.

**a much more interesting pastime than with Muggle cards, because of the chance that the whole thing would blow up at any second.**

**"It's Christmas, Hermione," said Harry lazily; he was rereading Flying with the Cannons for the tenth time in an armchair near the fire. Hermione looked severely over at him too.**

"The Cannons?" Sirius repeated looking up to the ceiling. "_Why_ the Cannons?"

"Ok, we get it, you don't like the Cannons," Molly sighed.

**"I'd have thought you'd be doing something constructive, Harry, even if you don't want to learn your antidotes!"**

**"Like what?" Harry said as he watched Joey Jenkins of the Cannons belt a Bludger toward a Ballycastle Bats Chaser.**

"I think that she's talking about the egg," Tonks said. "I think that she's worried that he's never going to figure it out if he doesn't take it seriously." She looked to Fleur, "Is it that hard to figure out?"

"I didn't figure out ze clue until after Christmas," she answered with a shrug.

"What did you have to do?" Bill asked her curiously.

"Put eet under water," Fleur replied. "Only zen could you 'ear ze merfolk song." What she neglected to tell them was that Madame Maxime dropped the hint to her.

**"That egg!" Hermione hissed.**

**"Come on, Hermione, I've got till February the twenty-fourth," Harry said.**

**He had put the golden egg upstairs in his trunk and hadn't opened it since the celebration party after the first task. There were still two and a half months to go until he needed to know what all the screechy wailing meant, after all.**

"You might need a lot of time to figure it out though," Remus reminded them all. Dumbledore nodded to himself again, remembering all the hours that the three of them spent in the library, trying to find something that would help.

**"But it might take weeks to work it out!" said Hermione. "You're going to look a real idiot if everyone else knows what the next task is and you don't!"**

**"Leave him alone, Hermione, he's earned a bit of a break," said Ron, and he placed the last two cards on top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing his eyebrows.**

Sirius let out a loud snort at the thought.

**"Nice look Ron… go well with your dress robes, that will."**

"Wonder who it is this time," Bill asked raising his eyebrows. There were only two people he knew who would say something like that to Ron and sure enough…

**It was Fred and George. They sat down at the table with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as Ron felt how much damage had been done.**

**"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.**

**"No, he's off delivering a letter," said Ron. "Why?"**

"To send a letter obviously," Tonks rolled her eyes.

**"Because George wants to invite him to the ball," said Fred sarcastically.**

**"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," said George.**

"George," Molly snapped, before remembering that her son wasn't here. "Oh, no wonder he has such low confidence. Do they have to be so horrible to their only little brother?"

"Insult the person who you want to do you a favor," Tonks said, pretending to think that over. "Yeah, that's smart."

"Well, Pig already left so they don't have any reason to," Sirius pointed out.

"That doesn't mean that they have to say things like that to their brother," Molly snapped back.

**"Who d'you two keep writing to, eh?" said Ron.**

**"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too," said Fred, waving his wand threateningly. "So… you lot got dates for the ball yet?"**

_'Fred tells Ron to keep his 'nose out' of their letter-writing affairs,'_ Kingsley thought that over. He was really starting to pick up on all these nose running bits… it's almost as if whoever wrote this book knew how everything was going to end and put these clues for them to try and find.

**"Nope," said Ron.**

**"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.**

**"Who're you going with, then?" said Ron.**

**"Angelina," said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.**

"Really?" Bill asked in surprise.

Remus leaned back with a fond smile on his face. "Yeah, that sounds just like you, Sirius."

"Hey," Sirius told him beaming. "What's there to be embarrassed about when you have a girl?"

**"What?" said Ron, taken aback. "You've already asked her?"**

**"Good point," said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oy! Angelina!"**

More laughing. "Now that's not a smart idea," Sirius laughed loudly, pounding the arm of the couch. "What would he have done if she already had a date or said no?"

"I think we're about to find out," Bill grinned.

**Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him.**

**"What?" she called back.**

**"Want to come to the ball with me?"**

"Wow," said Remus simply, shaking his head. "He does sound exactly like you, Sirius." He couldn't beginning to count how many times Sirius had pulled a stunt just like that one.

"I can't believe zat 'e did zat," Fleur said, looking at Bill, wondering if this was how his brother always acted.

"I can," the Weasleys said at once.

"That was so impolite though," Molly said annoyed. "At least be civil enough to ask her quietly."

"It was a good idea though if you think about it," Sirius cut in. "I mean, if you ask someone out in front of everyone, there's a better chance that they'll say yes."

**Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look.**

**"All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.**

Bill wondered how George thought of that. He overheard him and Fred talking about that once or twice back when they visited him in Egypt. He knew that George had a bit of a crush on her… or… he smirked, there was a chance that Fred decided to help George out and asked her out for him and then traded places… the odds were slim, but that did sound like something they would do.

**"There you go," said Fred to Harry and Ron, "piece of cake."**

**He got to his feet, yawning, and said, "We'd better use a school owl then, George, come on…"**

"Wonder why they didn't do that from the start," Tonks asked with a shrug.

"Easier to borrow from your brother than from the school," Sirius offered.

**They left. Ron stopped feeling his eyebrows and looked across the smoldering wreck of his card castle at Harry.**

**"We should get a move on, you know… ask someone. He's right. We don't want to end up ****with a pair of trolls."**

"A pair of what?" Molly spluttered sitting up straight, her loud voice almost causing Moody to wake up. "How can he be so inconsiderate? I know that I raised him better than that."

"What an idiot," Tonks snapped, on Molly's side. "I mean, it's one thing to say something like that about a girl, but did he have to say it in front of Hermione?"

"Zis won't go well," Fleur knowingly nodding her head. "She won't take well to zat."

**Hermione let out a sputter of indignation.**

**"A pair of… what, excuse me?"**

**"Well - you know," said Ron, shrugging. "I'd rather go alone than with – with Eloise Midgen, say."**

"Isn't she the girl who tried to curse her acne off and lost her nose?" Bill asked confused.

"Sounds like it," Remus said nodding. "Wonder why he doesn't want to go with her… I taught her and she was a very nice young lady…"

**"Her acne's loads better lately - and she's really nice!"**

**"Her nose is off-center," said Ron.**

"That's eet?" Fleur demanded frowning, liking Ron less and less. She looked to Bill again, and wondered if they were really related.

"That is so shallow," Tonks said angrily. "Who cares how she looks? I rather have someone who is kind and smart… even if he isn't young or rich." She threw a look to Remus, who continued to ignore her as if he hadn't heard a word, though she could see a slight blush covering his pale cheeks again.

"Why should you both care?" Sirius asked. "I mean, you don't need to worry about looks."

But he said the wrong thing, because suddenly they were both glaring at him with murderous rage in their eyes.

"I can say zat kind of thing because I'm used to boys only seeing me for my beauty," Fleur snapped at him. "I care nothing for someone who cares only 'ow I look!"

"And you wonder why you never had a long-time girlfriend," Tonks glared just as fiercely as Fleur and Sirius held his hands up in surrender, knowing that it was his only hope for living. They went on for some time before they looked away from him.

But before Arthur continued, Fleur felt Bill's strong and warm hand over her own, and just like that all her anger faded away. She took a deep breath and looked back at him, feeling weak at the knees. At least she had someone here who didn't care how she looked.

**"Oh I see," Hermione said, bristling. "So basically, you're going to take the best looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?"**

"Sounds like that's his plan," Bill muttered, not looking away from Fleur's blue eyes.

"What an idiot," Fleur answered him, unable to look at anything but Bill's face.

**"Er - yeah, that sounds about right," said Ron.**

**"I'm going to bed," Hermione snapped, and she swept off toward the girls' staircase without another word.**

"Ok, I really don't think that went as well as it could've done," Kingsley said casually.

"Ya think?" Tonks asked, feeling jealous again as she looked at the happy couple next to her. Now why couldn't Remus be that way with her? She was now regretting telling him that she would wait until he was ready… she didn't want to wait any longer… she wanted to be with him now…

**The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. **

Albus nodded. Everyone certainly pulled out their best that Christmas…

**When the decorations went up. Harry noticed that they were the most stunning he had yet seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them.**

"Wow," Tonks sighed. "That sounds beautiful!"

But Molly was hardly listening, her son and Fleur hadn't stopped staring at each other the entire time, and she was wondering if they were even paying attention anymore. She frowned at the mesmerized looks on their faces, and had to fight the urge to break it up.

**It was quite something to hear "O Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armor, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his ****own invention, all of which were very rude.**

Most of them laughed again, and the laughter seemed to bring the lovebirds back down to earth.

"Sounds like Peeves," said Sirius appreciatively, obviously not noticing anything happening around him. "You can always count on him for a little extra Christmas cheer."

**And still Harry hadn't asked Cho to the ball.**

"Come on," Sirius groaned. "He has taken out a basilisk, dementors and a dragon… but when it comes to asking a girl to a dance he's freaking out."

"Is she pretty?" Arthur asked them, knowingly.

Remus nodded. "She really is a very beautiful young lady… a bit on the emotional side, but she's very kind."

"In that case, Harry can forget it," Sirius sighed sadly. "There's almost no chance that she hasn't been asked out by now."

**He and Ron were getting very nervous now, though as Harry pointed out, Ron would look much less stupid than he would without a partner; Harry was supposed to be starting the dancing with the other champions.**

**"I suppose there's always Moaning Myrtle," he said gloomily, referring to the ghost who ****haunted the girls' toilets on the second floor.**

"If that isn't desperation then I don't know what is," said Sirius snorting.

"I doubt Myrtle would even want to go," Arthur sighed.

"I don't know about them, but I'm betting that Eloise Midgen is looking better by the minute," Tonks frowned.

**"Harry - we've just got to grit our teeth and do it," said Ron on Friday morning, in a tone that suggested they were planning the storming of an impregnable fortress.**

**"When we get back to the common room tonight, we'll both have partners - agreed?"**

"I can't wait to see how this works out," Sirius said happily. "I hope we see how well they do…"

"As long as they're respectful and courteous, then I really don't see the problem," Molly said at once.

"Unless they ask already have a date," Bill reminded her.

**"Er… okay," said Harry.**

**But every time he glimpsed Cho that day - during break, and then lunchtime, and once on the way to History of Magic - she was surrounded by friends. Didn't she ever go anywhere alone? Could he perhaps ambush her as she was going into a bathroom? But no - she even ****seemed to go there with an escort of four or five girls. Yet if he didn't do it soon, she was bound to have been asked by somebody else.**

Fleur nodded. She had been… she had gone with Cedric after all. Her eyes widened… oh, that can't be good.

**He found it hard to concentrate on Snape's Potions test, and consequently forgot to add the key ingredient - a bezoar -**

"And of course Snape failed him there," Sirius grunted, but was so looking forward to seeing their attempts with a girl, that it didn't bother him as much as it would normally.

**meaning that he received bottom marks. He didn't care, though; he was too busy screwing up his courage for what he was about to do.**

"Aww," said Sirius mockingly, "His first time asking her out."

"I'm sure that it didn't go so well for you the first time," said Molly lightly.

"Actually, I think that she gave him a black eye," Remus spoke up and Sirius nudged him in warning.

**When the bell rang, he grabbed his bag, and hurried to the dungeon door.**

**"I'll meet you at dinner," he said to Ron and Hermione, and he dashed off upstairs.**

**He'd just have to ask Cho for a private word, that was all… **

"Better than how James used to do it," Remus smiled broadly.

_'Or Fred,'_ Molly thought shaking her head in annoyance.

**He hurried off through the packed corridors looking for her, and (rather sooner than he had expected) he found her, emerging from a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.**

**"Er - Cho? Could I have a word with you?"**

**Giggling should be made illegal Harry thought furiously, as all the girls around Cho started doing it. **

"I couldn't agree more," Sirius nodded wisely, having found it very irritating. Really, why do girls giggle over every little thing? Just what is so funny?

**She didn't, though. She said, "Okay," and followed him out of earshot other classmates.**

**Harry turned to look at her and his stomach gave a weird lurch as though he had missed a step going downstairs.**

"Don't worry, Harry," Sirius said brightly. "Once you get used to asking them out it gets easier."

**"Er," he said.**

**He couldn't ask her. He couldn't. But he had to. **

"Oh, this is killing me," Tonks groaned. "It's like he's about to do something dangerous."

"Well, we're about to see him do something he's never done before," Sirius said eagerly, leaning forward to listen to every word.

**Cho stood there looking puzzled, watching him.**

"Puzzled? Why would she be puzzled?" Sirius asked in surprise. He thought that a Ravenclaw would be smarter than that. "How can she not figure it out what was going on here?

"You have to be a complete airhead not to realize what he wanted to ask," Tonks agreed, looking over at the sleeping Moody. 'Airhead' was one of his favorite things to call the newbie Aurors.

**The words came out before Harry had quite got his tongue around them.**

**"Wangoballwime?"**

"Er, what?" Bill wondered, his father speaking so fast that he had trouble making out anything.

"He asked if she wanted to go to the ball with him," Fleur said. She was so used to boys unable to talk in straight sentences that she had learned to become quite fluent in babble.

**"Sorry?" said Cho.**

**"D'you - d'you want to go to the ball with me?" said Harry. Why did he have to go red now? ****Why?**

"It's your first date," said Bill, nodding in sympathy. "Most people are like that, especially when they're a little younger and shy."

**"Oh!" said Cho, and she went red too. "Oh Harry, I'm really sorry," and she truly looked it. "I've already said I'll go with someone else."**

"Ouch," Sirius winced in empathy. "Rejection. Don't worry, Harry. One rejection doesn't mean a thing. Look at James! Lily rejected him for years until she finally said yes."

**"Oh," said Harry.** **It was odd; a moment before his insides had been writhing like snakes, but suddenly he didn't seem to have any insides at all.**

"You get used to it," Sirius said intentionally.

**"Oh okay," he said, "no problem."**

**"I'm really sorry," she said again.**

**"That's okay," said Harry.**

**They stood there looking at each other, and then Cho said, "Well-"**

"Awkward," Tonks muttered quietly.

"But, hey, he's talking rejection surprisingly well," Bill said impressed.

"Something that I bet he inherited from James," Sirius whispered to Remus who smiled back widely. "At least he doesn't whine about it to us like he did," he answered back.

**"Yeah," said Harry.**

**"Well, 'bye," said Cho, still very red. She walked away.**

**Harry called after her, before he could stop himself.**

**"Who're you going with?"**

**"Oh - Cedric," she said. "Cedric Diggory."**

"Oh, that's got to be painful," Sirius said sympathetically.

"Poor guy," Arthur said not sure whether to laugh or not. What were the odds?

"Not only is the girl he likes going with someone else… but she is going with Harry's biggest competition," Kingsley summarized with a shrug.

"Bet he loved that," Tonks said tilting her head.

**"Oh right," said Harry.**

**His insides had come back again. It felt as though they had been filled with lead in their absence.**

**Completely forgetting about dinner, he walked slowly back up to Gryffindor Tower, Cho's voice echoing in his ears with every step he took. "Cedric – Cedric Diggory." He had been starting to quite like Cedric - prepared to overlook the fact that he had once beaten him at ****Quidditch, **

"He only beat you at Quidditch because the dementors made you pass out whilst in the air," Sirius said at once, feeling the usual pang of pain at the reminder.

**and was handsome, and popular, and nearly everyone's favorite champion. **

"Now, that can't be true," Molly said slowly.

"Well, the Hufflepuffs might disagree with that," Remus pointed out.

"Or did you forget how they all treated him from the last few chapters?" Sirius asked bitterly.

**Now he suddenly realized that Cedric was in fact a useless pretty boy who didn't have ****enough brains to fill an eggcup.**

"Harry that wasn't nice," Molly said frowning.

"Zat's is a bit 'arsh," Fleur said sadly, knowing that he was going to regret that later. Cedric's death couldn't have been easy on him.

"He's jealous," Arthur reminded them all. The other males in the room seemed to find Harry's thoughts particularly funny however. Having all of them gone through the same feelings at once point in their life.

**"Fairy lights," he said dully to the Fat Lady - the password had been changed the previous day.**

**"Yes, indeed, dear!" she trilled, straightening her new tinsel hair band as she swung forward to admit him.**

**Entering the common room, Harry looked around, and to his surprise he saw Ron sitting ashen-faced in a distant corner. Ginny was sitting with him, talking to him in what seemed to be a low, soothing voice.**

All the men in the room grimaced; all of them recognizing the signs of someone being turned down.

"So he's been rejected too then," Sirius sighed. "Man, just a lot of bad luck here."

Fleur bit back a smile, having a good idea to what this was about.

**"What's up, Ron?" said Harry, joining them.**

**Ron looked up at Harry, a sort of blind horror in his face.**

**"Why did I do it?" he said wildly. "I don't know what made me do it!"**

"What?" Sirius asked eagerly, bouncing in his seat slightly. "What did he do?!"

**"What?" said Harry.**

**"He - er - just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," said Ginny.**

"He didn't," Tonks said gleefully and looked at her. When Fleur nodded Tonks and Sirius burst out laughing again.

"I love this chapter!" Sirius yelled out, causing Moody to snort in his sleep.

"What did you say to him?" Kingsley asked her, as Molly's eyes narrowed slightly at the girl.

"I didn't even answer," Fleur replied.

"Why not?" Molly wondered suspiciously.

"First off, 'e is still so much younger zan me," Fleur shrugged. "And second, before I could answer, 'e turned and ran off."

"Oh, this is brilliant," Sirius smirked.

**She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron's arm sympathetically.**

"Good to see that she seems to be a little more comfortable around them," Tonks said eagerly.

"Well, she's starting to come out of her shell more," Molly said happily. "And having Harry spend the holidays with us has gotten her used to him, and see that he's not just a famous name. This year, I think they've really became good friends."

Not exactly where she wanted them yet, but they were halfway there.

**"You what?' said Harry.**

**"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron gasped again. "What was I playing at? There were people - all around - I've gone mad - everyone watching! **

"Oh, now that really takes guts," Sirius whistled. You really have to be either really confident, or a complete idiot to do that.

**I was just walking past her in the entrance hall - she was standing there talking to Diggory ****- and it sort of came over me - and I asked her!"**

**Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept talking, though the words were barely distinguishable.**

"That does suck," Sirius said not quite managing to prevent himself from laughing again.

"'E fell for ze Veela charm," said Fleur quietly. This was the one thing she hated about her Veela blood. She wanted people to look at her but not because of what she looked like. She shared another glance at Bill and almost at once felt at peace again.

As if he knew what she was thinking of, he whispered quietly to her just as his father started up again, "You do know that it's not because you're part Veela that I like you right?" he asked. "I didn't even know until you told me."

"I know," she said smiling at him, everything else around her seemed to have faded away except for Bill. "And I can't tell you 'ow much zat means to me."

**"She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then - I dunno - I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."**

"If he had been a real man, he would've stood there and waited to hear what you said," Sirius told Fleur.

"What were you going to say?" Molly asked, her eyes still narrow at the girl.

"I didn't see 'im coming," she told her, but she was once again stuck staring at Bill. "I was wondering what on earth I was going to say myself."

**"She's part veela," said Harry. "You were right - her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning on the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it - but she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang."**

"Sounds like it," Tonks said to her. "Is that what happened?"

She blushed and looked down. She had really liked Cedric… being one of the only few boys who had ever been immune to her charm.

**Ron looked up.**

**"I asked her to go with me just now," Harry said dully, "and she told me."**

**Ginny had suddenly stopped smiling.**

"Bet she loved hearing that," Tonks sniggered.

"Her crush is still going strong I see," Sirius laughed.

"Be nice," Molly warned them evenly.

"Yeah, but what I want to know is who does she have the crush on," Sirius said cynically. "I mean, is it Harry or the Boy-who-lived?"

Arthur glanced up at that question, quietly thinking it all over for a moment, "Well, when they first met, I think that it was the Boy-Who-Lived, because she had heard so many stories about him and saw him as a hero. Much like Tonks and the Weird Sisters."

"Hey!" Tonks said putting her hands on her hips. "I like the Weird Sisters, but it's not like plan on marrying any of them."

Arthur gave her a brief smile before he went on, "But now, after he saved her life from the Chamber of Secrets… and gotten to know him, I think that crush has changed over from _Famous Harry Potter_ to just Harry. After all, out of everyone else on this earth, I think that Harry's the only other person who can understand her… with Voldemort and the incident with the Chamber I mean."

They all fell silent at that thought, never really realizing it that way before.

"Man," Sirius sighed. "After everything that happened, I think that both deserve some bit of happiness. I really think that he needs a pretty girl there for him."

While out in the hallway, Albus was thinking over what Arthur just said. And while Harry most certainly deserved someone special… he was sure that he wasn't just searching for a pretty face. The funny thing is that Harry may not even be aware of…

But before he could go into any real detailed thoughts about that, they continued and he focused on listening again.

**"This is mad," said Ron. "We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone - well, except Neville. Hey - guess who he asked? Hermione!"**

"And what's wrong about that?" Remus asked, having grown to be very fond of the boy when he met him.

**"What?" said Harry, completely distracted by this startling news.**

**"Yeah, I know!" said Ron, some of the color coming back into his face as he started to laugh. "He told me after Potions! Said she's always been really nice, helping him out with ****work and stuff - but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville… I mean, who would?"**

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, I can't believe you said that," Molly called out, wishing that her son was here so that she could tell him off.

"What a tactless jerk," Tonks agreed angrily.

**"Don't!" said Ginny, annoyed. "Don't laugh -"**

**Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait hole.**

**"Why weren't you two at dinner?" she said, coming over to join them.**

"Trying to find a date for the ball," Tonks muttered, still sore.

**"Because - oh shut up laughing, you two - because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!" said Ginny.**

**That shut Harry and Ron up.**

"There you go, Ginny," Molly said firmly, bring them back to reality.

**"Thanks a bunch, Ginny," said Ron sourly.**

"Well, that's what you get for being mean," Tonks said nodding.

**"All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?" said Hermione loftily. "Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone somewhere who'll have you."**

"Thatta a girl, put him in his place!" Tonks said cheering up considerably and wished she could've seen Hermione put Ron down in person.

**But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light.**

"What now?" Sirius asked.

"Just as long as he doesn't say anything stupid…" Tonks said carefully.

**"Hermione, Neville's right - you are a girl…"**

"Please tell me that was just a misprint," Molly said quietly as almost all the men burst out laughing while she and the other women looked outraged. "He didn't just say that; it was just about the worst thing he could have said to her!"

"He has a lot to learn," Arthur chuckled. He wondered just who taught him to say things like that.

"This is not funny, Arthur, our son just said to a girl that he only realized that she is a girl," Molly said glaring at her husband.

"That's why he has so much to learn," Sirius nodded. "That is probably one of the worst things to say. Oh, this could turn nasty…"

**"Oh well spotted," she said acidly.**

**"Well - you can come with one of us!"**

"A little late for zat," Fleur said, knowing full well that she went with Viktor. "Maybe if zey asked 'er first…"

**"No, I can't," snapped Hermione.**

**"Oh come on," he said impatiently, "we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if ****we haven't got any, everyone else has…"**

**"I can't come with you," said Hermione, now blushing, "because I'm already going with someone."**

"Really? Who is it?" Sirius asked in interest. "Do we know him?"

"Well, 'e really doesn't talk all zat much," Fleur said slowly. "But 'e really is a nice guy once you get to know him."

"You mean Krum?" Tonks said, she was already been thinking the same thing.

"Oh, that's going to kill Ron," Sirius said seriously, the joking manor that was there a moment ago was fading now.

"His favorite Quidditch player going out with his best friend," Kingsley summed up. "I'm not so sure that he's going to take too kindly to that."

"Maybe," Molly said, still in a bad mood. "But it might also help him see more clearly. Hermione has her own mind, and she doesn't need Ron's permission to do anything.

**"No, you're not!" said Ron. "You just said that to get rid of Neville!"**

"He is so rude," Tonks said angrily. "Just because he didn't think to ask her, doesn't mean that no one else has."

**"Oh did I?" said Hermione, and her eyes flashed dangerously. "Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!"**

**Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again.**

"Now what is he going to say?" Remus asked.

"I'm almost afraid to hear it," Molly said crossly.

**"Okay, okay, we know you're a girl," he said.**

"But Harry already knew that," Arthur pointed out.

**"That do? Will you come now?"**

**"I've already told you!" Hermione said very angrily. "I'm going with someone else!"**

**And she stormed off toward the girls' dormitories again.**

Arthur smiled. These three really are coming of age. Ron, Harry, and Hermione have entered puberty. For the first time, Harry's aware of Cho Chang and he's daydreaming, not about fame or glory, but about her. Ron is more self-conscious than ever about his lack of money and his shabby dress robes, and he is defensive about Harry's fame as well as he also notices, for the first time, that Hermione is in fact a girl.

**"She's lying," said Ron flatly, watching her go.**

**"She's not," said Ginny quietly.**

**"Who is it then?" said Ron sharply.**

**"I'm not telling you, it's her business," said Ginny.**

"That's right, Ginny," Tonks cheered on.

**"Right," said Ron, who looked extremely put out, "this is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just -"**

Molly looked up interested.

**"I can't," said Ginny, and she went scarlet too. "I'm going with - with Neville.**

Bill blinked in surprise and Molly looked disappointed.

**He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought… well… I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year." She looked extremely miserable. "I think I'll go and have dinner," she said, and she got up and walked off to the portrait hole, her head bowed.**

"She really wanted to go wiz 'Arry didn't she?" asked Fleur smiling.

"I think so," Sirius laughed. "Maybe next time."

**Ron goggled at Harry.**

**"What's got into them?" he demanded.**

**But Harry had just seen Parvati and Lavender come in through the portrait hole. The time ****had come for drastic action.**

A few people laughed.

"He must have been desperate to go ask someone who believes everything that Trelawney says," said Sirius.

**"Wait here," he said to Ron, and he stood up, walked straight up to Parvati, and said, "Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me?"**

"That's right! Speak with confidence!" Sirius said approvingly, nodding. "I think that he's catching on."

"Well, he doesn't fancy Parvati, so he's not as embarrassed about asking her," Bill reasoned.

**Parvati went into a fit of giggles. Harry waited for them to subside, his fingers crossed in the pocket of his robes.**

**"Yes, all right then," she said finally, blushing furiously.**

"Good, he has a date now," Tonks said happily. "That wasn't so hard now was it?"

**"Thanks," said Harry, in relief. "Lavender - will you go with Ron?"**

**"She's going with Seamus," said Parvati, and the pair of them giggled harder than ever.**

**Harry sighed.**

**"Can't you think of anyone who'd go with Ron?" he said, lowering his voice so that Ron wouldn't hear.**

"It's good of 'im to be theenking of 'is friend," Fleur said.

"Hopefully, he'll have more luck than Ron did," Remus smiled serenely.

**"What about Hermione Granger?" said Parvati.**

**"She's going with someone else."**

**Parvati looked astonished.**

**"Ooooh - who?" she said keenly.**

"Why didn't she just tell Ron and 'Arry zat she was going with Viktor?" Fleur wondered.

"I think she was worried that Ron would tease her or give her a hard time," Arthur answered her.

"Knowing him, he would do something like that," Molly sighed.

**Harry shrugged. "No idea," he said. "So what about Ron?"**

**"Well…" said Parvati slowly, "I suppose my sister might… Padma, you know… in Ravenclaw. I'll ask her if you like."**

"Wow, two dates at once," Sirius said. "Maybe being polite does help you out."

"You know, maybe he should have Harry ask the girls out for him all the time," Bill laughed, "Since Ron is hopeless at doing it himself."

**"Yeah, that would be great," said Harry. "Let me know, will you?"**

**And he went back over to Ron, feeling that this ball was a lot more trouble than it was worth, and hoping very much that Padma Patil's nose was dead center.**

"He should just be thankful that he has a date," Molly said firmly.

"And that's the end of the chapter," Arthur said, turning the page to see the statue of the reindeer among some holly and rosebushes.

"'Ere, give it to me," Fleur said at once. "I want to read."

Once they handed it over to her, she looked happily at the chapter and read, "**Chapter 23: The Yule Ball**."


	27. The Yule Ball

**(Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling! I own nothing)**

**Chapter 26: The Yule Ball**

Once they handed it over to her, she looked happily at the chapter and read, "**Chapter 23: The Yule Ball**."

"Oh, I've been looking forward to zis chapter," she smiled happily.

"It sounds like it had been a lot of fun," Tonks sighed.

"Oh, it was," Fleur answered her happily. "It was a beautiful night. If only we 'ad more balls like zat."

"To be honest, I always wanted to know how the ball was," Molly said thoughtfully. "I remember Hermione and Ginny saying that they had fun, and even the twins mentioned having a good time. But Harry and Ron never talked about it…"

Sirius was thinking of something else. "I wonder how the boys will react to Hermione's mystery man," he asked with a smirk.

**Despite the very heavy load of homework that the fourth years had been given for the holidays Harry was in no mood to work when term ended, and spent the week leading up to Christmas enjoying himself as fully as possible along with everyone else.**

"Honestly," Molly said shaking her head. "Once again, they're going to be leaving their homework until the last minute and then panic about not having it done. And Harry still has that egg to figure out…"

"Can you blame him?" Sirius asked coolly. "No one ever wants to do homework! Especially when the holidays are coming up."

"And it's better to just leave it until the day before it's do?" she asked coldly.

"Yep," he answered brightly and Remus shook his head fondly. Moody grunted slightly in his sleep.

**Gryffindor Tower was hardly less crowded now than during term-time; it seemed to have shrunk slightly too, as its inhabitants were being so much rowdier than usual. **

"Really?" Arthur asked in amusement. He had a sneaking suspicion that Fred and George were behind all that with their joke products.

**Fred and George had had a great success with their Canary Creams, and for the first couple of days of the holidays, people kept bursting into feather all over the place.**

Most of the room grinned widely.

"Now, Mum," Bill told her. "You can't admit that they sure know their stuff when it comes to making jokes."

"I never said that they didn't," she told him wearily. "I am merely worried what they would do if their joke shop idea doesn't work out."

Arthur reached over and took her hand. "But sometimes we just have to let our children do what they think is right."

She gave him a rather grim smile, but didn't answer.

**Before long, however, all the Gryffindors had learned to treat food anybody else offered them with extreme caution, in case it had a Canary Cream concealed in the centre, and George confided to Harry that he and Fred were now working on developing something else. Harry made a mental note never to accept so much as a crisp from Fred and George in future. **

Bill tilted his head slightly. Fred and George still haven't said anything about the money they won from Bagman—wonder if that's what they are working at? Well, whatever it is, he hoped that whatever they're working on next, they weren't edible. If it is, he wasn't going to be eating anything they ever gave him.

"You think that they slipped Harry and Hermione some of that stuff?" Sirius asked smiling.

"Well, they prank Ron all the time, but I really don't think they pulled anything on Harry or Hermione," Arthur said thinking hard.

"Maybe it's because they know that the two of them can fight back?" Remus asked grinning. "Ron usually just takes whatever they have to throw at them, but Harry and Hermione don't take anything lying down."

**He still hadn't forgotten Dudley and the Ton-Tongue Toffee.**

"I know I won't be forgetting that," Sirius sighed fondly.

Fleur looked up at him and asked, "Ze what?"

"Just one of countless pranks my brothers pull," Bill told her simply with a smile.

**Snow was falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds now. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage looked like a large, chilly, frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that was Hagrid's cabin, while the Durmstrang ship's portholes were glazed with ice, the rigging white with frost. **

"He has such a way with words doesn't he?" Tonks said happily.

"Ze heart of a poet," Fleur agreed. "You don't see too many of zem anymore."

Albus smiled to himself. Yes, Harry had always did seem to see the world in a different way than others. Almost as if… looking through the eyes of a young child…

**The house-elves down in the kitchen were outdoing themselves with a series of rich, warming stews and savory puddings, **

Sirius's mouth started to water again at the sound of all the delicious foods. Not for the first time, wishing that he could zip over to Hogwarts to sample some of that food…

**and only Fleur Delacour seemed to be able to find anything to complain about. **

Molly only sent Fleur a dark look as she blushed at her past behavior.

**"It is too 'eavy, all zis 'Ogwarts food," they heard her saying grumpily as they left the Great Hall behind her one evening **

Fleur looked down. Did she really sound that immature?

When she noticed that Bill was looking at her she whispered to him, "I guess I was just feeling 'omesick?"

But he just smiled at her, making her heart flutter. "Understandable," he admitted softly. "First time I spent Christmas away from home, I kinda criticized everything too."

She sighed happily, just cherishing the soft, yet deep, tone of voice as she read on…

**(Ron skulking behind Harry, keen not to be spotted by Fleur). **

Sirius laughed loudly and Moody moved slightly, his magical eye glaring at them all.

"Hopefully, you forgot all about him by that point," Kingsley asked her and she smiled evenly. She tried not to think of every boy who asked her out.

**"I will not fit into my dress robes!"**

"Of course you will," Tonks scoffed slightly. "What's the problem?"

Fleur looked away innocently. Normally, she didn't care. But it was a ball and she wanted to look her best. Was that so wrong?

Molly shot her another annoyed look, wondering what it was that Bill saw in her.

**"Oooh there's a tragedy," Hermione snapped as Fleur went out into the entrance hall. "She really thinks a lot of herself, that one, doesn't she?"**

"Hey!" Bill said indignantly and Fleur could've sworn that her heart had stopped beating for a moment at those words. Just hearing him stand up for her meant more to her than anything sweet words from all the boys she's ever met.

**"Hermione - who are you going to the ball with?" said Ron.**

"I get the feeling that question has been coming up on her all the time," Remus chuckled.

**He kept springing this question on her, hoping to startle her into a response by asking it when she least expected it. However, Hermione merely frowned and said, "I'm not telling you, you'll just make fun of me."**

"Ok, I can see that's a good reason," Tonks muttered thoughtfully.

"Oh, I don't think they would have," Arthur said. "Well, Harry wouldn't have anyway. I'm sure that he would be surprised but I doubt that he would make fun of her…"

"It's Ron's reaction that would be the problem," Kingsley agreed.

"Knowing him, he'd be shocked and jealous before feeling that she betrayed him," Sirius nodded knowingly.

"Well, maybe this will help him to grow up," Tonks answered and Molly nodded at her side.

**"You're joking, Weasley!" said Malfoy, behind them. "You're not telling me someone's asked that to the ball? Not the long-molared Mudblood?"**

"Why zat—" Fleur went and cursed to herself in French.

"I couldn't agree with you more," Tonks muttered angrily. "He's about as mature as Ron. But at least Ron doesn't go around and insult them like he does!"

"If only I could get my hands on him," Sirius growled. "Snape lectures the other Heads of Houses about disciplining their students, while he lets his do and say whatever they want."

He sighed before he said in a slightly brighter tone, "Well, one thing's for sure. I guess that it's safe to say that Hermione's not taking him to the ball."

"No doubt about that," Tonks muttered folding her arms.

**Harry and Ron both whipped around, but Hermione said loudly, waving to somebody over Malfoys shoulder, "Hello, Professor Moody!"**

**Malfoy went pale and jumped backward, looking wildly around for Moody, but he was still up at the staff table, finishing his stew.**

**"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?" said Hermione scathingly, **

"You tell 'em, Hermione!" Tonks called out happily. "Imposter Moody's probably the only person who actually gave him some form of punishment. And now he's finally starting to get it through his thick head that the world doesn't revolve around him!"

"Great comeback," Sirius smiled. "And she didn't even have to use any magic to do that either!"

"Almost as good as when she suckerpunched him in the last book right?" Tonks laughed.

"She punched 'im?" Fleur asked surprised.

"He deserved it," Bill nodded. "He had been asking for it for a long time, and Hermione finally delivered it."

"But zen, why would 'e not tell anyone about zat?" she asked confused.

Sirius snorted. "You really think that a spoiled teenage boy would want to go around admitting that a Muggle-born witch beat him up? Now that I think of it, yeah, I wish that word of that got out though, that would've been so good for his pride."

"Yeah, but Hermione would've gotten into trouble," Remus reminded him, and Sirius grimaced.

**and she, Harry, and Ron went up the marble staircase laughing heartily.**

**"Hermione," said Ron, looking sideways at her, suddenly frowning, "your teeth…"**

**"What about them?" she said.**

**"Well, they're different… I've just noticed…"**

"Did they think that she would be keeping those beaver teeth that Malfoy gave her?" Sirius asked lightly.

**"Of course they are - did you expect me to keep those fangs Malfoy gave me?"**

Sirius smirked at that.

**"No, I mean, they're different to how they were before he put that hex on you… they're all… straight and - and normal-sized."**

Molly thought that over and realized what he was talking about. "Oh, I get it. When she went to go and get them fixed, she must've let Madam Pomfrey shrink them a little bit."

"But Ron sure needs help on how to deliver a compliment," Remus spoke up. "I mean, he could've said all that in a nice way."

"Some boys just need more help zan others," Fleur said knowingly.

**Hermione suddenly smiled very mischievously, and Harry noticed it too: It was a very different smile from the one he remembered.**

**"Well … when I went up to Madam Pomfrey to get them shrunk, she held up a mirror and told me to stop her when they were back to how they normally were," she said. "And I just … let her carry on a bit." She smiled even more widely.**

"Tut, tut, Hermione," Sirius said with a broad grin. "I'm starting to think that the boys are a bad influence on her. To get her teeth fixed like that…"

"Oh, be nice," Kingsley chortled.

**"Mum and Dad won't be too pleased. **

"They're dentists," Arthur announced at once excitedly, as if afraid they would forget. "They work on Muggle teeth."

"Very good, Arthur," Kingsley laughed again.

"Sounds like a horrible job to me," Sirius said, wondering how some people would want to work inside someone's mouth all day.

**I've been trying to persuade them to let me shrink them for ages, but they wanted me to carry on with my braces. **

"What are braces?" Molly asked in confusion.

"Basically," Kingsley explained in his deep voice, "There a way to make teeth straighten out naturally, without magic. It works amazingly well, though it takes a lot longer."

"Amazing," Arthur said grinning broadly. "Just amazing how they don't need magic to get things done."

**You know, they're dentists, they just don't think teeth and magic should - look!  
Pigwidgeon's back!"**

"That should cheer Harry up," Bill answered, and Sirius sat up at once, looking forward to hearing his own reply.

**Ron's tiny owl was twittering madly on the top of the icicle-laden banisters, a scroll of parchment tied to his leg. People passing him were pointing and laughing, and a group of third-year girls paused and said, "Oh look at the weeny owl! Isn't he cute?"**

"I theenk 'e is very cute," Fleur cooed, having seen the very owl several times over the course of last year. She always thought that the small ones were the cutest of them all.

**"Stupid little feathery git!" Ron hissed, hurrying up the stairs and snatching up Pigwidgeon. "You bring letters to the addressee! You don't hang around showing off!"**

"Oh, Ron," Molly said disapprovingly. "What's with these two treating their owls like this? They fly all that distance only to be treated like that."

"Ever hear the saying _'don't shoot the messenger?'_" Tonks asked. "Though, at least Harry awards Hedwig most of the time. I think that she's the one angry with him now."

"Hopefully, he'll find something for her to do," Sirius said, still feeling guilty that he was the one who suggested not to use Hedwig in the first place.

**Pigwidgeon hooted happily, his head protruding over Ron's fist. The third-year girls all looked very shocked.**

**"Clear off!" Ron snapped at them, waving the fist holding Pigwidgeon, who hooted more happily than ever as he soared through the air. **

"Oh, zat should count for abuse!" Fleur cried in shock.

"I don't think that Pig minds it," Bill responded with amusement.

**"Here - take it, Harry," Ron added in an undertone as the third-year girls scuttled away looking scandalized. He pulled Sirius's reply off Pigwidgeon's leg. Harry pocketed it, and they hurried back to Gryffindor Tower to read it.**

Sirius leaned in a little to catch every word.

**Everyone in the common room was much too busy in letting off more holiday steam to observe what anyone else was up to. Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat apart from everyone else by a dark window that was gradually filling up with snow, and Harry read out:**

**_Dear Harry,_**

**_Congratulations on getting past the Horntail. Whoever put your name in that goblet shouldn't be feeling too happy right now! _**

Everyone's eyes darkened at that… all of them knowing better than that by now. Voldemort had been trying to get Harry, but he needed to make it to the last task, so of course they would be happy that he made it through it by now.

"I stand corrected," Sirius said dejectedly. "He was thrilled when he found out. Their plan was to keep Harry alive long enough to get through the tasks and to the graveyard."

**_I was going to suggest a Conjunctivitus Curse, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point –_**

**"That's what Krum did!" Hermione whispered –**

Kingsley cocked his head. The weakest part is its eyes—seen that before with the Basilisk. Still more eye clues… hmmm. Wonder what this means…?

"She would know," Tonks giggled.

**_But your way was better, I'm impressed._**

"I really was," Sirius murmured quietly. He had been worried sick, just looking up at the empty sky, waiting for news. Only when Pig finally arrived and he read about his godson living through the first task did he breathe a long awaited sigh of relief.

**_Don't get complacent, though, Harry. You've only done one task; whoever put you in for the tournament's got plenty more opportunity if they're trying to hurt you. Keep your eyes open -particularly when the person we discussed is around and concentrate on keeping yourself out of trouble. _**

"That's a bit rich coming from you, Sirius," Remus said.

"Hey, we aren't talking about harmless pranks are we?" he asked annoyed. "My top priority is keeping my godson alive."

**_Keep in touch, I still want to hear about anything unusual._**

**_Sirius_**

**"He sounds exactly like Moody," said Harry quietly, tucking the letter away again inside his robes. "'Constant vigilance!' You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls…"**

"You mean he doesn't?" Tonks asked sarcastically.

"And easy mistake to make," Kingsley agreed lightly.

"Sure, he doesn't," Remus admitted, "But he does run into more trouble than anyone else I've ever met, and that's including his father and godfather."

**"But he's right, Harry," said Hermione, "you have still got two tasks to do. You really ought to have a look at that egg, you know, and start working out what it means…"**

**"Hermione, he's got ages!" snapped Ron.**

"You don't realize how fast time flies unless you're on a time limit," Remus stated to no one in particular.

**"Want a game of chess, Harry?"**

**"Yeah, okay," said Harry. Then, spotting the look on Hermione's face, he said, "Come on, how'm I supposed to concentrate with all this noise going on? I won't even be able to hear the egg over this lot."**

"He makes a fair argument," Arthur stated.

Fleur nodded, remembering that she didn't want to think anymore about the tournament with Christmas so near.

**"Oh I suppose not," she sighed, and she sat down to watch their chess match, which culminated in an exciting checkmate of Ron's, involving a couple of recklessly brave pawns and a very violent bishop.**

**Harry awoke very suddenly on Christmas Day. Wondering what had caused his abrupt return to consciousness, he opened his eyes, and saw something with very large, round, green eyes staring back at him in the darkness, so close they were almost nose to nose.**

Everyone burst out laughing.

"I'm going to guess zat it's Dobby?" Fleur asked with a smile.

"What a way to wake up to," Sirius laughed, before looking over at the sleeping Mad-Eye Moody.

"Sirius," Remus warned. "You do realize that should you try to wake Alastor up the same way, you'll probably be sent flying right through the wall and down the stairs?"

Sirius sighed, "Yeah, yeah… spoil my prank why don't ya?"

**"Dobby!" Harry yelled, scrambling away from the elf so fast he almost fell out of bed. "Don't do that!"**

**"Dobby is sorry, sir!" squeaked Dobby anxiously, jumping backward with his long fingers over his mouth. "Dobby is only wanting to wish Harry Potter 'Happy Christmas' and bring him a present, Sir! Harry Potter did say Dobby could come and see him sometimes, sir!"**

"He is so sweet," Molly cooed at him.

"Yeah, but, call me crazy Dobby," Remus stated peacefully, "I don't think that Harry meant like this."

**"It's okay," said Harry, still breathing rather faster than usual, while his heart rate returned to normal. "Just - just prod me or something in future, all right, don't bend over me like that…"**

**Harry pulled back the curtains around his four-poster, took his glasses from his bedside table, and put them on. His yell had awoken Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville. All of them were peering through the gaps in their own hangings, heavy eyed and tousle-haired.**

**"Someone attacking you, Harry?" Seamus asked sleepily.**

"Well, it's nothing new," Bill muttered.

"Yeah," Sirius sighed. "That's really not such a bad guess with Harry."

**"No, it's just Dobby," Harry muttered. "Go back to sleep."**

"Does he really think that they'd do that when it's Christmas morning?" Sirius laughed.

**"Nah… presents!" said Seamus, spotting the large pile at the foot of his bed. Ron, Dean, and Neville decided that now they were awake they might as well get down to some present-opening too. **

"Always the best part," Sirius grinned. Well, maybe not completely… he remembered the best present he ever got for Christmas… something that James had given him… family. That happened after his parents took him in and after James married Lily and had Harry.

**Harry turned back to Dobby, who was now standing nervously next to Harry's bed, still looking worried that he had upset Harry. There was a Christmas bauble tied to the loop on top of his tea cosy.**

**"Can Dobby give Harry Potter his present?" he squeaked tentatively.**

**"'Course you can," said Harry. "Er… I've got something for you too."**

"I'm sure that he did," Sirius smirked. "Must've given it a lot of thought before picking it out."

**It was a lie; he hadn't bought anything for Dobby at all, but he quickly opened his trunk and pulled out a particularly knobbly rolled-up pair of socks. They were his oldest and foulest, mustard yellow, and had once belonged to Uncle Vernon.**

"Dobby won't care, he loves socks," Arthur chuckled.

**The reason they were extra-knobbly was that Harry had been using them to cushion his Sneakoscope for over a year now. **

"So that old Sneakoscope finally stopped spinning?" Tonks asked.

"Yes," Remus answered. "Now that Peter was gone, it really shouldn't have gone off."

"What about…?" Arthur asked, looking over at Moody. He didn't need to finish asking the question for everyone to get what he meant.

"Well, Ron's said so himself that it's a really cheap one," Kingsley reasoned. "It's not like some of the ones that Aurors have. It's bound to have its limits."

"That is if it isn't broken already," Sirius added.

**He pulled out the Sneakoscope and handed the socks to Dobby, saying, "Sorry, I forgot to wrap them…"**

Once again, Sirius couldn't help but laugh. "Sure… keep telling yourself that, Harry."

**But Dobby was utterly delighted.**

**"Socks are Dobby's favorite, favorite clothes, sir!" he said, ripping off his odd ones and pulling on Uncle Vernon's. **

"Old socks that belonged to that fat walrus," Tonks muttered. "My, what a thoughtful gift."

"I don't think that Dobby will mind them," Arthur reminded her.

"Besides," Sirius growled quietly, "I'm sure that those socks were the most thoughtful thing that Harry ever got from those pigs."

Tonks fell silent at that as if she had been struck.

**"I has seven now, sir… But sir…" he said, his eyes widening, having pulled both socks up to their highest extent, so that they reached to the bottom of his shorts, "they has made a mistake in the shop, Harry Potter, they is giving you two the same!"**

"That is one strange little elf," Bill smiled.

"Honestly Harry, how could you not notice that?" Sirius laughed. "You have to be blind to have never noticed that?"

**"Ah, no, Harry, how come you didn't spot that?" said Ron, grinning over from his own bed, which was now strewn with wrapping paper. "Tell you what, Dobby - here you go - take these two, and you can mix them up properly. And here's your sweater."**

"That was—" Tonks stated slowly, "Unusually generous of Ron."

"Zey are both so kind to Dobby," Fleur said, also smiling widely.

"Well, it's nice to have friends," Remus sighed, remembering with fondness the way that the four of them used to spend the holidays… laughing, joking…

**He threw Dobby a pair of violet socks he had just unwrapped, and the hand knitted sweater Mrs. Weasley had sent, Dobby looked quite overwhelmed.**

**"Sir is very kind!" he squeaked, his eyes brimming with tears again, bowing deeply to Ron. "Dobby knew sir must be a great wizard, for he is Harry Potter's greatest friend, but Dobby did not know that he was also as generous of spirit, as noble, as selfless -"**

"I wouldn't say that," Bill muttered, thinking of just how selfish his little brother had been known to be… but… he reasoned with himself, there have been many other times that he was completely selfless. Such as during that chess match, gone into the Chamber of Secrets… he smiled widely. Yeah, Ron was definitely one of a kind.

"They're only socks," Sirius whispered incredulously.

Albus chuckled in barely more of a whisper so that they wouldn't hear him. They may not seem special to a human, because they take it for granted. It's hard to really appreciate anything… his eyes saddened as he thought of those dead blue eyes that belonged to his dear little sister. You never appreciate something—or someone—until you lose them.

"To Dobby though, they are freedom," Kingsley spoke to Sirius. "Remember, if it hadn't been for them, then he would still be stuck with the Malfoys. To him, socks mean freedom…"

"Gosh," Sirius said thinking it over. "If socks were the only thing that prevented him from going back to the Malfoys, I have to say that I'm growing kinda fond of them myself." He then thought to himself, _'Now, if only they could set me free from this dump…'_

**"They're only socks," said Ron, who had gone slightly pink around the ears, though he looked rather pleased all the same. "Wow, Harry -" He had just opened Harry's present, a Chudley Cannon hat. "Cool!" He jammed it onto his head, where it clashed horribly with his hair.**

Sirius winced and shook his head. How could anyone ever support the worst Quidditch team that ever lived?

**Dobby now handed Harry a small package, which turned out to be - socks.**

"Now there's a shock," Sirius burst out laughing.

"Can't say that's a surprise," Arthur also began to chortle.

Tonks then grinned at them all and asked brightly, "Why is it that everyone seems to be getting thick woolen socks for Christmas except for Dumbledore? I mean… Harry gets socks but Dumbledore doesn't? That doesn't seem fair."

Albus had to stick his fist into his mouth to keep him from laughing out loud again. But it was very difficult this time. He was very grateful that Fleur decided to keep reading, he didn't think that anyone heard him quiet snort of laughter.

**"Dobby is making them himself, sir!" the elf said happily. "He is buying the wool out of his wages, sir!"**

**The left sock was bright red and had a pattern of broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green with a pattern of Snitches.**

**"They're… they're really… well, thanks, Dobby," said Harry, and he pulled them on, causing Dobby's eyes to leak with happiness again.**

"He really is one of the most selfless people I've ever met," Molly cooed softly. "Now if only more people like that lived in the world, then maybe we wouldn't have Voldemort or his Death Eaters."

**"Dobby must go now, sir, we is already making Christmas dinner in the kitchens!" said Dobby, and he hurried out of the dormitory, waving good-bye to Ron and the others as he passed.**

**Harry's other presents were much more satisfactory than Dobby's odd socks – with the obvious exception of the Dursleys', which consisted of a single tissue, an all time low – **

Fleur gasped. "Zat's it?"

"Trust me on this," Sirius scowled as everyone else looked angry. "You don't know the half of it. That's strangely kind for their usual standards."

"You're kidding!" she said, staring at Bill. But when he didn't contract Sirius she cursed in French again. "Zen, 'ow did 'Arry turn out like 'e ees now?"

"That is nothing sort of a miracle in my opinion," Molly stated angrily. But still, how could anyone treat their only nephew like that for all these years?

**Harry supposed they too were remembering the Ton-Tongue Toffee.**

"Most likely," Sirius snorted. He hoped that they kept that forever ingrained into their thoughts. Scare them senseless before he came and cursed them to oblivion.

**Hermione had given Harry a book called _Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland; _Ron, a bulging bag of Dungbombs; Sirius, a handy penknife with attachments to unlock any lock and undo any knot;**

"That sounds like a cool present!" Tonks said happily. "That should be very useful—hope Harry keeps it with him."

Sirius nodded. He had sent him that knife… to help keep him safe.

**and Hagrid, a vast box of sweets including all Harry's favorites: Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and Fizzing Whizbees. There was also, of course, Mrs. Weasley's usual package, including a new sweater (green, with a picture of a dragon on it - Harry supposed Charlie had told her all about the Horntail), and a large quantity of homemade mince pies.**

"He left out some parts however," Molly said, frowning. "Like the fact that it had been a Horntail and that he had been hurt."

"He just didn't want him to worry," Bill spoke up for her. "But really, this all sounds like a seriously good haul this year."

"Nothing compared to the year before," Sirius grinned and Remus put his hand on his shoulder.

"Yes Sirius," he grinned back's "We all know that you gave him the greatest present a kid could ever ask for."

What Remus didn't mention was that he wasn't just talking about the broomstick. He meant Sirius himself…

**Harry and Ron met up with Hermione in the common room, and they went down to breakfast together. They spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers.**

**They went out onto the grounds in the afternoon; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. Hermione chose to watch Harry and the Weasleys' snowball fight rather than join in, and at five o'clock said she was going back upstairs to get ready for the ball.**

**"What, you need three hours?" **

"Three hours?" Sirius repeated incredulously. "What is with girls taking so long to get ready?"

"Well, we want to look our best," Fleur said firmly. Truthfully, it hadn't taken her that long—maybe an hour at most?

Tonks snorted and changed her hair into a beautiful, silky brown and began to pat it down. "I don't need that much time at all."

"Besides, Sirius," Remus laughed, "If I recall correctly, you were the one who spent at least an hour every morning on your hair."

As everyone laughed, Sirius shoved Remus in the side good-naturedly.

**said Ron, looking at her incredulously and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, thrown by George, hit him hard on the side of the head.**

**"Who're you going with?" he yelled after Hermione, but she just waved and disappeared up the stone steps into the castle.**

"What would be the point to tell them then?" Arthur asked in amusement.

"She doesn't want to spoil the surprise," Tonks grinned. "I can't wait to see how they take the news."

"Like I said, Harry shouldn't be bothered by it," Kingsley said carefully. "It's Ron that would make the fuss."

**There was no Christmas tea today, as the ball included a feast, so at seven o'clock, when it had become hard to aim properly, the others abandoned their snowball fight and trooped back to the common room. The Fat Lady was sitting in her frame with her friend Violet from downstairs, both of them extremely tipsy, empty boxes of chocolate liqueurs littering the bottom other picture.**

**"Lairy fights, that's the one!" she giggled when they gave the password, and she swung forward to let them inside.**

"I think someone had a little too much to drink," Tonks giggled.

"She gets like that every Christmas," Sirius laughed. "You can always tell when it's Christmas because she is known to overdo it around the holidays."

**Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville changed into their dress robes up in their dormitory, all of them looking very self-conscious, but none as much as Ron, who surveyed himself in the long mirror in the corner with an appalled look on his face. There was just no getting around the fact that his robes looked more like a dress than anything else. **

Bill winced, knowing how painful that would be. If he had to wear that, then he would sooner not have gone to the ball at all. The worst part would be if Malfoy or any of the other Slytherins would see him. He never would've lived it down.

**In a desperate attempt to make them look more manly, he used a Severing Charm on the ruff and cuffs. It worked fairly well; at least he was now lace-free, although he hadn't done a very neat job, and the edges still looked depressingly frayed as the boys set off downstairs.**

"Well, that sounds a little better," Arthur said, trying to look on the brighter note.

"He could've also changed the color if he really wanted to," Remus stated, used to dealing with old and out-of-date robes. "Changed it into black or a darker color and less noticeable."

"Or asked Hermione's help," Kingsley reminded them.

"If I had been her, I'd ignore him like he'd been doing all year," Tonks muttered bitterly. After all, Ron was the one acting like a jerk, walking out on his friends when they needed him there. And now for bugging Hermione since she wouldn't go with him. Make him suffer a little bit now… sweet, sweet payback.

"Should I be worried about that evil grin on your face?" Kingsley asked her, interrupting her thoughts.

"No," she smiled back serenely. "Not you anyway."

**"I still can't work out how you two got the best-looking girls in the year," muttered Dean.**

**"Animal magnetism," said Ron gloomily, pulling stray threads out of his cuffs.**

"Oh, is that so?" Tonks asked, her perfectly plucked eyebrows raised. "If that's so, then couldn't even get a date without Harry helping him out."

Sirius roared with laughter as several of them nodded firmly. So far, Ron hadn't been on their good sides in this fourth book. Hopefully, it would only get better soon.

**The common room looked strange, full of people wearing different colours instead of the usual mass of black. Parvati was waiting for Harry at the foot of the stairs. She looked very pretty indeed, in robes of shocking pink, with her long dark plait braided with gold, and gold bracelets glimmering at her wrists.**

Sirius let out a long wolf-whistle. "Sounds like a real knock-out."

"Down boy," Remus warned him good-natured.

**Harry was relieved to see that she wasn't giggling.**

**"You - er - look nice," he said awkwardly.**

Sirius sniggered. "Nice, Harry. But next time, don't stutter. Girls like the confident ones. Remember how she said yes when you just came right out and asked?"

**"Thanks," she said. "Padma's going to meet you in the entrance hall," she added to Ron.**

**"Right," said Ron, looking around. "Where's Hermione?"**

"It doesn't matter," Molly sighed in frustration. "You have your own date, and Hermione has hers. Now, try to be nice to Padma, Ron."

"You're forgetting who you're dealing with, Mum," Bill stated, rolling his eyes.

**Parvati shrugged. "Shall we go down then, Harry?"**

**"Okay," said Harry, wishing he could just stay in the common room. Fred winked at Harry as he passed him on the way out of the portrait hole.**

**The entrance hall was packed with students too, all milling around waiting for eight o'clock, when the doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. Those people who were meeting partners from different Houses were edging through the crowd trying to find one another. Parvati found her sister, Padma, and led her over to Harry and Ron.**

**"Hi," said Padma, who was looking just as pretty as Parvati in robes of bright turquoise. She didn't look too enthusiastic about having Ron as a partner, **

_'I don't blame you there, Padma,'_ Tonks thought to herself.

**though; her dark eyes lingered on the frayed neck and sleeves of his dress robes as she looked him up and down.**

"Yeah, he doesn't exactly sound like my idea of a dream date either," Sirius muttered conversationally.

**"Hi," said Ron, not looking at her, but staring around at the crowd.**

"Ok, I can tell that this date is starting off on the right step," Kingsley said sarcastically. If he keeps this up, then the night is going to be pretty miserable for both him and Padma.

"'E should be more focused on enjoying 'imself zan bothering 'Ermione," Fleur stated, frowning at his behavior. Really? This was Bill's little brother? If they didn't have the same red hair, she would've thought that maybe he had been adopted.

**"Oh no…"**

**He bent his knees slightly to hide behind Harry, because Fleur Delacour was passing, looking stunning in robes of silver-gray satin, **

Bill smiled, trying to picture Fleur in that beautiful dress—he wished he could've seen her that night. Fleur sighed happily to herself, having loved those robes—she glanced at Bill over the top of the book, wondering if she should wear something like that if they ever go out again…

**and accompanied by the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Roger Davies.**

Bill raised his eyebrows, while he knew that she was bound to have had other boyfriends, but if he had to be honest with himself, he wasn't going to be thrilled to hear about this.

**When they had disappeared, Ron stood straight again and stared over the heads of the crowd.**

**"Where is Hermione?" he said again.**

"He's starting to sound like a broken record," Sirius stated happily.

Molly sighed grimly. Really, where did her son learn his manners from? She was sure she raised him better than that.

**A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar, which in Harry's opinion made him look like a vicar. Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy's arm. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-colored boulders, and neither of them, Harry was pleased to see, had managed to find a partner.**

"No, really?" Sirius asked sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want to go with those two strapping young lads?"

"I think that you would've had to been real desperate to ask them," Bill muttered with a laugh.

"Thanks, but I think that I rather go alone," Tonks said. "Oh, well. At least they always have each other don't they?"

Fleur laughed with everyone else as she flipped the page and continued.

**The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, accompanied by a pretty girl in blue robes Harry didn't know. **

Molly blinked in surprise, "You mean he didn't recognize her?"

"Well," Fleur admitted, thinking it over. "She did look different. But she was also very beautiful."

"Yeah, Hermione's not one for balls and make-up," Sirius agreed.

"Doesn't mean that she might not enjoy that part of her as well," Molly added firmly.

**Over their heads he saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights - meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.**

**Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"**

"Oh, this is gonna be good," Sirius said eagerly.

**Parvati readjusted her bangles, beaming; she and Harry said, "See you in a minute" to Ron and Padma and walked forward, the chattering crowd parting to let them through. Professor McGonagall, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim other hat, **

"Better not let her hear you say that, Harry," Sirius advised, though he wished he could've seen that. That would've been so much fun to tease her about.

**told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down.**

**Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her. **

Fleur suppressed a sigh with difficulty. She noticed that as well, however Davies was only looking at her face, he hardly listened to a word that she said. While she did have fun, she wished that he didn't keep staring at her like that.

**Cedric and Cho were close to Harry too; he looked away from them so he wouldn't have to talk to them. His eyes fell instead on the girl next to Krum. His jaw dropped.**

**It was Hermione.**

"Well, it's about time," Tonks said heavily, wondering how he didn't see it at first.

"She must look completely different for him to have been close up to notice her," Sirius said.

**But she didn't look like Hermione at all. **

Fleur thought back to how she looked that night, and she had to admit that he had a fair point. But she was still stunningly beautiful—especially with Viktor there, looking so happy talking to her like that.

**She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, **

"'Er dress was beautiful," Fleur nodded.

Molly smiled slightly, thinking that it almost seemed like those would've gone very nicely with Ron's dress robes. Of course, her frown reappeared, Ron was still acting so immature for him not to notice what was in front of him.

**and she was holding herself differently, somehow - or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back.**

"Yeah, that would be it," Sirius snorted. "Remember how many books she cared with her in her third year? About three bags!"

"What on earth would she need all zose books?" Fleur asked started.

"She took more classes than she could handle," Bill told her.

**She was also smiling - rather nervously, it was true - but the reduction in the size of her front teeth was more noticeable than ever; Harry couldn't understand how he hadn't spotted it before.**

"Like I said, you didn't expect it coming," Sirius smiled.

"Well, he does seem to be taking the news that she's going with his competition fairly well," Remus also commented.

"Well, they're only going to a ball here," Arthur pointed out. "So at the moment, they aren't enemies here."

Albus grinned to himself, glad that Arthur thought like that. That was the point of the Yule Ball, to give the schools and the champions a break and really get to know each other.

**"Hi, Harry!" she said. "Hi, Parvati!"**

**Parvati was gazing at Hermione in unflattering disbelief. **

"Now that's rude," Tonks said frowning. "What? Did she think that she wasn't going or that she would look so gorgeous?"

"I think that she's just upset that she's not the only one in their year who went with one of the champions," Arthur suggested.

"Yeah, the Parvati that we've read about would be a little vain like that," Tonks nodded.

"Now now," Remus said. "Maybe she hadn't always been shown in a good light, but I found her to be a very good student. Whatever you may think, she is fiercely loyal to her friends…"

"Good point," Sirius added. "I mean, she's always standing up for Trelawney after all."

**She wasn't the only one either; when the doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum's fan club from the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of deepest loathing. Pansy Parkinson gaped at her as she walked by with Malfoy, and even he didn't seem to be able to find an insult to throw at her. **

"Wow, I wish I could've seen that," Sirius grinned. "I mean, if even a pompous, git of a Slytherin couldn't think of anything to say, then she must've stunned them all."

"You go girl!" Tonks cheered.

**Ron, however, walked right past Hermione without looking at her.**

Molly stared at the book in Fleur's hand. "W-what?" she stuttered. "Why would he do that?"

"Maybe…" Remus suggested, "Maybe he had trouble recognizing her like Harry did?"

"But if even Malfoy could see that it was her…" Molly said slowly.

Arthur sighed. He had a feeling that the reason his son wasn't looking at Hermione was because she was looking so gorgeous and with his former favorite Quidditch star. When he mentioned this, Molly looked outraged. "Well, that's going to solve all his problems isn't it? It's his fault in the first place for how he treated her. Maybe now he'll see that Hermione isn't just something that he could use whenever he decided."

"I highly doubt that," Bill muttered, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.

**Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.**

"Oh, it sounds so heavenly," Molly cooed, anger at her son vanishing at the description. She was so wishing that she could've seen it first hand.

"Theenking about it now, you're right," Fleur sighed, she had been trying so hard to get a rise out of Davis that she started to criticize the decorations. Of course, it didn't work.

**Harry concentrated on not tripping over his feet. Parvati seemed to be enjoying herself; she was beaming around at everybody, steering Harry so forcefully that he felt as though he were a show dog she was putting through its paces.**

"Keh," Sirius grunted. "I'm sure she did. It sure sounds like she's enjoying all that attention. Probably only went with Harry for that."

"Now, just because she's enjoying the attention doesn't mean…" Remus began but Sirius just waved his hand at Fleur, telling her to just hurry and read which she obliged.

**He caught sight of Ron and Padma as he neared the top table. Ron was watching Hermione pass with narrowed eyes. **

Molly sighed in frustration. He better hope he wasn't rude to her…

**Padma was looking sulky.**

**Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer.**

"Why would he…?" began Arthur before his eyes widened in realization.

"Because she's a Muggle-born from Hogwarts," Sirius answered needlessly.

**Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely. But Mr. Crouch, Harry suddenly realized, was not there. The fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley.**

Sirius did his best to suppress a groan; the last thing he wanted to deal with was hearing about that pompous git after all—but he could see the sadness in the Weasley's faces and stayed quiet knowing that now wasn't the best time for that.

**When the champions and their partners reached the table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Harry. **

Sirius was now praying with all his heart that Harry would be rude for once in his life and sit somewhere else…

**Harry took the hint and sat down next to Percy, **

He had to bit his tongue to keep himself from groaning. Great, just what he wanted… to be listening about cauldron bottoms all night.

**who was wearing brand-new, navy-blue dress robes and an expression of such smugness that Harry thought it ought to be fined.**

_'It should,'_ most of them all thought, knowing where that smugness was going to take him.

**"I've been promoted," Percy said before Harry could even ask, and from his tone, he might have been announcing his election as supreme ruler of the universe. **

"Yes, but the real question is whether or not this promotion meant that Crouch finally learned his name," Bill asked, trying to break the tension and the room. It worked, there was laughter from everyone, however with his parents, it sounded a little high and forced.

"What I don't get is why he seems to be on good terms with Harry right here," Tonks whispered to Sirius quietly. "But now he's convinced that he's mentally unstable and a chronic liar."

"He's a miniature Crouch," he growled angrily. "He cares more about appearances than friends and family."

"What a lonely little boy," she hissed.

**"I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."**

**"Why didn't he come?" Harry asked. He wasn't looking forward to being lectured on cauldron bottoms all through dinner.**

**"I'm afraid to say Mr. Crouch isn't well, not well at all. Hasn't been right since the World Cup. Hardly surprising - overwork. He's not as young as he was – though still quite brilliant, of course, the mind remains as great as it ever was. But the World Cup was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then, Mr. Crouch suffered a huge personal shock with the misbehavior of that house-elf of his, Blinky, or whatever she was called. **

"Winky," Tonks said at once. Honestly, he practically worshiped the ground that Crouch walked on, you think that he would've learned the name of his house-elf.

**Naturally, he dismissed her immediately afterward, but - well, as I say, he's getting on, he needs looking after, and I think he's found a definite drop in his home comforts since she left. And then we had the tournament to arrange, and the aftermath of the Cup to deal with - that revolting Skeeter woman buzzing around - no, poor man, he's having a well earned, quiet Christmas. I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place."**

"Well, good for you, Weatherby," Sirius muttered sarcastically.

Kingsley frowned. What's that Percy is saying about Skeeter? What exactly is she up to with all this buzzing around? He didn't want to imagine just how much damage she can cause if she really interferes.

**Harry wanted very much to ask whether Mr. Crouch had stopped calling Percy "Weatherby" yet, but resisted the temptation.**

"Harry," Sirius groaned again. "Come on, work with me here. Where's the fun if you don't start pushing the buttons of some stuck-up stick-in-the-mud?"

"Yes, I'm willing to bet that he sure didn't get those manners from his father," Remus smiled.

"Nope," Sirius smirked slightly. "James certainly wouldn't have had such restraint."

**There was no food as yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Harry picked his up uncertainly and looked around - there were no waiters. Dumbledore, however, looked carefully down at his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!"**

**And pork chops appeared. **

"That's impressive," Remus stated evenly.

"Oh, Hermione might not be too happy about that," Kingsley said, remembering how Hermione over-reacted when she found out that there were house-elves working there.

"Hopefully, she won't notice it until the ball's over," Tonks said thinking about it. Though, if she was at the ball with someone, she might not have been paying attention to anything else either… well… she glanced over at Remus. That also depended on the person.

**Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too. Harry glanced up at Hermione to see how she felt about this new and more complicated method of dining - surely it meant plenty of extra work for the house-elves?**

"Oh, good," Tonks sighed. "She deserves a chance to kick back and have fun without having to think about changing the world."

**- but for once, Hermione didn't seem to be thinking about S.P.E.W. She was deep in talk with Viktor Krum and hardly seemed to notice what she was eating.**

**It now occurred to Harry that he had never actually heard Krum speak before, but he was certainly talking now, and very enthusiastically at that.**

"'E really eesn't much of a talker," Fleur admitted. "But zat ees ze most I've 'eard 'im say all year as well."

"That is so cute," Molly sighed.

"Yeah, think they get together?" Tonks asked. At least she wouldn't have to worry about Viktor treating her right. He seems to be the kind of guy who knows how to treat a lady.

"Well, zey didn't get together, but I theenk zey are still friends," Fleur told her and Tonks looked disappointed. "Though I can't say for sure."

"Besides, they say that long-distant relationships never work out," Arthur told them.

**"Veil, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking," he was telling Hermione. "Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. **

"Well, that sounds cozy," Sirius said in disgust. "And they live in the north! I'm surprised that none of them have frozen to death."

**But ve have grounds larger even than these - though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains -"**

"Oh, that sounds beautiful," Tonks said smiling. "I'd love to see that."

Sirius was groaning to, longing to go out and fly in the fresh air and open sky like that. He had to fight the urge to sneak out of the house and just go for a walk around the block…

**"Now, now, Viktor!" said Karkaroff with a laugh that didn't reach his cold eyes, "don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"**

"What? It's not like she's planning on transferring," Sirius rolled his eyes in annoyance.

**Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Igor, all this secrecy… one would almost think you didn't want visitors."**

"Oh, they don't," Remus said simply. "There has been a reason why Durmstrang never hoisted the tournament themselves."

"Really?" Tonks asked in surprised. "Never? You think that they would want the home-field advantage."

"Never," Kingsley agreed with Remus. "It's usually Hogwarts for it's the largest out all three. It's been held at Beauxbatons a fair few times, but never once at Durmstrang. They value their privacy far too much to let any outsiders in. The reason it's so small, is because they only allow purebloods and half-bloods to attend, as well as actually teaching the Dark Arts."

Albus leaned his head back until it touched the wall. That was true… and because of that, it's very difficult to get expelled there… why didn't he see it when…? Grindelwald… mentally cursing himself he didn't hear what Tonks said.

"And this is why I thank my parents that I went to Hogwarts," Tonks shivered. "Besides, I never did like that accent."

**"Well, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth to their fullest extent, "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?"**

"Well, he sure thinks highly of himself doesn't he?" Sirius asked in disgust.

Once again, Albus felt the need to laugh, coming back from his depression for a moment. He would never claim that he knew everything about Hogwarts. In fact, even though he had been there for most of his life, he learned something new about the castle every day.

**"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor," said Dumbledore amicably. "Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. **

Everyone burst out laughing, thankfully, with all that noise, they couldn't hear him laughing as well.

**When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished.**

Remus blinked and the laughter slowly died down. He had a sneaking suspicion to what he was talking about. He looked up at Sirius and could see that, while still cheerful, also had a thoughtful look in his eyes, obviously thinking the same thing.

**But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon - or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."**

Most of the room was still laughing, but Kingsley, Remus, Arthur, and Sirius all had a good idea to what room that had been.

**Harry snorted into his plate of goulash. Percy frowned, but Harry could have sworn Dumbledore had given him a very small wink.**

**Meanwhile Fleur Delacour was criticizing the Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies.**

"Why?" Molly asked her coldly, Bill frowned at her.

"Because I wanted to see 'ow much zat Davies was paying attention to me," Fleur sighed. "I wanted to see if 'e was looking at me—instead of my face."

"And how'd that go?" Sirius asked curiously.

Instead, she read out her own words.

**"Zis is nothing," she said dismissively, looking around at the sparkling walls of the Great Hall. "At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we 'ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of course… zey are like 'uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is seemply superb. And we 'ave choirs of wood nymphs, 'oo serenade us as we eat.**

"That does sound impressive," Remus admitted.

"But Hogwarts' has got character," Sirius said proudly.

**We 'ave none of zis ugly armour in ze 'alls, and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, 'e would be expelled like zat." She slapped her hand onto the table impatiently.**

"But Peeves makes life interesting," Sirius gasped.

"Yes, but 'ow do you get anything done wiz 'im around?" she asked them.

"Just pray that you don't meet him on your way to class," Tonks answered with a laugh.

**Roger Davies was watching her talk with a very dazed look on his face, and he kept missing his mouth with his fork. Harry had the impression that Davies was too busy staring at Fleur to take in a word she was saying.**

Fleur sighed. "I could've been talking in another language about ze weather, but 'e wouldn't 'ave 'eard a word."

"Men," Tonks sighed. "You can't live with them… you can't understand them."

"Touché," Sirius told her lightly. "You women quite vex us poor, simple-minded men even more often."

**"Absolutely right," he said quickly, slapping his own hand down on the table in imitation of Fleur. "Like that. Yeah."**

Fleur smirked, to be honest, it was always funny to see how boys make a fool of themselves when they were around a girl.

**Harry looked around the Hall. Hagrid was sitting at one of the other staff tables; he was back in his horrible hairy brown suit and gazing up at the top table. Harry saw him give a small wave, and looking around, saw Madame Maxime return it, her opals glittering in the candlelight.**

**Hermione was now teaching Krum to say her name properly; he kept calling her "Hermy-own."**

"Hermy-own?" Sirius repeated with a grin. "I should call her that next time I see her!"

"If you don't value you're life, Sirius," Remus added with a smile.

**"Her-my-oh-nee," she said slowly and clearly.**

**"Herm-own-ninny."**

"Oh, who hasn't gotten Hermione's name wrong once or twice?" Tonks asked laughing again. "I bet that this was only put here so that we can learn how to say it."

**"Close enough," she said, catching Harry's eye and grinning.**

**When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.**

"The Weird Sisters!" Tonks cried out in excitement, and leaned in, listening to every little detail.

**The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause;**

Tonks was also cheering as well, closing her eyes, trying to force herself to imagine that she had been there at the ball as well—and while she was dreaming, Remus was her dance partner… she grinned wider…

**they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and Harry, who had been so interested in watching them that he had almost forgotten what was coming, **

"Well, he's in for a rude wake-up call then," Bill chuckled.

**suddenly realized that the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out, and that the other champions and their partners were standing up.**

**"Come on!" Parvati hissed. "We're supposed to dance!"**

Sirius grinned widely. He was going to have something good to tease Harry the next time he saw him.

**Harry tripped over his dress robes as he stood up. **

"Smooth," Bill grinned, highly enjoying himself now.

**The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune; Harry walked onto the brightly lit dance floor, carefully avoiding catching anyone's eye (he could see Seamus and Dean waving at him and sniggering), **

"Sounds like something that you would've done, Sirius," Remus commented evenly.

"Bet they wouldn't be laughing if they had to dance first," Sirius sniggered, clearly having more fun with these last two chapters, than the rest of the book… if you didn't count the World Cup that is.

**and next moment, Parvati had seized his hands, placed one around her waist, and was holding the other tightly in hers.**

**It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Harry thought, revolving slowly on the spot (Parvati was steering). He kept his eyes fixed over the heads of the watching people, and very soon many of them too had come onto the dance floor, so that the champions were no longer the centre of attention. Neville and Ginny were dancing nearby - he could see Ginny wincing frequently as Neville trod on her feet – **

"Sounds like someone needs some dancing lessons," Tonks winced sympathetically, knowing how it was to be so graceless… but that didn't matter. In her dream, she was as graceful as a ballerina, now smiling broadly as the werewolf spun her around.

She could feel herself turning red at the thought.

**and Dumbledore was waltzing with Madame Maxime. **

"Wow, I'd loved to have seen that," Sirius said.

Fleur frowned at him. "Just to make sure zat you didn't mean anything bad by zat, she ees an wonderful dancer. She is so graceful…"

She looked down and brightened up a little at what it said next.

**He was so dwarfed by her that the top of his pointed hat barely tickled her chin; however, she moved very gracefully for a woman so large. Mad-Eye Moody was doing an extremely ungainly two-step with Professor Sinistra, who was nervously avoiding his wooden leg.**

"How can you even dance with a wooden leg?" Sirius asked incredulous. "I mean, that sounds kinda dangerous to me…"

"Sounds awkward to me," Remus said, looking at Alastor, still asleep through all the noise. Hopefully, Tonks would ask him later… out of everyone here, she'd be the less person likely for him to curse.

**"Nice socks Potter," Moody growled as he passed, his magical eye staring through Harry's robes.**

Fleur blinked before she gasped, "Oh, I 'ope zat doesn't mean zat 'e can see through clothes…"

"Nah," Tonks said, eyes still closed a smile still on her face. "He can see through cloaks and pockets, but even his eye has its limits. That's one of the first questions I asked him when I first joined the Aurors."

Fleur sighed in relief and went on.

**"Oh - yeah, Dobby the house-elf knitted them for me," said Harry, grinning.**

**"He is so creepy!" Parvati whispered as Moody clunked away. "I don't think that eye should be allowed."**

"I've often thought that myself," Tonks agreed with that. "Though it would be hard to sneak up on you though wouldn't it? It does have its uses…"

"Though does it 'ave to be so…" Fleur asked, glancing at the rotating eye still in his socket. Did it have to be that big and scary-looking? It's like they were all constantly being watched…

**Harry heard the final, quavering note from the bagpipe with relief. The Weird Sisters stopped playing, applause filled the hall once more, and Harry let go of Parvati at once.**

"Well, you can tell that he really doesn't feel much for the girl," Sirius said in a tragic tone. "Come on, Harry. Who knows when you'll be with another girl again?"

"He's no fun," Tonks smirked peacefully, as the Remus in her mind spun her on the spot.

**"Let's sit down, shall we?"**

**"Oh - but - this is a really good one!" Parvati said as the Weird Sisters struck up a new song, which was much faster.**

**"No, I don't like it," Harry lied, and he led her away from the dance floor, past Fred and Angelina, who were dancing so exuberantly that people around them were backing away in fear of injury, **

"Of course he would," Molly sighed, half exasperated, half amused.

"At least they're having fun," Bill laughed, still wishing if he knew it was Fred or George there…

**and over to the table where Ron and Padma were sitting.**

**"How's it going?" Harry asked Ron, sitting down and opening a bottle of butterbeer.**

**Ron didn't answer. He was glaring at Hermione and Krum, who were dancing nearby. **

"That can't be good," Arthur said carefully.

"Why should he care?" Tonks snapped, now fighting hard to stay in her daydream. "I mean, it's not any of his business if she chooses to go with someone else. What? Does he think that she has to ask him for permission?"

"Boys," Molly hissed to herself silently. Where on earth did Ron get this attitude?

**Padma was sitting with her arms and legs crossed, one foot jiggling in time to the music. Every now and then she threw a disgruntled look at Ron, who was completely ignoring her. Parvati sat down on Harry's other side, crossed her arms and legs too, and within minutes was asked to dance by a boy from Beauxbatons.**

"Don't let her go, Harry," Sirius said quickly… "Never let a boy take your girl from you."

"Oh, I doubt that he'd even care," Remus stated. "I mean, it's not like he really likes her. And they did dance once…"

"Zat's still only once," Fleur muttered.

**"You don't mind, do you, Harry?" Parvati said.**

**"What?" said Harry, who was now watching Cho and Cedric.**

Sirius shook his head. "I see that he's just like James on that account. Once he likes someone, he's not going to change his mind easily."

"Well, it looks like they aren't too happy with their dates," Arthur said evenly. "Looks like no one is really happy now that I think of it…"

"I really hope they don't spend the whole ball like this," Molly said. "I mean… you don't have to dance with the same person the whole time."

"Easier said than done," Remus said. For some people, asking someone to dance can be as painful as having spikes being driven into your skull.

**"Oh never mind," snapped Parvati, and she went off with the boy from Beauxbatons. When the song ended, she did not return.**

**Hermione came over and sat down in Parvati's empty chair. She was a bit pink in the face from dancing.**

**"Hi," said Harry. Ron didn't say anything.**

"Ron," Molly groaned. "Please don't ruin the ball for everyone. Even if you're really angry, just don't say anything…"

Bill bit his lower lip, having a pretty good idea that wasn't going to happen. But really, Ron. If you like a girl, you aren't going to make her like you if you insult her… maybe he should have a few words of advice next time he saw Ron…?

**"It's hot, isn't it?" said Hermione, fanning herself with her hand. "Viktor's just gone to get some drinks."**

**Ron gave her a withering look. "Viktor?" he said. "Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?"**

Fleur frowned. "'E doesn't 'ave to take 'is anger out on zem," she said getting angry. "I mean, it's not a crime to go to a ball wiz a friend now ees it?"

"Yeah, but I don't think that Ron's going to be seeing it that way," Kingsley said carefully. "Jealously makes us all think and say things that we don't always mean."

**Hermione looked at him in surprise. "What's up with you?" she said.**

"It's obvious if you think about it," Tonks said shaking her head. "He's being a jerk."

**"If you don't know," said Ron scathingly, "I'm not going to tell you."**

**Hermione stared at him, then at Harry, who shrugged.**

**"Ron, what -?"**

**"He's from Durmstrang!" spat Ron. "He's competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You - you're -" Ron was obviously casting around for words strong enough to describe Hermione's crime, "fraternizing with the enemy, that's what you're doing!"**

Everyone stared at the book; both shocked and angry at how he can be so hypocritical when he had been the one who had been wanting him to sit at their table, ask for an autograph, and even offered to give up his bed…

"That's it?" Tonks asked, finally opening her eyes, dispelling her wonderful dream, "That's his only argument?!"

"I can't believe that he said that," Molly gasped furiously.

"You often feel as if you're the victim when it comes too jealously," Arthur muttered, though he too was angry at how Ron was acting.

**Hermione's mouth fell open.**

"Hope she curses him," Tonks grumbled as she leaned back in her seat with her arms folded. "That's what I would've done."

**"Don't be so stupid!" she said after a moment. "The enemy! Honestly - who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?"**

"You tell him, Hermione," Tonks agreed firmly. "He's the one who needs to be knocked back to his senses and he's the one being the hypocritical idiot!"

"I doubt that'll faze him," Bill muttered.

**Ron chose to ignore this. "I s'pose he asked you to come with him while you were both in the library?"**

**"Yes, he did," said Hermione, the pink patches on her cheeks glowing more brightly. "So what?"**

"Not that it's any of your business," Tonks snapped and Fleur nodded firmly at her side.

**"What happened - trying to get him to join spew, were you?"**

**"No, I wasn't! If you really want to know, he - he said he'd been coming up to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!"**

Everyone let that sink in before Molly and Tonks cooed out, "Awwww."

"That has got to be one of the sweetest things that I've ever heard," Tonks smiled.

"Now that's a pick-up line," Sirius said thinking it over. Man, why didn't he think of something like that to say? It would've made dating so much easier…

"'E liked 'er because she wasn't one of zose fan girls who were stalking 'is every move," Fleur said with a happy smile. "So when 'e saw zat she couldn't care less zat 'e was a Quidditch player, was what drew 'im to 'er."

"Yeah, I can see that," Sirius nodded, knowing that he wanted the same thing for his godson… a nice girl with a sense of humor who could make him laugh, and not care that he was famous or not… he deserved nothing less than the best in his opinion.

"It really is funny," Kingsley said softly. "That the last people you would expect to have such sensitive souls."

Albus grinned. It was strange how that worked out. There could be someone who had never had an artistic thought in their whole life, but once they fall in love, they're writing poetry, songs, and stories… ah, just another bit of proof of how love was such a beautiful thing.

**Hermione said this very quickly, and blushed so deeply that she was the same color as Parvati's robes.**

**"Yeah, well - that's his story," said Ron nastily.**

"Ok," Tonks said sarcastically. "Fair enough. So what's your theory, Ron?"

**"And what's that supposed to mean?"**

**"Obvious, isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang around with… he's just trying to get closer to Harry - get inside information on him - or get near enough to jinx him -"**

"Well, I can see Karkaroff doing something like that," Sirius admitted. "But I think that he's just saying that to justify acting this way. Trying to make her think that Viktor isn't as good as she thinks he is…" Why did that suddenly sound familiar?

"_Ronald Billius Weasley_!" Molly exclaimed furiously. How could he say something like that to her? Why couldn't he just be glad that she was enjoying herself? "Didn't I teach you better than that? Remind me to have a few words to him when school ends. I mean, he wants her to be happy doesn't he?"

"Yes, I theenk 'e does," Fleur agreed, "But I also theenk zat 'e wants 'er to be wiz 'im more."

"Well, that's not love," Tonks growled back. "I mean, it's not like he can force her to be with him if she doesn't want to! If he keeps trying to force his will on hers, the only think that it'll do is push her away won't it?"

Albus lowered his head. That did sound like someone he knew… a young boy who he taught himself years ago… who had loved a girl with all his heart, but also didn't trust her enough to be around other boys without him worrying. What he thought was keeping her safe, was only pushing her away even farther from him… and by the time he realized his mistake it was too late.

**Hermione looked as though Ron had slapped her. When she spoke, her voice quivered.**

**"For your information, he hasn't asked me one single thing about Harry, not one -"**

**Ron changed tack at the speed of light.**

**"Then he's hoping you'll help him find out what his egg means! I suppose you've been putting your heads together during those cozy little library sessions -"**

"I can't, just can't, believe that he just said that," Molly said, steam practically coming out of her ears. "That is going too far. Did he really think that she would turn her back on her friends like that?"

"Well, I don't blame her if she did for Ron," Tonks growled, sounding like Sirius. "But she and Harry are both really close, and she wouldn't help anyone but him. Even if Harry told her to help Krum, she wouldn't…"

"Besides, out of the three of them, I don't hear him saying a word to this whole thing," Remus said, mostly to himself. "Which is just proof that Ron is only saying this out of spite and jealousy; he just wants to hurt Hermione…"

"Which is one of the good reasons he's not in the Order," Molly said angrily. "And he wonders why we don't let him in… if he's not mature enough to be happy for a friend at a simple event, then he wouldn't be able to handle the Order." She took several deep breaths. "And unless he grows up, he's only going to keep pushing her again and again until she finally had enough and just leaves forever."

"Hopefully, he'll realize that and stops long before it ever gets that bad," Arthur sighed.

**"I'd never help him work out that egg!" said Hermione, looking outraged. "Never. How could you say something like that - I want Harry to win the tournament. Harry knows that, don't you, Harry?"**

**"You've got a funny way of showing it," sneered Ron.**

"Well, Harry knows that, it's Ron who needs the clue," Bill muttered.

"That's rich coming from him," Sirius said, looking angry at Ron again. "If memory serves me correctly, he was one of the people who up and abandoned Harry when he needed him. Believe that he wanted and was enjoying all the attention. Oh, and last I checked, Hermione was the only one who really believed him, and helped him get through the First Task and was happy that they made up. What were you doing when he was worrying over that dragon, Ron?"

"She's been by their side since first year," Remus sighed. "I agree that he's the last person to be talking to her about staying loyal to your friends.

**"This whole tournament's supposed to be about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with them!" said Hermione hotly.**

**"No it isn't!" shouted Ron. "It's about winning!"**

"No, eet's not," Fleur gasped. She looked over at Bill and asked, "Are you sure 'e ees your little brother?"

Bill nodded grimly. "Yeah, but out of all of us, he's the one who had been born without any sense of tact. Sometimes he's an amazing brother that makes us all proud… other times…" he shrugged and looked to the book in her hands. "But he's only human… I suppose."

**People were starting to stare at them.**

**"Ron," said Harry quietly, "I haven't got a problem with Hermione coming with Krum -"**

"Well, at least he's taking this all well," Tonks said.

"Though, zey aren't fight about zat," Fleur reminded her.

"I think it was more of a fact to try and stop them from fighting," Remus smiled. "I don't think that it would be a good thing for them to ruin the ball for everyone."

"Of course," Arthur smiled slightly. "I mean, it would be one think if Krum was rude and cruel to her, but he seems alright. And even then, I think he would be more worried about whether or not she was happy than her dating someone from Durmstrang."

"Well, he's angry at Cedric for going with Cho," Kingsley said. "But he hasn't gone and started yelling at her yet."

"Well, at least he understands the difference of wanting to let someone be happy, than force them into doing something that would make them hate you," Remus said. "I'm sure that he would've wanted to go with Cho, but he accepted the fact that he didn't."

**But Ron ignored Harry too.**

"Of course not," Tonks snarled, getting more and more annoyed with him.

**"Why don't you go and find Vicky, he'll be wondering where you are," said Ron.**

**"Don't call him Vicky!"**

**Hermione jumped to her feet and stormed off across the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd. Ron watched her go with a mixture of anger and satisfaction on his face.**

"And what did that do other than make you feel better, Ron?" Tonks asked, as Molly was getting red in the face with suppressed anger. "Now you have the girl you like angry at you."

**"Are you going to ask me to dance at all?" Padma asked him.**

"Now, you have a nice girl there who wants to dance," Molly said bitterly, "But now he goes and…"

**"No," said Ron, still glaring after Hermione.**

"Is rude to her as well," Molly finished irritably.

Fleur looked at Bill and said, "I suppose zat 'e didn't learn 'is social skills from you?"

"Can't say he did," he answered with a shrug. "Where he did, I'm beginning to wonder…"

**"Fine," snapped Padma, and she got up and went to join Parvati and the Beauxbatons boy, who conjured up one of his friends to join them so fast that Harry could have sworn he had zoomed him there by a Summoning Charm.**

**"Vare is Herm-own-ninny?" said a voice.**

"Probably a good thing that Hermione ran off when she did," Sirius stated. "I think that if he came up to her while they were arguing only would've been worse. Now she can calm down and keep trying to enjoy herself without worrying about Krum being embarrassed.

**Krum had just arrived at their table clutching two butterbeers.**

**"No idea," said Ron mulishly, looking up at him. "Lost her, have you?"**

"Why am I not surprised that he's being rude to him as well?" Molly asked, shaking her head and hiding her face in her hand.

"When considering that he would've been asking for an autograph normally," Sirius agreed dowry.

**Krum was looking surly again.**

**"Veil, if you see her, tell her I haff drinks," he said, and he slouched off.**

**"Made friends with Viktor Krum, have you, Ron?"**

"Oh, I wouldn't call it that," Remus said raising his eyebrows. "More like turning from hero-worship into mortal enemies in one fell swoop perhaps…"

**Percy had bustled over, rubbing his hands together and looking extremely pompous. **

Sirius snorted, that prat was even starting to sound like Fudge.

**"Excellent! That's the whole point, you know - international magical cooperation!"**

Sirius rolled his eyes, willing to bet everything he owned, that he was only saying that because of Crouch—to try and seem more important that he was. He fought the urge to be sick.

**To Harry's displeasure, Percy now took Padma's vacated seat. The top table was now empty; Professor Dumbledore was dancing with Professor Sprout, Ludo Bagman with Professor McGonagall; Madame Maxime and Hagrid were cutting a wide path around the dance floor as they waltzed through the students, and Karkaroff was nowhere to be seen. When the next song ended, everybody applauded once more, and Harry saw Ludo Bagman kiss Professor McGonagall's hand and make his way back through the crowds, at which point Fred and George accosted him.**

"Now what are they doing?" Molly asked, beginning to get tired.

"Think that they want to try and sell him more joke products?" Remus asked. "Remember how he loved that fake wand?"

"Yeah," Arthur said slowly, "But… I really don't think that's it. I mean, why would they? They have the rest of Hogwarts willing and waiting to see what they have… so there's really no reason to…"

"It is a good idea," Kingsley said cautiously. "I mean, if he loved their products so much, it would help promote them…?"

Bill nodded carefully, he hoped that was it, though he had a bad feeling that there was something more to it than that.

**"What do they think they're doing, annoying senior Ministry members?" Percy hissed, watching Fred and George suspiciously. "No respect…"**

"I thought that he didn't even like Bagman," Remus stated.

"I think it's just the idea that lowly commoners like us would dare question someone from the Ministry," Sirius whispered to him in disgust.

**Ludo Bagman shook off Fred and George fairly quickly, however, and, spotting Harry, waved and came over to their table.**

**"I hope my brothers weren't bothering you, Mr. Bagman?" said Percy at once.**

**"What? Oh not at all, not at all!" said Bagman. "No, they were just telling me a bit more about those fake wands of theirs. **

"Oh," Arthur sighed, glad that that was all it had been. He was beginning to think that it had been much worse. He looked over at his wife, while she didn't say anything, he could see that her lips were pressed tightly together. He could understand her worry… he worried about them as well, but he was sure that once the boys got started and showed her how serious they were working then he was sure she'd change her mind. Sure, it wouldn't happen right away, but they were going to go far, he just knew it.

**Wondering if I could advise them on the marketing. I've promised to put them in touch with a couple of contacts of mine at Zonko's Joke Shop…"**

The smile on Arthur's face faded a little. Now there was something strange about that… if he knew the twins as well as he thought he did, then he knew that they would've finished testing all their products before they thought to give it to others. He hoped that maybe he was just thinking about it too much.

**Percy didn't look happy about this at all, and Harry was prepared to bet he would be rushing to tell Mrs. Weasley about this the moment he got home. **

_'Of course that big-mouth would,'_ Sirius thought scathingly. Why should he care what his brothers were up to? It's none of his business what they chose to do was it? For some reason the face of his late brother Regulus came to his mind.

Blinking hard to get that image out of his head he forced himself to listen.

**Apparently Fred and George's plans had grown even more ambitious lately, if they were hoping to sell to the public. Bagman opened his mouth to ask Harry something, but Percy diverted him.**

**"How do you feel the tournament's going, Mr. Bagman? Our department's quite satisfied - the hitch with the Goblet of Fire" - he glanced at Harry - "was a little unfortunate, of course, but it seems to have gone very smoothly since, don't you think?"**

"He could at least have said that when Harry wasn't around!" Sirius snapped furiously. Really, treating Harry's forced participation in the tournament as an inconvenience. He was really starting to hate this pompous git. No wonder he chose the Ministry… he belonged with all those idiots.

**"Oh yes," Bagman said cheerfully, "it's all been enormous fun. How's old Barty doing? Shame he couldn't come."**

**"Oh, I'm sure Mr. Crouch will be up and about in no time," said Percy importantly, "but in the meantime, I'm more than willing to take up the slack. **

Now, Sirius was trying his hardest not to upset the Weasleys, but Percy was making it very hard. Though he was pleased to see that the three redheads were looking angry as well as sad at some of the things that Percy was saying.

**Of course, it's not all attending balls" - he laughed airily - "oh no, I've had to deal with all sorts of things that have cropped up in his absence - you heard Ali Bashir was caught smuggling a consignment of flying carpets into the country? **

"He's still going on about that?" Kingsley asked exasperated. Ironic though, that they would be talking about consignment… after all, consignment means being a middle man to buy or sell for someone else. Barty Crouch Jr. was the middle man for Voldemort after all…

**And then we've been trying to persuade the Transylvanians to sign the International Ban on Duelling. I've got a meeting with their Head of Magical Cooperation in the new year -"**

**"Let's go for a walk," Ron muttered to Harry, "get away from Percy…"**

"Good idea," Bill said grimly, as Fleur gave him a sad look. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that we rather not be listening to the Ministry at the moment."

"I won't argue," Sirius said.

**Pretending they wanted more drinks Harry and Ron left the table, edged around the dance floor, and slipped out into the entrance hall. The front doors stood open, and the fluttering fairy lights in the rose garden winked and twinkled as they went down the front steps, where they found themselves surrounded by bushes; winding, ornamental paths; and large stone statues. Harry could hear splashing water, which sounded like a fountain. Here and there, people were sitting on carved benches. He and Ron set off along one of the winding paths through the rosebushes, but they had gone only a short way when they heard an unpleasantly familiar voice.**

"Jeez, I wonder who that could be?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

**"… don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor."**

**"Severus,**

"Oh, now we have to hear about him now?" Sirius demanded in annoyance, hating that he had been right for once.

**you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroff's voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it _"**

"What are zey talking about now?" Fleur asked confused.

"It sounds like they're talking about the Dark Mark," Kingsley said frowning. "I remember hearing how the mark had been growing darker, meaning that Voldemort was gaining power."

She shivered. How could anyone actually get something so horrible forever burned into their skin?

**"Then flee," said Snape's voice curtly. "Flee - I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts."**

Sirius's eyes narrowed dangerously. Typical… right chummy of Snape. He won't even give Harry a slight break over his homework, but he is willing to cover for Karkaroff should Voldemort come back. He knew that Dumbledore has been trusting of Snape, but it's hard for him to ever do so.

**Snape and Karkaroff came around the corner. Snape had his wand out and was blasting rosebushes apart, his expression most ill-natured. Squeals issued from many of the bushes, and dark shapes emerged from them.**

"What?" Molly cried. "Does he have to take his anger out on his students like that?"

"You're surprised?" Sirius snapped ill-tempered. "He's been doing that to Harry for years."

**"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!" Snape snarled as a girl ran past him. "And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!" as a boy went rushing after her. "And what are you two doing?" he added, catching sight of Harry and Ron on the path ahead.**

"Walking," Sirius growled. "What? You gonna give them detention for that to?"

"Good thing that he's not here, Sirius," Remus commented lightly. "You would've given him just another reason to make them miserable."

"Why is he so horrible to them?" Bill demanded. "He's keeping them employed! Without students, he wouldn't have a job would he?"

"I think that he should consider getting another job somewhere far away from the school," Tonks said grumpily. "Really, I don't think that teaching is his calling."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Sirius nodded firmly by her side.

**Karkaroff, Harry saw, looked slightly discomposed to see them standing there. His hand went nervously to his goatee, and he began winding it around his finger.**

**"We're walking," Ron told Snape shortly. "Not against the law, is it?"**

"If that greasy-haired git had his way, he would," Sirius said coldly. "Then he could give those two detentions every day."

**"Keep walking, then!" Snape snarled, and he brushed past them, his long black cloak billowing out behind him. Karkaroff hurried away after Snape. Harry and Ron continued down the path.**

**"What's got Karkaroff all worried?" Ron muttered.**

"The Dark Mark," Arthur answered sadly, forgetting that Ron wasn't here. "It means that Voldemort is slowly gaining strength."

"And since Karkaroff claimed that he never had anything to do with Voldemort," Sirius added, "He's now in hiding because he knows that Voldemort is now after his blood. Just proves that he's not the best example of a boss you want to have."

**"And since when have he and Snape been on first-name terms?" said Harry slowly.**

"Since they were mates running around in masks together during the first war," Sirius answered shortly.

"He's on our side now, Sirius," Remus reminded him.

"Doesn't change a fact," Sirius answered back.

**They had reached a large stone reindeer now, over which they could see the sparkling jets of a tall fountain. The shadowy outlines of two enormous people were visible on a stone bench, watching the water in the moonlight. And then Harry heard Hagrid speak.**

**"Momen' I saw yeh, I knew," he was saying, in an oddly husky voice.**

"Oh, la la," Sirius said, cheering up. "No prizes to who he's talking to."

"AH, should we read this part?" Bill asked awkwardsly. "I mean, it is a rather private moment?"

"Can't be that bad," Tonks added, wondering how Hagrid was going to whoo Madame Maxime.

Fleur, on the other hand, was looking apprehensive. As much as she admired and cared for her old Headmistress, she wasn't sure she wanted to know more about her private life. She remembered how angry that she had been after the Yule Ball as well… this Hagrid had better not have been vulgar to her.

**Harry and Ron froze. This didn't sound like the sort of scene they ought to walk in on, somehow…**

"Good, this really isn't anyone's business but Hagrid's," Molly said approvingly.

**Harry looked around, back up the path, and saw Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies standing half-concealed in a rosebush nearby. He tapped Ron on the shoulder and jerked his head toward them, meaning that they could easily sneak off that way without being noticed (Fleur and Davies looked very busy to Harry),**

"Really?" Bill asked her lightly.

"Nozzing, 'appened, Bill," she assured him. "We were just talking… at least, until I realized zat 'e wasn't really listening. I wanted to 'ear him argue wiz me… to stand 'is ground. But 'e just kept staring at me like an idiot."

"Oh, I know," Bill admitted. "I admit, I've had a few girlfriends, and I know that it's ok to just sit and talk once in awhile to."

Fleur looked at him, suddenly envying those old girlfriends—and also wondering how on earth any of them could've given up this man in front of her? Were they blind to have let him go like that? Not that she was complaining… if not, she wouldn't be here with him now.

Bill also seemed to have been thinking along the same lines from the way that he was staring at her. They stayed like this for a few minutes, completely forgetting that everyone else was there as well.

Molly's eyes narrowed and she cleared her throat so that they snapped back to what was going on. Fleur then read out a little quicker, and louder than she had been so far.

**but Ron, eyes widening in horror at the sight of Fleur, shook his head vigorously, and pulled Harry deeper into the shadows behind the reindeer.**

**"What did you know, 'Agrid?" said Madame Maxime, a purr in her low voice.**

**Harry definitely didn't want to listen to this; **

"I don't blame you," Remus said. "This is a private conversation that I'm sure Hagrid wouldn't want to his friends to hear."

Albus raised his head, wondering what on earth happened here. He vaguely remembered watching both Hagrid and Madame Maxime leave the Hall not long after their dance, but when she returned, she had been alone.

**he knew Hagrid would hate to be overheard in a situation like this (he certainly would have) - if it had been possible he would have put his fingers in his ears and hummed loudly, but that wasn't really an option. Instead he tried to interest himself in a beetle crawling along the stone reindeer's back, but the beetle just wasn't interesting enough to block out Hagrid's next words.**

**"I jus' knew… knew you were like me… was it yer mother or yer father?"**

"What on earth is he talking about?" Tonks asked, completely baffled.

"Now that is not what I imagine as a way to declare that you love someone," Sirius said thinking that line over. "It's memorable one though…"

"Actually, I think that it's more about Hagrid being a half giant," Kingsley said frowning.

Sirius gave a long whistle. "Oh, I really don't think that she'll appreciate him pointing that out. Especially during a ball."

"She definitely won't," Fleur agreed firmly. Honestly, that was as rude as asking a lady how old she was.

"I can understand how Hagrid would feel," Bill said slowly, "But I think that he could've picked a better subject to talk about."

**"I - I don't know what you mean, 'Agrid…"**

**"It was my mother," said Hagrid quietly. "She was one o' the las' ones in Britain. 'Course, I can' remember her too well… she left, see. When I was abou' three. She wasn' really the maternal sort. Well… it's not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her… might be dead fer all I know…"**

**Madame Maxime didn't say anything. And Harry, in spite of himself, took his eyes off the beetle and looked over the top of the reindeer's antlers, listening… he had never heard Hagrid talk about his childhood before.**

"Don't blame Harry there," Tonks agreed. "I mean, there isn't much interesting about a beetle that can possibly distract from such an intriguing conversation. So that's it… Hagrid is not completely human after all—maybe that's why he's so nice?"

They all gave her slight smiled, knowing how cruel that the human nature can be.

**"Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen'. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an' put him on top o' the dresser if he annoyed me. **

"That would be a sight to see," Bill chuckled.

**Used ter make him laugh…" Hagrid's deep voice broke. Madame Maxime was listening, motionless, apparently staring at the silvery fountain. "Dad raised me… but he died, o' course, jus' after I started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very kind ter me, he was…"**

**Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief and blew his nose heavily.**

**"So… anywa… enough abou' me. What about you? Which side you got it on?"**

**But Madame Maxime had suddenly got to her feet.**

**"It is chilly," she said - but whatever the weather was doing, it was nowhere near as cold as her voice. "I think I will go in now."**

"Yeah, Hagrid," Molly said sadly, "Please, don't keep asking her about it. She's not going to admit to it…"

"I can't really blame her for that," Remus nodded, understanding the need to want to keep something that is a part of you secret. He knew better than anyone the harsh reality of being a dark creature. "It's not something one likes to talk about because not everyone is going to take kindly to the truth."

"Well, those people are just idiots, aren't they?" Sirius said at once, refusing to let Remus put himself down anymore.

Albus sighed, feeling for both Hagrid and Remus. Just what was prejudice but judgment? How can you judge anything that you know nothing about?

**"Eh?" said Hagrid blankly. "No, don go! I've - I've never met another one before!"**

Fleur shook her head. Why did all the boys here just seem to be completely clueless when it came to girls? So this was why Madame Maxime was in such a bad mood by the time they got back to the carriage.

**"Anuzzer what, precisely?" said Madame Maxime, her tone icy.**

**Harry could have told Hagrid it was best not to answer; he stood there in the shadows gritting his teeth, hoping against hope he wouldn't - but it was no good.**

**"Another half-giant, o' course!" said Hagrid.**

"Oh, Hagrid," Molly groaned, shaking her head, "I much as we all love him, he really should know better than to go around and say something like that to her. That's only going to make her angry."

**"'Ow dare you!" shrieked Madame Maxime. Her voice exploded through the peaceful night air like a foghorn; behind him. Harry heard Fleur and Roger fall out of their rosebush. **

While Bill didn't show any emotion on his face, he couldn't help but feel as if his insides were cheering at those words.

"I knew zat she 'ad spoken," Fleur admitted. "'Owever, I didn't expect to 'ear 'er shouting like zat. I remember zat she 'ad been upset by ze time we all got back to ze carriage, but I didn't know it was because of zis."

**"I 'ave nevair been more insulted in my life! 'Alf-giant? Moi? I 'ave - I 'ave big bones!"**

"Who does she think that she's trying to kid?" Sirius asked amused. "I mean, come on… if Hagrid is half-giant, than she definitely is."

"You leave 'er alone," Fleur snapped, growing angry, now wishing that they could go back to the ballroom and listen more about the dancing than about her Headmistress.

**She stormed away; great multicoloured swarms of fairies rose into the air as she passed, angrily pushing aside bushes. Hagrid was still sitting on the bench, staring after her. It was much too dark to make out his expression. Then, after about a minute, he stood up and strode away, not back to the castle, but off out into the dark grounds in the direction of his cabin.**

"Oh dear," Molly said sadly. Albus agreed with her whole-heartedly. After that, Hagrid had sunk into a depression—especially after what that Skeeter woman wrote about him in the Prophet. Thank goodness that he was able to come back from it after some time. Hogwarts just wasn't Hogwarts without him there.

**"C'mon," Harry said, very quietly to Ron. "Let's go…"**

**But Ron didn't move.**

**"What's up?" said Harry, looking at him.**

**Ron looked around at Harry, his expression very serious indeed.**

**"Did you know?" he whispered. "About Hagrid being half-giant?"**

"No, what should that matter?" Tonks asked angrily; she already had it up to here with Ron, and if he said anything about Hagrid she was gonna…

As if knowing what she was planning, Kingsley said, "I think that it was more surprise than anything. We all know that he wouldn't turn against Hagrid that easily."

Sirius snorted, still angry with Ron as well. Well, Ron had been one of the last people he thought would ever turn his back on Harry and looked what happened. And look what he just did to Hermione? That boy has got a bad temper as well…

**"No," Harry said, shrugging. "So what?"**

"Well, glad to see that he doesn't care," Tonks said firmly.

**He knew immediately, from the look Ron was giving him, that he was once again revealing his ignorance of the wizarding world. Brought up by the Dursleys, there were many things that wizards took for granted that were revelations to Harry, **

"And that goes double for purebloods and how they think of Muggles," Arthur said nodding, still amazed at how little he knew about a world that he was interested in.

**but these surprises had become fewer with each successive year. Now, however, he could tell that most wizards would not have said "So what?" upon finding out that one of their friends had a giantess for a mother.**

"I like 'Arry's answer better," Fleur said, knowing how people tended to react when they found out that her grandmother had been a Veela. It wasn't something that she could help, and while she didn't like going around admitting it, she wasn't ashamed of her heritage either.

"I agree with that," Remus nodded, remembering how wonderful it felt when they had accepted his ah—furry little problem.

**"I'll explain inside," said Ron quietly, "c'mon…"**

**Fleur and Roger Davies had disappeared, probably into a more private clump of bushes.**

Bill still showed no sign of annoyance or anger, but he could feel as if some kind of monster was inside him, wanting to rip this Roger Davies apart. Thankfully, he was able to focus on Fleur's heavenly voice instead of murderous thoughts.

**Harry and Ron returned to the Great Hall. Parvati and Padma were now sitting at a distant table with a whole crowd of Beauxbatons boys, and Hermione was once more dancing with Krum. Harry and Ron sat down at a table far removed from the dance floor.**

**"So?" Harry prompted Ron. "What's the problem with giants?"**

**"Well, they're… they're…" Ron struggled for words. "… not very nice," he finished lamely.**

"Really? Not very nice? That's it?" Bill asked smirking. "Come on Ron… that's the best you could think of?"

**"Who cares?" Harry said. "There's nothing wrong with Hagrid!"**

"Yes, so why don't you forget it and talk about something else?" Molly sighed, now looking forward to the end of this chapter and for a bit of peace… if such a thing was possible in these books.

**"I know there isn't, but… blimey, no wonder he keeps it quiet," Ron said, shaking his head. "I always thought he'd got in the way of a bad Engorgement Charm when he was a kid or something. Didn't like to mention it…"**

"That's kinda what I thought," Tonks admitted. "At least at first."

**"But what's it matter if his mother was a giantess?" said Harry.**

**"Well… no one who knows him will care, 'cos they'll know he's not dangerous," said Ron slowly.**

Albus smiled, obviously they've never seen Hagrid fight. He truly was almost a force of nature to deal with when he was defending a friend.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "It's his pets that you have to watch out for."

**"But… Harry, they're just vicious, giants. It's like Hagrid said, it's in their natures, they're like trolls… they just like killing, everyone knows that. There aren't any left in Britain now, though."**

**"What happened to them?"**

**"Well, they were dying out anyway, and then loads got themselves killed by Aurors. There're supposed to be giants abroad, though… they hide out in mountains mostly…"**

**"I don't know who Maxime thinks she's kidding," Harry said, watching Madame Maxime sitting alone at the judges' table, looking very sombre. "If Hagrid's half giant, she definitely is. Big bones… the only thing that's got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur."**

Fleur frowned, while everyone else was trying to keep their laughter to themselves. She shot them all a sharp look—clearly warning them to watch their mouths—before she read on, knowing that this chapter was almost over… something that she was looking forward to. The ball just didn't seem like fun anymore.

**Harry and Ron spent the rest of the ball discussing giants in their corner, neither of them having any inclination to dance. Harry tried not to watch Cho and Cedric too much; it gave him a strong desire to kick something.**

**When the Weird Sisters finished playing at midnight, everyone gave them a last, loud round of applause and started to wend their way into the entrance hall. Many people were expressing the wish that the ball could have gone on longer, but Harry was perfectly happy to be going to bed; as far as he was concerned, the evening hadn't been much fun.**

"I can see why," Sirius muttered, now starting to get hungry again. He hoped that they could get some lunch soon.

**Out in the entrance hall, Harry and Ron saw Hermione saying good night to Krum before he went back to the Durmstrang ship. She gave Ron a very cold look and swept past him up the marble staircase without speaking. **

"You show 'im, Hermione," Tonks smirked. She should've slapped him while she passed.

**Harry and Ron followed her, but halfway up the staircase Harry heard someone calling him.**

**"Hey – Harry!"**

**It was Cedric Diggory. **

"He's kinda the last person that I think Harry wants to see," Sirius grimaced. "At least wait until morning to talk to him because…" but Fleur read out: **Harry could see Cho waiting for him in the entrance hall below.**

"Because of that…" Sirius finished with a sigh.

"Well, it's not like he knew that he wanted to go with Cho," Arthur reasoned.

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius grunted. Man, now it's going to seem as if he's mocking Harry.

**"Yeah?" said Harry coldly as Cedric ran up the stairs toward him.**

**Cedric looked as though he didn't want to say whatever it was in front of Ron, who shrugged, looking bad-tempered, and continued to climb the stairs.**

**"Listen…" Cedric lowered his voice as Ron disappeared. "I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?"**

Fleur looked surprised, but pleased as she realized what was happening. "I see, so Cedric's going to tell 'Arry 'ow to 'ear ze merfolk's song."

"Ah, to pay him back for telling him about the egg," Sirius nodded gratefully.

**"Yeah," said Harry.**

**"Well… take a bath, okay?"**

Silence filled the room.

"What?" Sirius asked incredulously. "Go take a bath? He didn't tell him to just take a bath did he?!"

"At least he didn't tell him to go jump into a lake," grunted a familiar, irritable tone. They looked up to see that Mad-Eye was now stirring, and looking at them all grumpily.

"Oh, welcome back, Mad-Eye!" Tonks said happily.

"Well, it's hard to with all you yelling," he snapped. "Is the stupid ball over?"

"Be nice," Tonks teased, glad to have her mentor back for her to tease again. "We're almost done."

He glared at them all before Tonks explained, "You can always tell when he had a nap, he's always so much grumpier."

"Who asked you?" he barked.

**"What?"**

**"Take a bath, and - er - take the egg with you, and - er - just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think … trust me."**

**Harry stared at him.**

They looked to Fleur who said simply, "Well, you 'ave to open ze egg underwater…"

"Then why not come right out and tell him that?" Sirius demanded awkwardly.

"Well, he wants to win the tournament to, you know," Remus reasoned.

"Harry came right out and said what the first task was," Sirius reminded him.

**"Tell you what," Cedric said, "use the prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's 'pine fresh.' Gotta go… want to say good night -"**

"Now why would he suggest the prefects' bathroom?" Remus couldn't help but ask out-loud.

"Maybe to ensure that he gets some privacy?" Arthur suggested.

"If only Harry takes the advice and does it," Tonks said, having a bad feeling that typical male pride will get in the way of that.

**He grinned at Harry again and hurried back down the stairs to Cho.**

**Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower alone. That had been extremely strange advice. Why would a bath help him to work out what the wailing egg meant? Was Cedric pulling his leg? Was he trying to make Harry look like a fool, so Cho would like him even more by comparison?**

"I highly doubt it," Tonks said.

"Well, you have to admit that his advice isn't exactly helpful," Sirius pointed out as Mad-Eye pulled out his flask again to quench his throat.

**The Fat Lady and her friend Vi were snoozing in the picture over the portrait hole. Harry had to yell "Fairy lights!" before he woke them up, and when he did, they were extremely irritated. He climbed into the common room and found Ron and Hermione having a blazing row.**

"Oh, can't they just call it a night?" Tonks groaned out loud.

"Another fight with those two?" Moody asked, draining his flask. "Well, that's nothing new."

"Don't worry," Fleur sighed tiredly, suddenly feeling exhausted. "Zis is ze last page."

**Standing ten feet apart, they were bellowing at each other, each scarlet in the face.**

**"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" yelled Hermione; her hair was coming down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was screwed up in anger.**

**"Oh yeah?" Ron yelled back. "What's that?"**

**"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"**

"Nice retort, Hermione," Tonks said smiling. "Finally, they tell him."

"He's still not going to listen though," Bill said, willing to bet that his little brother finds some way to continue to try to convince himself that he was the victim.

"If he wants to get together with Hermione, he'll have to," Remus smiled.

**Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the girls' staircase to bed. Ron turned to look at Harry.**

"Well, that worked out well," Sirius stated, several smirks appeared at his casual tone.

**"Well," he sputtered, looking thunderstruck, "well - that just proves – completely missed the point -"**

"Who? Him or Hermione?" Tonks asked rolling her eyes.

**Harry didn't say anything. He liked being back on speaking terms with Ron too much to speak his mind right now – but he somehow thought that Hermione had gotten the point much better than Ron had.**

"Yes," Molly agreed. "I have to agree with that."

"That was the end of the chapter," said Fleur in relief, glad that was over.

"Great," Tonks said happily, "Who's going now?"

Kingsley yawned, but he volunteered. All of them also deciding to have lunch once he was done with this next chapter. He took the book and read out, "**Chapter 24: Rita Skeeter's Scoop."**

**(Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for taking so long but I'm now back in school with a full schedule so you'll just have to bear with me. Next chapter will be going up soon, hopefully. Until then, please enjoy.)**


	28. Rita Skeeter's Scoop

******(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**Chapter 27: Rita Skeeter's Scoop**

Kingsley yawned, but he volunteered. All of them also deciding to have lunch once he was done with this next chapter. He took the book and read out, "**Chapter 24: Rita Skeeter's Scoop."**

"Rita Skeeter's Scoop?" Remus repeated, feeling a strong sense of foreboding. "That isn't a good way to start off a chapter."

"Now who's she targeting?" Bill groaned. "I mean, what garbage could she be writing about now?"

Arthur, Kingsley, Mad-Eye, and Albus all remembered the article that she wrote not long after Christmas… and they were all thinking the same thing… Hagrid.

"Well, glad I woke up," Moody said darkly, leaning back comfortably in his seat.

**Everybody got up late on Boxing Day. The Gryffindor common room was much quieter than it had been lately, many yawns punctuating the lazy conversations. **

"Well, after dancing up till midnight, it doesn't surprise me," Tonks said seriously.

"I've been saying this for years," Sirius said. "If the teachers let their students party once in awhile, they're too tired to cause trouble."

"Like that would've stopped you and James," Remus smiled. "You'd take any excuse to have a party."

"It's in my nature," Sirius grinned back.

**Hermione's hair was bushy again; she confessed to Harry that she had used liberal amounts of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on it for the ball, "but it's way too much bother to do every day," she said matter-of-factly, scratching a purring Crookshanks behind the ears.**

"Don't know why she's telling him that," Sirius said in a bored tone. "Boys don't care about things like that."

"Well," Fleur said lightly. "Girls are drawn to boys who actually listen to zem."

"Is that right?" Sirius said thinking that over. "Huh… you learn something new everyday."

**Ron and Hermione seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement not to discuss their argument. They were being quite friendly to each other, though oddly formal. **

"Well, I prefer that to seeing them fight," Molly sighed, still angry with how her son treated Hermione.

"Come on," Tonks snapped darkly. "He's lucky that she's even speaking to him after the night before! And now, they're just going to pretend that it didn't happen?"

"I think that they did it for Harry," Remus pointed out. "I mean, they have much more things to be worrying about than what happened at the ball?"

"I suppose," Bill said gradually. However he was really hoping that Ron would've at least apologized for his behavior. He could understand a child getting away with that kind of attitude, but his brother wasn't a little kid anymore.

As if she knew what he was thinking, Fleur whispered to him, "Some boys take longer to mature zan others…"

He gave her a grateful smile as he leaned in closer to her side so that he could just smell her sweet floral scent.

**Ron and Harry wasted no time in telling Hermione about the conversation they had overheard between Madame Maxime and Hagrid, but Hermione didn't seem to find the news that Hagrid was a half-giant nearly as shocking as Ron did.**

"I get the feeling that she already knew?" Arthur asked smiling.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Remus nodded, "After all, she figured out that I was a werewolf after just a few months."

"Might not if Snape didn't butt in," Sirius muttered darkly to himself.

**"Well, I thought he must be," she said, shrugging. "I knew he couldn't be pure giant because they're about twenty feet tall. But honestly, all this hysteria about giants. They ****can't all be horrible… it's the same sort of prejudice that people have toward werewolves… it's just bigotry, isn't it?"**

"I can't disagree with her when she puts it like that," Remus said sadly. "But the truth is… giants and werewolves aren't known for being the—ah—cuddliest of creatures out there. They—we are dangerous."

"But not all of them," Tonks said fiercely, glaring at him with a fire burning in her eyes, "You're living proof that not all of them are dangerous!"

"But…" he began, but she wouldn't hear of it.

"You're dangerous when there's a full moon," she said angrily. "But all you have to do is take the Wolfsbane potion, and stay in your room one a month and we won't have any problems. If people would wake up and stopped treating you so terrible, and get to know you then they'd see the man that I would."

Remus stared at her, his face now resembling a tomato from all her words.

Sirius clapped a hand on his cousin's back as she paused to take a breath. "Couldn't have said it better myself!" he looked to Remus and said, "Well, Professor Moony? Are you going to accept the fact that you're stuck with all of us whether you like it or not?"

Each one of them smiled at him, and he looked away, too embarrassed to say anything. But hearing those words from Tonks's mouth… he had to bite back a groan of longing… when he didn't say anything, Kingsley decided to give him time to think it over, though he was also silently cheering on Tonks's words as well.

**Ron looked as though he would have liked to reply scathingly, but perhaps he didn't want another row, because he contented himself with shaking his head disbelievingly while Hermione wasn't looking.**

Molly pursed her lip, now planning on giving her son some much needed lessons in manners.

**It was time now to think of the homework they had neglected during the first week of the holidays. Everybody seemed to be feeling rather flat now that Christmas was over - everybody except Harry, that is, who was starting (once again) to feel slightly nervous.**

Fleur nodded in complete understand. Madame Maxime had helped slip her the idea to open it underwater so when she took a bath that night, she took the egg with her. She remembered being so worried all that time—wondering what was about to be taken from her… and she shuddered at the thought of her dear baby sister being held at the bottom of that dark lake, surrounded by merfolk and who knows what else…

"Oh, right!" Tonks cried out. "He still needs to figure out what the egg means!"

Molly continued to look annoyed. If he hadn't had waited, then maybe he wouldn't be worrying about this.

**The trouble was that February the twenty-fourth looked a lot closer from this side of Christmas, and he still hadn't done anything about working out the clue inside the golden egg.**

"Well, he better get a move on or else he's gonna flunk the task before it even starts," Moody growled as he pulled out his flask and tried to take a sip before he remembered that it was empty. "Oh, right… empty," he growled annoyed and shoved it back into his robes. Great, now he was stuck here listening to story time without a drink… typical.

**He therefore started taking the egg out of his trunk every time he went up to the dormitory, opening it, and listening intently, hoping that this time it would make some sense. He strained to think what the sound reminded him of, apart from thirty musical saws, but he had never heard anything else like it. He closed the egg, shook it vigorously, and opened it again to see if the sound had changed, but it hadn't. He tried asking the egg questions, shouting over all the wailing, but nothing happened. **

"Just try what Cedric said," Tonks suggested. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

"He did give him the password for the Prefect's bathroom, so he couldn't have been trying anything could he?" Arthur asked.

"Think like that during a war, then you might just have signed your death warrant," Mood said grumpily.

**He even threw the egg across the room - though he hadn't really expected that to help.**

"Not with figuring out the clue, but I personally think that it might've helped him feel better," Bill offered and Fleur giggled. "Help to remove some of that frustration."

"That would've been too easy though," Remus pointed out grimly.

"And of course, Harry can't have anything easy now can he?" Sirius asked bitterly.

**Harry had not forgotten the hint that Cedric had given him, but his less-than friendly feelings toward Cedric just now meant that he was keen not to take his help if he could avoid it.**

"Men and their pride," Molly groaned, running her hand through her hair.

"Too true," Tonks and Fleur nodded with her.

"Hey," Bill asked Fleur, with mock hurt. "I thought you were on my side."

She smiled angelically at him. "Well, eet's true."

"But since he completed the task," Kingsley interrupted them, "Then it looks like he must've taken Cedric's advice sooner or later…"

"Can't wait to hear this," Sirius said a little brighter, and stretched out comfortably.

**In any case, it seemed to him that if Cedric had really wanted to give Harry a hand, he would have been a lot more explicit. **

"Yeah, why not come right out and tell him to open it underwater?" Sirius demanded hotly.

"Well, he wants to win the tournament as well doesn't he?" Molly pointed out.

"Isn't repaying a debt more important?" he retorted. "I mean, he still owes Harry big for that tip with the dragons. If not for that, he'd probably would've failed the First Task."

**He, Harry, had told Cedric exactly what was coming in the first task - and Cedric's idea of a ****fair exchange had been to tell Harry to take a bath. **

Tonks smirked. "You know when he puts it like that…?"

"Maybe 'e should 'ave been more specific," Fleur admitted.

"I suppose that he just wanted Harry to do a little work in figuring out the egg as well," Remus declared.

"Why?" Sirius demanded. "Harry's the one with the biggest disadvantage here."

"I still think that it's that pride of his doing some of the talking," Molly sighed.

**Well, he didn't need that sort of rubbishy help - not from someone who kept walking down corridors hand in hand with Cho, anyway.**

Sirius couldn't stop smirking at that. "Ah… young love and jealousy—it never fails to make us to do something stupid doesn't it?"

"But he really shouldn't let that stop him," Arthur pointed out.

"Teens…" Moody grunted in disgust.

**And so the first day of the new term arrived, and Harry set off to lessons, weighed down with books, parchment, and quills as usual, but also with the lurking worry of the egg heavy in his stomach, as though he were carrying that around with him too.**

Bill looked at Fleur and asked, "Was that how you felt?"

She just nodded, unable to say what she was feeling. Just thinking of the Second Task made her feel sick to her stomach.

**Snow was still thick upon the grounds, and the greenhouse windows were covered in condensation so thick that they couldn't see out of them in Herbology. Nobody was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures much in this weather, though as Ron said, the Skrewts ****would probably warm them up nicely, either by chasing them, or blasting off so forcefully that Hagrid's cabin would catch fire.**

That one line did one good thing by getting Sirius to laugh again. "He's got a good point!"

Molly winced, hoping that Hagrid would've found another creature to study—hopefully a non-dangerous one…

**When they arrived at Hagrid's cabin, however, they found an elderly witch with closely cropped gray hair and a very prominent chin standing before his front door.**

Sirius stopped laughing and asked, "What? Who's she? Where's Hagrid?"

"I-I don't know," Kingsley said, also surprised.

"Well, for those of you who don't know," Moody said loudly, "Rita wrote a little article after Christmas that year… about Hagrid."

They groaned. "I forgot about that," Tonks moaned, remembering how angry she had been when she read that article. She had actually set that paper on fire and flushed the ashes down the toilet.

"This isn't going to be good," Arthur sighed.

**"Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago," she barked at them as they struggled toward her through the snow.**

**"Who're you?" said Ron, staring at her. "Where's Hagrid?"**

"Ronald," Molly sighed, now feeling tired. "Please could you at least try to be more polite?"

"Well, being blunt, direct, and rude just makes Ron, Ron," Bill reminded her.

**"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," she said briskly. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."**

**"Where's Hagrid?" Harry repeated loudly.**

"That's what we want to know," Tonks said frowning. "I know that the article must've upset him but you don't think that he was worried that anyone else cares?"

"Apparently," Moody answered and she shot him an angry look.

**"He is indisposed," said Professor Grubbly-Plank shortly.**

**Soft and unpleasant laughter reached Harry's ears. He turned; Draco Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins were joining the class. All of them looked gleeful, and none of them looked surprised to see Professor Grubbly-Plank.**

"Why not? They're mentioned in the article!" Arthur asked, thinking back.

"Gits, that whole House," Sirius said firmly. He wished that Dumbledore took Lee Jordon's advice from the second book and just chuck all the Slytherins out. Would've saved everyone a great deal of grief.

**"This way, please," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and she strode off around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were shivering. Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed her, looking back over their shoulders at Hagrid's cabin. All the curtains were closed. Was ****Hagrid in there, alone and ill?**

"He's not ill, Harry," Remus said gravely, understanding completely to what Hagrid must've been going through. The main difference however was that Hagrid had countless people there ready to support and stand up for him. "Though he doesn't have anything to be ashamed of. He can't help how he was born…"

"Just like you can't help that you were bitten," Tonks told him firmly.

**"What's wrong with Hagrid?" Harry said, hurrying to catch up with Professor Grubbly-Plank.**

**"Never you mind," she said as though she thought he was being nosy.**

"It's in his nature…" Sirius said fondly, thinking of Lily and James. "Besides, it's a good question!"

**"I do mind, though," said Harry hotly. "What's up with him?"**

**Professor Grubbly-Plank acted as though she couldn't hear him. She led them past the paddock where the huge Beauxbatons horses were standing, huddled against the cold, and toward a tree on the edge of the forest, where a large and beautiful unicorn was tethered.**

Fleur cooed at the thought. She had always loved unicorns…

**Many of the girls "ooooohed!" at the sight of the unicorn. "Oh it's so beautiful!" whispered Lavender Brown. "How did she get it? They're supposed to be really hard to catch!"**

"Well, it's not too difficult," Bill said. "If you're of the fairer gender," he added with a glance at Fleur. "They trust women so it shouldn't have been difficult for her."

"Who wouldn't?" Tonks asked brightly and Moody felt the need to poke her in the back of the head again.

**The unicorn was so brightly white it made the snow all around look gray. It was pawing the ground nervously with its golden hooves and throwing back its horned head.**

Fleur and Tonks both sighed—and Molly was smiling fondly at the description.

Sirius rolled his eyes as he looked over at Remus and whispered, "What's with girls and unicorns?"

He shrugged back. "I admit that they're beautiful creatures… but I think that maybe this might be the reason that unicorns like women better than men."

Mad-Eye was now looking like he was about to be sick. "Women…" he muttered in disgust. It was just a horse with a horn sticking out of its head! There's nothing to get all doey-eyed over.

**"Boys keep back!" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, throwing out an arm and catching Harry hard in the chest. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it…"**

**She and the girls walked slowly forward toward the unicorn, leaving the boys standing near the paddock fence, watching. The moment Professor Grubbly-Plank was out of earshot. Harry turned to Ron.**

**"What d'you reckons wrong with him? You don't think a skrewt -?"**

"That I doubt," Bill said at once.

"Yeah, we all know that he's strong enough to handle any creature," Kingsley nodded.

"It's much more… closer to home," Remus sighed.

**"Oh he hasn't been attacked, Potter, if that's what you're thinking," said Malfoy softly. "No, he's just too ashamed to show his big, ugly face."**

"Zat little…" Fleur began, unable to find a word to call Malfoy.

"He's been like this since their first year," Bill whispered to her. "He just gets worse and worse every year."

"Why don't 'is parents teach 'im some manners?" she demanded.

"Knowing the Malfoys," Sirius grunted in disgust, "They spoiled him rotten. And he's polite when he's trying to suck up to someone."

Albus ran his hand through his beard as he thought back to all the angry letters he received from former students who remembered Hagrid from their school days and had some very—colorful words to say if he thought for a moment of getting rid of Hagrid.

Not that he ever would… but he had worried for some time that Hagrid would never recover from his depression.

**"What d'you mean?" said Harry sharply.**

**Malfoy put his hand inside the pocket of his robes and pulled out a folded page of newsprint.**

**"There you go," he said. "Hate to break it to you. Potter…"**

**He smirked as Harry snatched the page, unfolded it, and read it, with Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville looking over his shoulder. It was an article topped with a picture of Hagrid looking extremely shifty.**

**_DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE_**

"I can't believe that she's sinking so low just to get a story," Sirius snarled in fury.

"That evil woman," Molly hissed, "How could she? What Hagrid is isn't any of hers or anyone else's business!"

"'Ow did she find out?" Fleur asked, thinking to how upset that Madame Maxime had been as well.

Albus nodded, he had wondered how Rita Skeeter had discovered all these secrets to her 'victims' for some time.

"How could she just be allowed to get away with this?" Tonks growled, wishing that she could curse Rita to within an inch of her life.

"Hopefully, we'll find some dirt on her," Sirius said, grinning at the thought.

"I just want to know who's keeping her so tame these days," Moody grinned at the thought. Oh, he hoped that part was mentioned in this book… looks like Rita finally got herself in some deep trouble.

**_Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. _**

The present-day Albus raised his eyebrows in amusement at that line. That was something he could never deny…

**_In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, _**

Moody snorted at that line where Tonks was smirking widely. Well, Rita got one thing right… not that it corrects everything else she said.

**_to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures._**

"Responsible and Kindly?" Tonks couldn't help but laugh. She couldn't find to words less likely to call Mad-Eye Moody.

"Watch it," he growled at her, though even he had to think that it was amusing.

"Come on… there's no one as big-hearted as Hagrid," Arthur said.

"She's just trying to get people's attention," Tonks said, returning to being disgusted.

**_Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since a job secured for him by Dumbledore. _**

"Well, of course he would," Bill said. You're living in a place that you love, doing a job you love… he's got countless friends and is always welcomed wherever he goes… what more could you ask for?

**_Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates._**

"If I remember the last book as well as I think I do," Kingsley interrupted himself, "Did it say that it had been Dumbledore who went down to his hut after Professor Kettelburn retired?"

"Yeah," Sirius said leaning back in his usual bad mood. "Mysterious influence… what kind of idiot would believe that? He's the gamekeeper! Of course he'd know a thing or two about magical creatures." He knew more about magical creatures than anyone else he ever met… though he wished that he preferred the ones who were less dangerous to his heath…

**_An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening." 'I was attacked by a hippogriff, _**

"I had a feeling that suck-up brat would say something," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Come on! He insulted Buckbeak after Hagrid warned them not to! It's not Hagrid's fault that he doesn't listen in class. And he was the one who went around with some fake sob story for months."

"He's an idiot," Tonks said, still disgusted that he was her cousin.

**_and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm,"_**

"Flobberworms don't even have teeth," Remus said shaking his head.

"What a baby," Moody said yawning. "I hope that he gets a rude wake-up call that the world isn't like school. He's gonna be history in no time."

**_says Draco Malfoy, a fourth-year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything."_**

"I can't believe that he said that!" Tonks yelled angrily, wishing that she could test out a few spells on him…

"He's definitely his father's son," Sirius said in disgust. "I mean, only those Slytherins that are rotten to the core could say something like that."

"I doubt that she interviewed anyone besides the Slytherins," Arthur said frowning.

"Of course not," Bill said in annoyance. "She might be getting a truthful statement if she did."

**_Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed "Blast-Ended Skrewts," highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire crabs._**

"He didn't," Molly groaned, slapping her forehead with her palm.

"Well, at least we finally know where they came from," Moody said on a brighter note.

"Oh, be quiet Mad-Eye," Tonks said sounding as grumpy as he usually did.

**_The creation of new breeds of magical creature is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions._**

**_"I was just having some fun," he says, before hastily changing the subject. _**

"Well, that does sound a little like him," Sirius grunted, "Though that doesn't mean that he's having fun! There's no way that he said any of that."

"Of course not," Bill muttered.

"But what he did was illegal," Kingsley said slowly. "As much as I like him, he really shouldn't be trying to breed such dangerous creatures… let alone showing them to his students."

"Just hope that he learned his lesson," Arthur said carefully.

**_As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not - as he has always pretended - a pure-blood wizard. _**

"Now that is the biggest load of rubbish I've heard so far!" Bill called out angrily. "Hagrid never even talked about his blood-status!"

"Yeah, I asked him all the time about his past but he always changed the subject," Sirius barked out.

**_He is not, in fact, even pure human. _**

"What should zat matter?" Fleur said frowning angrily.

"Yeah," Bill said taking her hand. "It seems that all the descent people seem to be the ones who aren't…" and she blushed slightly as she felt his warm and strong hand in hers.

**_His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. _**

**_Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle _****_killings of his reign of terror._**

"Now that's not completely true…" Arthur said looking up. "The only reason they joined him in the first war was because of how wizards had been treating them."

Kingsley needed. "It happens often during war… the crimes of our pasts come back to bite us. With all the cruelty they've suffered at the ministry's hands, I can't really blame them for wanting a better life."

"But come one," Sirius cried out. "What kind of life would they have had under Voldemort? He doesn't give a damn about his Death Eaters—why should he care about the giants?"

"He does care," Kingsley answered darkly as he flipped the page without looking at him. "So long as they fight for him…"

"And once he doesn't need them, they're the first to go," Tonks said, making a whooshing sound and flipped her hand up over her head.

**_While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature._**

Sirius cursed loudly. "Why that…"

"Brutal?" Bill and Tonks cried together.

"He's got to be one of the kindest people I've ever met," Molly said furiously. "I mean, his idea about pets leaves much to be desired, but he's always had such a gentle heart."

"Is there another Hagrid that we don't know about?" Tonks demanded. "I think that maybe she might've talked to him."

**_In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the boy who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power - thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry Potter is unaware of the unpleasant truth about his large friend – but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter,_**

Albus rolled his eyes. Oh, he was fully aware of Hagrid linage… he had known for longer than Rita had even been alive after all.

**_ along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants._**

"So in other words," Moody said. "She's saying that giants are nothing more than evil creatures that should be wiped out before they kill us all. Well, Rita is definitely not open-minded, and she's certainly no help for us if she is willing to hurt Hagrid that badly just for an article."

"No doubt," Kingsley sighed. "All the trouble she's made for us…"

**Harry finished reading and looked up at Ron, whose mouth was hanging open.**

**"How did she find out?" he whispered.**

"That's what we want to know," Tonks demanded at once, frowning.

"There's nothing for it, she had to have been there at the ball listening to them," Bill said.

"Yes, but how?" Remus asked. "Harry would've mentioned seeing her there in the garden.

**But that wasn't what was bothering Harry.**

**"What d'you mean, 'we all hate Hagrid'?" Harry spat at Malfoy.**

"You tell 'em, Harry!" Tonks cheered on, punching the air.

**"What's this rubbish about him" - he pointed at Crabbe - "getting a bad bite off a flobberworm? They haven't even got teeth!"**

"Now he's starting to sound like you, Moony," Sirius chuckled and nudged him in the ribs.

"Better me than you," he added cheekily, and he shoved his shoulder.

**Crabbe was sniggering, apparently very pleased with himself.**

"Why would 'e be 'appy?" Fleur asked. "Eet's making eet sound like 'e's afraid of a worm."

"Oh, don't be too hard on him," Sirius snorted. "I mean, he's got the brains of a brick so he easy to please even when he shouldn't be. I mean, it's not like he's got anything else going for him."

**"Well, I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career," said Malfoy, his eyes glinting. "Half-giant… and there was me thinking he'd just swallowed a bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young… none of the mummies and daddies are going to like this at all… they'll be worried he'll eat their kids, ha, ha…"**

"Well, at least he's not the type of person who would curse someone when their back is turned, or sneer at someone because they're Muggle-born," Remus added coldly.

"Besides," Molly said firmly. "Everyone who's been at school since Hagrid had been there, knows him. We all know that he'd never hurt anyone if he could help it."

**"You-"**

**"Are you paying attention over there?"**

"Not really," Sirius said happily, a common response that he had given many times while he'd been sitting in class

**Professor Grubbly-Planks voice carried over to the boys; the girls were all clustered around the unicorn now, stroking it. Harry was so angry that the _Daily Prophet_ article shook in his hands as he turned to stare unseeingly at the unicorn, whose many magical properties Professor Grubbly-Plank was now enumerating in a loud voice, so that the boys could hear too.**

**"I hope she stays, that woman!" said Parvati Patil when the lesson had ended and they were all heading back to the castle for lunch. "That's more what I thought Care of Magical ****Creatures would be like… proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters …"**

"You can't always have pretty stuff, girl," Moody barked. "You need to know about both. What do you plan to do if you're face to face with a monster and not know what to do?"

"Well, she's seems to be the kind of girl that'll scream over a broken nail," Sirius pointed out, and Moody's face twisted with that smile, making him look more sinister.

**"What about Hagrid?" Harry said angrily as they went up the steps.**

"I don't theenk she cares," Fleur pointed out.

**"What about him?" said Parvati in a hard voice. "He can still be gamekeeper, can't he?"**

"But after everything's he's been through, he deserves this job," Tonks said. "Ok, start off small… then move onto bigger creatures. Or at the very least, bring monsters to class that he can handle…"

"And stop breeding," Molly pleaded in an undertone.

**Parvati had been very cool toward Harry since the ball. He supposed that he ought to have paid her a bit more attention, but she seemed to have had a good time all the same. **

"Well, I can't say that he was the ideal date," Tonks agreed. "Now if he just danced a little more with her…"

"I doubt that she even liked him," Sirius said firmly. "If you ask me, she just wanted to use his status as champion and all that."

"Maybe, maybe not," Remus spoke up. "But as her date, he really should've paid a little bit more attention to her at least for that one night."

**She was certainly telling anybody who would listen that she had made arrangements to meet the boy from Beauxbatons in Hogsmeade on the next weekend trip.**

**"That was a really good lesson," said Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. "I didn't know half the things Professor Grubbly-Plank told us about uni -"**

"I don't think now is a good idea, Hermione," Bill whispered.

**"Look at this!" Harry snarled, and he shoved the Daily Prophet article under Hermione's nose.**

**Hermione's mouth fell open as she read. Her reaction was exactly the same as Ron's.**

**"How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid told her?"**

"That's what we all want to know," Arthur sighed, now they were repeating themselves.

"There's no way that he would do that," Bill said at once. "I mean, if he wouldn't even tell his closest friends, he's not going to tell some reporter he just met!"

"Besides," Remus added, "That isn't something that you would want to go around spreading with all the prejudice in the world. He would know just how difficult it would've been made for him."

**"No," said Harry, leading the way over to the Gryffindor table and throwing himself into a chair, furious. "He never even told us, did he? I reckon she was so mad he wouldn't give her loads of horrible stuff about me, she went ferreting around to get him back."**

"Now that makes more sense than anything else," Moody agreed darkly.

**"Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the ball," said Hermione quietly.**

"But Harry would've mentioned seeing her," Bill reminded them all. "I mean, she's kinda hard to miss…"

"Besides, she's banished from the grounds," Arthur spoke up. "So she shouldn't have gotten in…"

"You think that she might have an Invisibility Cloak or something?" Sirius asked. "I mean," he turned to Moody. "You've got two of them yourself don't you?"

"Yeah," he grunted. "But with a reporter's salary, I doubt that she could've bought one… unless she found out some pretty juicy blackmail and was given to her to keep her quiet."

"Maybe Rita spoke with Madame Maxime and she…" Tonks began but stopped at once at the furious look on Fleur's face.

"Madame Maxime would never!" she hissed. "She knows better zan anyone 'ow prejudice people are! She may 'ave been angry at 'Agrid, but she would never go around and to do such a petty thing to get revenge!"

She folded her arms and continued to glare at her until Kingsley went on, something that Tonks was grateful for.

**"We'd have seen her in the garden!" said Ron. "Anyway, she's not supposed to come into school anymore, Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her…"**

"With a very good reason," Albus sighed softly. Now if he had known how she had been getting on the grounds…

"That's what we've been saying," Sirius called out. "How could she be getting onto the grounds?"

"Lot of good that ban had done," Molly spoke bitterly.

**"Maybe she's got an Invisibility Cloak," said Harry, ladling chicken casserole onto his plate and splashing it everywhere in his anger. **

"How Rita found out really is really bugging me," Arthur groaned. "I mean, I've noticed it to. Ron's been insistent before but that's when he's got the right idea, but the wrong answer. Knowing Hermione's track record we'd better listen to her too. So, then how could Rita have been there, and be seen but not have been seen?"

"Uhhh…" Tonks said, trailing off. "I guess that we'll have to concentrate on this one. However, with sources like Malfoy, Rita probably could find enough material to fill a weekly magazine."

**"Sort of thing she'd do, isn't it, hide in bushes listening to people."**

**"Like you and Ron did, you mean," said Hermione.**

"That's different," Sirius said. "They didn't try to listen…"

**"We weren't trying to hear him!" said Ron indignantly. "We didn't have any choice! The stupid prat, talking about his giantess mother where anyone could have heard him!"**

"Can't argue with that logic," Bill said, liking his brother a little better in this chapter than the last. "That really wasn't the wisest idea… best not to mention it at all if you can help it."

**"We've got to go and see him," said Harry. "This evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back… you do want him back?" he shot at Hermione.**

**"I - well, I'm not going to pretend it didn't make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once - but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!" Hermione added hastily, quailing under Harry's furious stare.**

"She'd better," Sirius snarled.

"I don't think that she'd dare say anything else if her friends were angry with her," Arthur said knowingly.

**So that evening after dinner, the three of them left the castle once more and went down through the frozen grounds to Hagrid's cabin. They knocked, and Fang's booming barks answered.**

**"Hagrid, it's us!" Harry shouted, pounding on the door. "Open up!"**

**Hagrid didn't answer. They could hear Fang scratching at the door, whining, but it didn't open. They hammered on it for ten more minutes; Ron even went and banged on one of the ****windows, but there was no response.**

"Oh dear, he must be in an awful state," Molly whispered, her fingers over her mouth.

"It must be bad if he even refuses to see his friends," Sirius said, remembering how he would still want to see them after the incident with Buckbeak and Malfoy's spawn.

"Well, he did have his biggest secret printed over the headlines," Moody pointed out.

**"What's he avoiding us for?" Hermione said when they had finally given up and were walking back to the school. "He surely doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?"**

"I'm gonna say yes," Moody stated. Tonks glared at him.

"Maybe," Albus sighed to himself. "But still—it wasn't anything for him to be ashamed about. I'm glad that he remembered that."

**But it seemed that Hagrid did care. They didn't see a sign of him all week. He didn't appear at the staff table at mealtimes, they didn't see him going about his gamekeeper duties on the grounds, and Professor Grubbly-Plank continued to take the Care of Magical Creatures classes. Malfoy was gloating at every possible opportunity.**

"Oh, like he's got his family line to be so proud of," Sirius hissed.

**"Missing your half-breed pal?" he kept whispering to Harry whenever there was a teacher around, so that he was safe from Harry's retaliation. "Missing the elephant man?"**

"'Onestly," Fleur said. "If 'e 'ad been at Beauxbatons and been caught saying something like zat, 'e would've been taught a lesson at once!"

"Maybe we can send him there," Sirius said hopefully.

**There was a Hogsmeade visit halfway through January. Hermione was very surprised that Harry was going to go.**

**"I just thought you'd want to take advantage of the common room being quiet," she said. "Really get to work on that egg."**

**"Oh I - I reckon I've got a pretty good idea what it's about now," Harry lied.**

"He didn't," Molly groaned.

"He did," Arthur sighed, his hand on her shoulder.

"Hopefully, Hermione won't ask," Tonks said.

**"Have you really?" said Hermione, looking impressed. "Well done!"**

**Harry's insides gave a guilty squirm, but he ignored them. He still had five weeks to work out that egg clue, after all, and that was ages… whereas if he went into Hogsmeade, he ****might run into Hagrid, and get a chance to persuade him to come back.**

"Good idea," Remus sighed. "Though, I highly doubt that he'll be in there. I don't think that he would've wanted to leave the cabin. Really, it would've been better for him to just have stayed behind and work on the egg."

**He, Ron, and Hermione left the castle together on Saturday and set off through the cold, wet grounds toward the gates. As they passed the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, they saw Viktor Krum emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. **

Tonks wolf-whistled, "Wonder if he was showing off for Hermione?"

"If he was," Bill pointed out laughing, "I don't think that this would be a good thing for her and Ron's fragile friendship."

"What's left of it," Sirius added in an undertone.

**He was very skinny indeed, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived, right into the lake.**

"What?" Sirius gasped out. "He seriously jumped into a half frozen lake in the middle of January? Is he trying to kill himself?"

"He's nuts," Tonks agreed.

"At least the kid has balls," Moody grunted.

"I theenk zat 'e was working on a way to do ze Second Task," Fleur said at once. She remembered how she had practice the Bubble-Head charm for hours until she could do it in her sleep.

**"He's mad!" said Harry, staring at Krum's dark head as it bobbed out into the middle of the lake. "It must be freezing, it's January!"**

"You said it Ron," Sirius said almost in awe.

**"It's a lot colder where he comes from," said Hermione. "I suppose it feels quite warm to ****him."**

**"Yeah, but there's still the giant squid," said Ron. He didn't sound anxious – if anything, he sounded hopeful. **

"Ron!" Molly scolded coldly. "Viktor never did anything to you."

"Except try to steal his girl," Sirius pointed out and she gave him a cold look.

"Until that moment, he didn't even notice her," she replied. "And that's no excuse to treat someone that way."

"Yes," Fleur agreed. "'E really ees a kind person; I don't like 'earing you all insult 'im."

**Hermione noticed his tone of voice and frowned.**

**"He's really nice, you know," she said. "He's not at all like you'd think, coming from ****Durmstrang. He likes it much better here, he told me."**

"Well, can't blame him for that," Sirius said proudly, his respect for Krum rising. "You'd have to be mental to actually want to go back to a freezing castle in the north when you're here at Hogwarts!"

**Ron said nothing. He hadn't mentioned Viktor Krum since the ball, but Harry had found a miniature arm under his bed on Boxing Day, which had looked very much as though it had been snapped off a small model figure wearing Bulgarian Quidditch robes.**

"I had a feel that he might've done something like that," Bill said as his parent's shook their heads. His mother annoyed and exasperated, his father slightly amused.

**Harry kept his eyes skinned for a sign of Hagrid all the way down the slushy High Street, and suggested a visit to the Three Broomsticks once he had ascertained that Hagrid was not in any of the shops.**

**The pub was as crowded as ever, but one quick look around at all the tables told Harry that Hagrid wasn't there. Heart sinking, he went up to the bar with Ron and Hermione, ordered three butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta, and thought gloomily that he might just as well have stayed behind and listened to the egg wailing after all.**

"At least he completes the task," Sirius pointed out, trying to calm the nervousness he felt inside.

**"Doesn't he ever go into the office?" Hermione whispered suddenly. "Look!"**

**She pointed into the mirror behind the bar, and Harry saw Ludo Bagman reflected there, sitting in a shadowy corner with a bunch of Goblins. Bagman was talking very fast in a low voice to the goblins, all of whom had their arms crossed and were looking rather menacing.**

Bill raised his eyebrows. Now he knew what this was about… Bagman had been in serious debt with the Goblins since the World Cup… "He can try to talk himself out of this all he wants. But Goblins don't care if you're famous or not. When it comes to gold, they can't be reasoned with."

"'E owes zem a lot of money doesn't 'e?" Fleur asked him.

"Oh, a great deal," Bill nodded. "I'm not sure just how much exactly, but I wager at least a small fortune with all his gamboling debts…"

"Well, the twins are lucky then that they won their bet," Molly said bitterly. "But they better not make a habit of it."

"Yes," Bill nodded, but he couldn't help but get the feeling that there was more to the story than that.

**It was indeed odd. Harry thought, that Bagman was here at the Three Broomsticks on a weekend when there was no Triwizard event, and therefore no judging to be done. He watched Bagman in the mirror. He was looking strained again, quite as strained as he had that night in the forest before the Dark Mark had appeared. But just then Bagman glanced over at the bar, saw Harry, and stood up.**

"Now what's he gonna do?" Tonks asked bored.

"Probably trying to get Potter to cheat again," Moody yawned. "I mean, that's what he did during the First Task."

"Well, it's none of his business, so he should just clear off," Sirius said frowning.

**"In a moment, in a moment!" Harry heard him say brusquely to the goblins, and Bagman hurried through the pub toward Harry, his boyish grin back in place.**

**"Harry!" he said. "How are you? Been hoping to run into you! Everything going all right?"**

**"Fine, thanks," said Harry.**

**"Wonder if I could have a quick, private word, Harry?" said Bagman eagerly.**

"Yep," Arthur nodded grimly, "He's trying to get him to cheat."

"Why's he doing this?" Molly asked in concern.

"Who knows?" Kingsley sighed. "Hopefully, we'll be getting some answers soon."

Albus shook his head. He knew what this had been about. He knew that Ludo had been unwise enough to borrow gold from a goblin—but to make a bet on a child during a tournament where he was risking his life… his fists tightened in anger. Just how low will people be willing to sink?

**"You couldn't give us a moment, you two, could you?"**

**"Er - okay," said Ron, and he and Hermione went off to find a table.**

**Bagman led Harry along the bar to the end furthest from Madam Rosmerta.**

**"Well, I just thought I'd congratulate you again on your splendid performance against that Horntail, Harry," said Bagman. "Really superb."**

"Well," Remus said in an attempt to lighten the mood, "That is high praise when it's coming from a former professional Quidditch player."

"Yeah?" Moody grunted. "Who cares? What matters is that Bagman is up to something. he wants Potter to win the tournament for some reason…"

"What makes you think that?" Molly asked looking at him.

"It's obvious," he said. "If he only wanted to congratulate Potter, he wouldn't have asked for a private word. I mean, once he had seen that Potter can hold his own, he wouldn't still be trying so badly to help him again. What's his angle? What's he got his nose into this time?"

He smirked at the nose reference he just made.

"I agree," Kingsley muttered softly as he picked up where he left off. Just what was Ludo up to?

**"Thanks," said Harry, but he knew this couldn't be all that Bagman wanted to say, because he could have congratulated Harry in front of Ron and Hermione.**

"Good Potter," Moody said approvingly. "Don't believe a word he says."

**Bagman didn't seem in any particular rush to spill the beans, though. Harry saw him glance into the mirror over the bar at the goblins, who were all watching him and Harry in silence through their dark, slanting eyes.**

Bill's eyes narrowed; he worked with goblins long enough to know when they were angry. They must be growing very impatient for him to pay up. Now, because he couldn't pay up, he ran away and now they're paying the price… earning the goblins trust after a stunt like that hasn't been easy.

**"Absolute nightmare," said Bagman to Harry in an undertone, noticing Harry watching the goblins too. "Their English isn't too good… it's like being back with all the Bulgarians at the Quidditch World Cup… but at least they used sign language another human could recognize. This lot keep gabbling in Gobbledegook… and I only know one word of Gobbledegook. ****Bladvak. It means 'pickaxe.' I don't like to use it in case they think I'm threatening them."**

Sirius laughed, but Bill was shaking his head. "No, that's actually sensible. Goblins get offended easily, and the last thing that you want is to make them your enemies."

**He gave a short, booming laugh.**

**"What do they want?" Harry said, noticing how the goblins were still watching Bagman very closely.**

"The money that he owes them," Bill whispered softly.

**"Er – well…" said Bagman, looking suddenly nervous. "They… er… they're looking for Barty Crouch."**

"Sure they are," Moody said raising his eyebrows. His excuses were always scraping the bottom of the barrel.

**"Why are they looking for him here?" said Harry. "He's at the Ministry in London, isn't he?"**

**"Er… as a matter of fact, I've no idea where he is," said Bagman. "He's sort of… stopped coming to work. Been absent for a couple of weeks now. Young Percy, his assistant, says he's ill. **

The Weasleys moved uncomfortably in their seats, knowing how Percy acted those few weeks of being in charge. He certainly acted like he had just been announced at the new Minister of Magic… Percy's lust for power was making them all uneasy.

**Apparently he's just been sending instructions in by owl. But would you mind not ****mentioning that to anyone Harry? Because Rita Skeeter's still poking around everywhere she can, and I'm willing to bet she'd work up Barty's illness into something sinister. **

"Maybe that's because it was something sinister," Arthur said, his eyes darkening. Now he knew that Crouch had never been the greatest father, but the idea that he had been controlling his son like this for years sickened him. Maybe if he had given his son the time of day, he'd wouldn't have turned to Voldemort's supporters…

**Probably say he's gone missing like Bertha Jorkins."**

They all glanced at each other awkwardly at the reminder of what they read for the first chapter.

"Have they even started to try to find her yet?" Tonks asked softly.

Kingsley answered that for her by reading.

**"Have you heard anything about Bertha Jorkins?" Harry asked.**

**"No," said Bagman, looking strained again. "I've got people looking, of course…" **

"After months of not caring, they only _started_ looking?" Tonks asked bitterly.

"Not that it would help," Moody growled. "They'll never find her; or rather what's left of her… if there is anything left."

"Don't say something like that," Molly begged. "Even if it is true, I just can't stand hearing what happened to that poor woman."

Thankfully, Moody obliged and let it drop.

** (About time, thought Harry) **

"Wish he said it out loud," Sirius said grimly. "Looks like a kid can do his job better than he can."

"Anyone can do a better job than him," Moody responded.

**"and it's all very strange. She definitely arrived in Albania, because she met her second cousin there. And then she left the cousin's house to go south and see an aunt… and she seems to have vanished without trace en route. Blowed if I can see where she's got to… she doesn't seem the type to elope, for instance… **

_'In a sense, she did, but it turns out the guy she was with wasn't Mr. Right,'_ Moody thought to himself.

**but still… What are we doing, talking about goblins and Bertha Jorkins? I really wanted to ask you" - he lowered his voice - "how are you getting on with your golden egg?"**

"Why is he so interested in if he gets through the tournament?" Tonks asked as Fleur frowned.

**"Er… not bad,"**

"He hasn't even figured out the clue yet," Molly sighed.

"But Bagman doesn't need to know that," Sirius pointed out.

**Harry said untruthfully.**

**Bagman seemed to know he wasn't being honest.**

**"Listen, Harry," he said (still in a very low voice), "I feel very bad about all this… you were thrown into this tournament, you didn't volunteer for it… and if…" (his voice was so quiet ****now, Harry had to lean closer to listen) "if I can help at all… a prod in the right direction… I've taken a liking to you… the way you got past that dragon… well, just say the word."**

"I don't trust him," Tonks frowned. "Just what on earth is he up to?"

**Harry stared up into Bagman's round, rosy face and his wide, baby-blue eyes.**

**"We're supposed to work out the clues alone, aren't we?" he said, careful to keep his voice casual and not sound as though he was accusing the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports of breaking the rules.**

"Oh, leave him alone," Remus said. "He doesn't need help from him… after all, he did just fine without his help with the First Task."

"'E always seemed so nice," Fleur frowned. "Why ees 'e trying to get 'Arry to cheat?"

"If we knew, we would've be asking these questions," Tonks told her.

**"Well… well, yes," said Bagman impatiently, "but - come on. Harry - we all want a Hogwarts victory, don't we?"**

**"Have you offered Cedric help?" Harry said.**

"Why do I get the feeling that's a no?" Bill asked, and his suspicions were confirmed at the next part: **The smallest of frowns creased Bagman's smooth face. "No, I haven't," he said. "I - well, like I say, I've taken a liking to you. Just thought I'd offer…"**

"Yep, he's definitely up to something," Moody growled. "He wants something from Potter…"

"Hopefully, he won't ask for help," Remus sighed. "I hate to think of what Bagman wants."

**"Well, thanks," said Harry, "but I think I'm nearly there with the egg… couple more days should crack it."**

**He wasn't entirely sure why he was refusing Bagman's help, except that Bagman was almost a stranger to him, and accepting his assistance would feel somehow much more like cheating than asking advice from Ron, Hermione, or Sirius.**

"Maybe because it is?" Tonks suggested. "I mean… he is a judge and would know the answer to the egg… whereas the others it's more like advice."

"Besides," Sirius added, "I rather that he just make it through the tournament alive instead of winning." Well, he did survive and win… but at a high price.

**Bagman looked almost affronted, but couldn't say much more as Fred and George turned up at that point.**

**"Hello, Mr. Bagman," said Fred brightly. "Can we buy you a drink?"**

**"Er… no," said Bagman, with a last disappointed glance at Harry, "no, thank you, boys…"**

**Fred and George looked quite as disappointed as Bagman, who was surveying Harry as though he had let him down badly.**

Arthur frowned. What was with his sons? Why did they want to talk to Bagman so badly lately? His wife was frowning as well. "I know the boys can be persistent, but why do they want to talk to him?"

"Maybe it's more about their joke shop?" Remus suggested.

"They better not still be making bets," she said suspiciously.

"Well, whatever the case," Sirius said. "Bagman doesn't want to spent much time with them—could they have won yet more money from him? Speaking of money, goblins…"

"Well, they are exceedingly self-sufficient," Bill agreed, guessing where Sirius was going with this. "I mean, they do run the bank."

**"Well, I must dash," he said. "Nice seeing you all. Good luck, Harry."**

**He hurried out of the pub. The goblins all slid off their chairs and exited after him. Harry went to rejoin Ron and Hermione.**

**"What did he want?" Ron said, the moment Harry had sat down.**

**"He offered to help me with the golden egg," said Harry.**

**"He shouldn't be doing that!" said Hermione, looking very shocked. "He's one of the judges! **

"Exactly," Molly whispered.

**And anyway, you've already worked it out - haven't you?"**

**"Er… nearly," said Harry.**

"Why is he lying to her?" Molly asked.

"Hey, if it were me," Sirius said, "The last thing I would want to hear is her nagging me to."

**"Well, I don't think Dumbledore would like it if he knew Bagman was trying to persuade you to cheat!" said Hermione, still looking deeply disapproving. **

Albus nodded in agreement, his eyes narrowing at the thought.

**"I hope he's trying to help Cedric as much!"**

**"He's not, I asked," said Harry.**

**"Who cares if Diggory's getting help?" said Ron. Harry privately agreed.**

"Why is he so determined not to accept Cedric's help?" Tonks asked. Honestly, men sometimes…

"Pride clouds everything else," Remus said, understanding what he felt. He remembered how jealous he had been of James once he married Lily… not that he had any romantic feelings for Lily—and yes, of course he was happy for his friend… but it made him envious to know that he would never have what he wanted more than anything else in this world… a family.

"Well, some men need to look beyond that," she said firmly, almost glaring at him.

**"Those goblins didn't look very friendly," said Hermione, sipping her butterbeer. "What were they doing here?"**

"To make sure they get their money," Bill said.

"Ok, Bill," Fleur told him soothingly.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I just know that he's in big trouble, and has caused us problems because of it."

**"Looking for Crouch, according to Bagman," said Harry. "He's still ill. Hasn't been into work."**

**"Maybe Percy's poisoning him," said Ron. "Probably thinks if Crouch snuffs it he'll be made head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation."**

"Oh, he shouldn't joke around about something like that," she whimpered, anxious as she always was when she thought of Percy.

Arthur took her hand and said, "Give it time… he'll come back when he's ready."

Sirius nodded and privately thought, _'Percy may be one of the world's greatest power-hungry moron, but he'd never go that far… at least I hope not.'_

**Hermione gave Ron a don't-joke-about-things-like-that look, and said, "Funny, goblins looking for Mr. Crouch… They'd normally deal with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."**

**"Crouch can speak loads of different languages, though," said Harry. "Maybe they need an interpreter."**

"Even if they did, they'd get another goblin to do it for them," Bill said.

"Zey never trust another 'uman," Fleur agreed.

**"Worrying about poor 'ickle goblins, now, are you?" Ron asked Hermione. "Thinking of starting up S.P.U.G. or something? Society for the Protection of Ugly Goblins?"**

"So he means SPUG," Sirius laughed. "Well, I suppose the name could be worst."

"Not that it's necessary," Bill shook his head. "Goblins are the last creatures who need protecting. They're clever, and can take care of themselves… that's why there have been so many goblin wars. They really should start paying attention in History of Magic."

"I'm sure they would if someone other than Binns was teaching," Sirius answered under his breath.

**"Ha, ha, ha," said Hermione sarcastically. "Goblins don't need protection. Haven't you been listening to what Professor Binns has been telling us about goblin rebellions?"**

"Nope," Sirius said proudly.

**"No," said Harry and Ron together.**

Sirius and Tonks laughed once again, loving how straightforward the answer was.

**"Well, they're quite capable of dealing with wizards," said Hermione, taking another sip of butterbeer. "They're very clever. They're not like house-elves, who never stick up for themselves."**

Bill nodded.

**"Uh-oh," said Ron, staring at the door.**

"Now what?" Sirius asked, his smiled fading as Kingsley groaned at the next line.

**Rita Skeeter had just entered. She was wearing banana-yellow robes today; her long nails were painted shocking pink, and she was accompanied by her paunchy photographer. She bought drinks, and she and the photographer made their way through the crowds to a table nearby. Harry, Ron, and Hermione glaring at her as she approached. She was talking fast ****and looking very satisfied about something.**

**"… didn't seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? **

"Well, can you blame him for that?" Sirius asked casually. "I mean, she makes a living writing big lies about everyone and ruining their lives."

"Hopefully, the three of them will be able to leave without her noticing them," Arthur mumbled.

Tonks on the other hand asked, "Bozo? And I thought I had a bad name."

**Now, why would that be, do you think?** **And what's he doing with a pack of goblins in town anyway? Showing them the sights… what nonsense… he was always a bad liar. **

Moody raised his eyebrows; hating the fact that he had the same thought with her

**Reckon something's up? Think we should do a bit of digging? _'Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman… '_ Snappy start to a sentence, Bozo - we just need to find a story to fit it -"**

**"Trying to ruin someone else's life?" said Harry loudly.**

Kingsley winced. "That wasn't the wisest move."

"Now she's gonna turn her attention onto him," Sirius growled. Damn, if he only stayed quiet…

"Well, he is her favorite subject matter," Bill pointed out.

**A few people looked around. Rita Skeeter's eyes widened behind her jewelled spectacles as she saw who had spoken.**

**"Harry!" she said, beaming. "How lovely! Why don't you come and join-?"**

"After what she wrote about him, does she honestly think that he would?" Sirius growled threateningly.

"Well, she's even more stupid than we first thought," Tonks said dryly.

**"I wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot broomstick," said Harry furiously. **

"Well said, Harry," Sirius agreed. "Though I would've used more colorful words, if it had been me."

"He shouldn't say anything," Remus frowned. "She's just going to turn around and make it worse."

"She'll do it anyway even if he just ignores her," Moody snapped.

**"What did you do that to Hagrid for, eh?"**

**Rita Skeeter raised her heavily penciled eyebrows.**

**"Our readers have a right to the truth, Harry. I am merely doing my-"**

"_Truth_?" Fleur repeated incredulously.

"Great," Sirius growled. "Then where was it? I mean, the only truth I saw was that Hagrid's half-giant. The rest is her just assuming the worst and telling everyone her opinion."

"She needs to do her job," Kingsley agreed. "How the paper allows her to print nothing but lies without getting any real information is just wrong. She needs to start writing about the truth in such a way that it doesn't hurt anyone…"

"Unless it's a Death Eater…" Sirius grinned at the thought. "I mean, think of the interview in the Quibbler."

"Yes," Arthur nodded. "See how so many people have read it… and that was the truth."

"While I doubt it'll help," Molly agreed, "I hope she learns from that."

"Doubt you can teach that mangy dog a lesson," Moody growled.

"**Who cares if he's half-giant?" Harry shouted. "There's nothing wrong with him!"**

"I second that!" Tonks cried out proudly.

**The whole pub had gone very quiet. Madam Rosmerta was staring over from behind the bar, apparently oblivious to the fact that the flagon she was filling with mead was overflowing.**

"Maybe they should've taken that outside," Bill said carefully. "The last thing they need is to make a scene."

**Rita Skeeter's smile flickered very slightly, but she hitched it back almost at once; she snapped open her crocodile-skin handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes Quill, and said, "How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know. Harry? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father substitute?"**

"They're friends," Tonks cried out. "That's it. There doesn't have to be any motive. What? Is it suddenly a crime to have friends?"

**Hermione stood up very abruptly, her butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade.**

"I hope she hits her with it," Sirius grinned at the thought, remembering how she had punched Malfoy.

"She has to be careful or else she'll be after her next," Tonks said in a sing-song voice.

Molly twitched in her seat, knowing that's exactly what happened, and feeling terrible that she had ever read that paper.

Predictably, Arthur turned to Kingsley and asked, "What's a grenade? Sounds like some kind of fruit or something…"

"Hardly," Kingsley gave a dark chuckle. "Rather, it's a very powerful, and dangerous Muggle weapon. Trust me, it's not something that you should ever get and have a look at."

**"You horrible woman," she said, through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman -"**

"You tell her, Hermione," Tonks cheered. "Show her that no one likes her!"

**"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand," said Rita Skeeter coldly, her eyes hardening as they fell on Hermione. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl… not that it needs it -" she added, eyeing Hermione's bushy hair.**

Tonks winced, "Oh, she really shouldn't have said that. If there's one thing I learned about Hermione from reading these books, is that there are three rules to remember about her."

"Rules?" Remus asked in amusement.

"Yes," Tonks said nodding confidently. "1. Don't call her the 'm' word," she said in disgust and they didn't need to guess what she meant…Mudblood. "2. Don't insult her friends; and rule 3. never… ever… call her a silly girl or anything remotely like that… I mean… look at what she did to Snape in the third book…"

Sirius snorted at that.

"Looks like we know who's been keeping Skeeter under control," Moody grinned. He hoped that the book explained how she did that… if not, he'll ask her himself.

**"Let's go," said Hermione, "c'mon. Harry - Ron…"**

**They left; many people were staring at them as they went. Harry glanced back as they reached the door. Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill was out; it was zooming backward and forward over a piece of parchment on the table.**

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Tonks said slowly.

Fleur remembered the article that came out not long after the Second Task about the whole Harry, Hermione, and Viktor love triangle… and after reading this, she knew that it hadn't been anything but another lie.

**"She'll be after you next, Hermione," said Ron in a low and worried voice as they walked quickly back up the street.**

"If her quill was already writing by the time she left, then she's probably already planning revenge," Kingsley said dourly.

"She is," Molly said, now planning on sending Hermione a huge chocolate egg for Easter to make up for last year. She blinked… she just remembered how close they were to Easter now. Just a couple more days in fact from the sound of it… as soon as they were done here, she'd go home and get to work on those eggs.

**"Let her try!" said Hermione defiantly; she was shaking with rage. "I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Oh, I'll get her back for this. First Harry, then Hagrid…"**

"What is she going to do?" Arthur asked apprehensively. "I mean… she seems to be angry enough to do anything."

"I know…" Tonks said rubbing her hands together in glee. "This is gonna be good. I wonder how she's gonna get back at her…"

The corners of Moody's mouth turned up slightly in a smile. How indeed?

**"You don't want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter," said Ron nervously. "I'm serious, Hermione, she'll dig up something on you -"**

"She will," Molly sighed, still feeling sickened with herself.

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Sirius groaned, "But what did she do?"

"You don't wanna know," she answered resentfully.

**"My parents don't read the _Daily Prophet. _She can't scare me into hiding!" said Hermione, now striding along so fast that it was all Harry and Ron could do to keep up with her. The last time Harry had seen Hermione in a rage like this, she had hit Draco Malfoy around the face.**

"That I like…" Sirius sighed fondly. "I hope she does that again."

"But Malfoy isn't around here," Arthur pointed out.

"I hope she finds him on the road or something and takes her anger out on him," Tonks laughed.

The rest of them stayed quiet, all of them hoping the same thing.

**"And Hagrid isn't hiding anymore! He should never have let that excuse for a human being upset him! Come on!"**

**Breaking into a run, she led them all the way back up the road, through the gates flanked by winged boars, and up through the grounds to Hagrid's cabin. The curtains were still drawn, and they could hear Fang barking as they approached.**

"Oh," Sirius sighed, though he sounded a bit disappointed. "She's only going to get Hagrid to grow up and come out of hiding."

"Think she can do it?" Remus asked. "I mean, he doesn't even want to see his friends anymore."

"I doubt that's gonna stop her," Tonks said. "I think that he's going to come out if only out of fear of her temper."

**"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted, pounding on his front door. "Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can't let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you! Hagrid, get out here, you're just being -"**

**The door opened. Hermione said, "About t-!" and then stopped, very suddenly, because she ****had found herself face-to-face, not with Hagrid, but with Albus Dumbledore.**

Everyone was silent for a moment as they let that sink in. And then suddenly, they all burst out laughing. Even though Albus was out in the hallway, he was laughing with them—though quietly so that they couldn't hear him over the sounds of their own laughter.

"What a lovely surprise," Sirius smirked. "You're yelling your head off at your friend, only to realize that you were also screaming at your Headmaster."

**"Good afternoon," he said pleasantly, smiling down at them.**

**"We-er-we wanted to see Hagrid," said Hermione in a rather small voice.**

"Whatever you may say about him," Tonks smirked, "Nothing fazes him."

Albus smiled sadly. No, that wasn't entirely true… his students certainly seem to take him by surprise every day… one of the reasons he loves teaching so much.

**"Yes, I surmised as much," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Why don't you come in?"**

That set off another round of laughter.

"And I suppose that her screaming and trying to kick the door in had something to do with that guess?" Remus asked.

"I suppose just a little," Arthur added grinning.

**"Oh… um… okay," said Hermione.**

**She, Ron, and Harry went into the cabin; Fang launched himself upon Harry the moment he entered, barking madly and trying to lick his ears. Harry fended off Fang and looked around.**

**Hagrid was sitting at his table, where there were two large mugs of tea. He looked a real mess. His face was blotchy, his eyes swollen, and he had gone to the other extreme where his hair was concerned; far from trying to make it behave, it now looked like a wig of tangled wire.**

They all looked at each other sadly.

"Sounds like he took the article pretty hard," Sirius frowned. Albus sighed, he hadn't seen Hagrid look that terrible since the war… when their friends were all risking themselves and dying every day… thankfully, this hadn't been nowhere near as bad as back then.

**"Hi, Hagrid," said Harry.**

**Hagrid looked up.**

**"'Lo," he said in a very hoarse voice.**

"Poor guy," Tonks sighed. "He sounds terrible."

"I hope that they were able to pull him out of his depression," Molly said anxiously.

_'Oh, they were,'_ Albus thought. Hagrid was letting a few bad letters change everything. Albus, himself, was too old to let a few bad complaints bother him, and he wanted Hagrid to do that as well because they're not worth it. He smiled, glad that his friends finally seemed to have gotten through to him. If there was one thing he learned in this world it was that there will always be people who don't agree and say cruel things to you, and sometimes their minds just can't change… but there are many more out there who don't judge on how you look, how much money you have, or even who your parents were…

And it's those people whose words that truly meant something.

**"More tea, I think," said Dumbledore, closing the door behind Harry, Ron, and Hermione, drawing out his wand, and twiddling it; a revolving tea tray appeared in midair along with a plate of cakes. Dumbledore magicked the tray onto the table, and everybody sat down. There was a slight pause, and then Dumbledore said, "Did you by any chance hear what Miss Granger was shouting, Hagrid?"**

"I don't think that he could've missed it unless he was deaf," Remus chuckled.

"I love that he's talking about it so calmly," Tonks giggled. "This is great."

**Hermione went slightly pink, but Dumbledore smiled at her and continued, "Hermione, Harry, and Ron still seem to want to know you, judging by the way they were attempting to break down the door."**

"I think that's the first time he's used their names," Tonks said in surprise. "Normally, he doesn't do that until they leave school or, in our case," he glanced at Sirius, "Because we spent half our lifetimes in his office."

"'E always seems to call 'Arry by 'is first name," Fleur pointed out in confusion.

"Yeah, well, he's his favorite," Tonks shrugged, "He doesn't count."

At those words, Sirius's eyes narrowed in dislike at that.

**"Of course we still want to know you!" Harry said, staring at Hagrid. "You don't think anything that Skeeter cow - sorry, Professor," he added quickly, looking at Dumbledore.**

"He's got guts talking like that in front of a teacher," Tonks grinned again.

Personally, Albus had agreed wholeheartedly with that, so he didn't see why he shouldn't let that little part slip.

**"I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any idea what you said. Harry," said Dumbledore, twiddling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling.**

"That does sound like something he'd say," Arthur said as laughter was spread around the room. Moody yawned widely, his missing teeth showing, wondering if something interesting would be read soon. If nothing good happened in the next chapter, he was planning on leaving.

**"Er-right," said Harry sheepishly. "I just meant-Hagrid, how could you think we'd care what that-woman-wrote about you?"**

"Yeah, talk some sense into him," Sirius said. "Someone has to remind him that his friends couldn't care less!"

"I'm sure that he'll be fine," Remus smiled, before adding to himself, "That's good…"

**Two fat tears leaked out of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes and fell slowly into his tangled beard.**

**"Living proof of what I've been telling you, Hagrid," said Dumbledore, still looking carefully up at the ceiling. "I have shown you the letters from the countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you, they would have something to say about it -"**

"Of course," Arthur said. "After all, it's as strange to imagine Hogwarts without Hagrid as Dumbledore."

"And I know we most certainly would have said something," Molly agreed furiously. "We also wrote to him after we heard."

"So did I," Tonks admitted. She had always loved Hagrid… it was really upsetting to see how Skeeter had treated him.

**"Not all of 'em," said Hagrid hoarsely. "Not all of 'em wan me ter stay."**

"Yeah well, those are probably the parents of Slytherins or something," Sirius said rolling his eyes. "They're the only ones who have a problem with him. Whether they are or not, who cares what they say anyway? They aren't worth it."

"Well said, Sirius," Kingsley smiled.

**"Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time," said Dumbledore, now peering sternly over his half-moon ****spectacles. "Not a week has passed since I became headmaster of this school when I haven't had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it. But what should I do? Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to anybody?"**

Albus smirked to himself. Almost all those letters had been from Lucius… it's a good thing that he never let that bother him.

"Like they could do a better job," Bill said sarcastically. "They just want to complain."

**"Yeh - yeh're not half-giant!" said Hagrid croakily.**

**"Hagrid, look what I've got for relatives!" Harry said furiously. "Look at the Dursleys!"**

The eyes of every single person in the room darkened at the thought of those—people. Sirius then spoke up, sounding more like a dog than a human with that growl in his tone, "And look at what I'm stuck with… only a handful of people have ever turned out good in my family."

"Like me?" Tonks asked innocently.

"Depends on what you mean by the good," Moody added and she kicked him hard… however, she accidently kicked his wooden leg and not only did he not feel anything, she felt a terrible twinge in her big toe.

She bit down on her tongue to keep her from yelling out, her eyes watering in pain.

**"An excellent point," said Professor Dumbledore. "My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual!**

Albus bit back a chuckle. That was so like his little brother… he never cared about what others thought of him… even when they were children, he always had a strong sense of right and wrong… something that he admired the most about him…

"Don't why he would care," Moody grunted. "After all, look at the people he's got for customers? I doubt they'd care if the bloke who owns the pub was prosecuted for practicing spells on a goat for crying out loud. Now, when he kills someone, _then_ I'll be interested."

"You have a very strange sense of interesting, Mad-Eye," Tonks commented, trying to rub her foot without anyone noticing.

**Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery…"**

Dumbledore shook his head fondly. Oh, he knew that Aberforth could read, he was just saying that to try and lighten the mood… needless to say, it didn't work…

**"Come back and teach, Hagrid," said Hermione quietly, "please come back, we really miss you."**

**Hagrid gulped. More tears leaked out down his cheeks and into his tangled beard. Dumbledore stood up. "I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on Monday," he said. "You will join me for breakfast at eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all."**

"Well, that went well, don't you think?" Arthur said.

"That's it?" Moody barked. "That's all he had to say to get him to stop moping? Why didn't he do it from the start?"

"Some people just need more time to convince, Mad-Eye," Remus said soothingly. "I think that it was when he didn't answer Hermione that finally caused Dumbledore to lose his patience."

"It certainly was," Albus whispered to himself. He couldn't stand to see how Hagrid was treating his friends, and he finally had to put his foot down.

**Dumbledore left the cabin, pausing only to scratch Fangs ears. When the door had shut behind him, Hagrid began to sob into his dustbin-lid-sized hands. Hermione kept patting his arm, and at last, Hagrid looked up, his eyes very red indeed, and said, "Great man, Dumbledore… great man…"**

"That's a matter of opinion," Sirius grunted.

"Sirius," Remus said softly, "I know that you two aren't… well, seeing eye to eye on everything these days, but he has done a lot of good as well. He's only human, though he might not seem like it."

Sirius didn't answer. Yes, he was grateful for things such as helping him escape, and letting Remus into Hogwarts—but for keeping him locked up in this house, and for the neglect that he's showing Harry was causing him to forget the rest.

Moody suppressed a snort. He could guess what Black was thinking, and he could see that he wasn't completely right there. He knew that Dumbledore made great strides to protect Potter and to gain his trust. Right now, he was aware that the relationship between teacher and student was strained at best… after all, he's purposely ignoring him… now that sounds awfully familiar… he smirked at the idea as his eye went to the door again.

Hmm… two people who ignoring the other… the old one thought it was for the best, and the teenager out of anger… yes, that did sound very recognizable…

**"Yeah, he is," said Ron. "Can I have one of these cakes, Hagrid?"**

"Still hungry I see," Molly sighed fondly.

"Ya think that he could be a little more sympathetic here," Bill laughed. "Typical Ron."

"'E really needs to learn a few lessons in tact," Fleur told him.

"Which I will be giving him some over the summer," Molly said at once.

**"Help yerself," said Hagrid, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "Ar, he's righ', o' course - yeh're all righ'… I bin stupid… my ol' dad woulda bin ashamed o' the way I've bin behavin'…"**

**More tears leaked out, but he wiped them away more forcefully, and said, "Never shown you a picture of my old dad, have I? Here…"**

"He's got a picture?" Sirius said in surprise.

"Oh…" Tonks cooed tearfully.

**Hagrid got up, went over to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a picture of a short wizard with Hagrid's crinkled black eyes, beaming as he sat on top of Hagrid's shoulder. Hagrid was a good seven or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, but his face was beardless, young, round, and smooth - he looked hardly older than eleven.**

"Wow," Sirius said softly. He never thought of Hagrid having parents… he couldn't help but feel slightly envious to how close he and his father must've been… more than he ever did with his whole family.

**"Tha was taken jus' after I got inter Hogwarts," Hagrid croaked. "Dad was dead chuffed… thought I migh' not be a wizard, see, 'cos me mum… well, anyway. 'Course, I never was great shakes at magic, really… but at least he never saw me expelled. Died, see, in me second year…"**

Fleur sniffled as the room seemed to take on a gloomy feel to it.

"Sounds like he really loved him," Remus said sadly. "He must've been a great father…"

"Must be," Bill said sadly. "I mean, look at how his son turned out."

**Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after Dad went. Got me the gamekeeper job… trusts people, he does. Gives 'em second chances… **

"So Dumbledore has been Hagrid's guardian since he was twelve," Kingsley said. "That explains Hagrid's loyalty to Dumbledore."

"Yeah, I guess…" Sirius admitted slowly.

Moody on the other hand was frowning as his eye looked up at the door again. That was a weakness in his opinion. Sure, he admit that mistakes happen, but when you're dealing with someone who has a history of meddling with dark magic how can you trust them? There are only so many times you can give someone a second chance. He gives far more than just one second chance.

He shook his head. Maybe this was something that Potter picked up from him. While he may not believe in it himself, but Dumbledore had always believed that it was better to trust and risk being betrayed, than not to trust at all. That's gonna get him killed one day if he's not careful.

**tha's what sets him apar' from other heads, see. He'll accept anyone at Hogwarts, s'long as they've got the talent. **

"Something that I am deeply grateful for," Remus sighed. Sirius glanced at him before playfully shoving his shoulder.

"I'll give him that much, after all, we never would've met if he was prejudice… I guess," he admitted.

**Knows people can turn out okay even if their families weren'… well… all tha' respectable. But some don understand that. There's some who'd always hold it against yeh… there's some who'd even pretend they just had big bones rather than stand up an' say - I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed,' my ol' dad used ter say, 'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.' **

"Good man," Arthur said nodding. He wished he could've met him.

**An' he was right. I've bin an idiot. I'm not botherin' with her no more, I promise yeh that. Big bones… I'll give her big bones."**

"Three guesses who he's talking about," Sirius asked lightly.

Fleur gave him a dirty look. "Look at what 'appened to 'Agrid when Rita found out about 'is mother! Can you blame Madame Maxime for not wanting zat to 'appen to 'er? Once people find out zat you're not completely 'uman, zey either accept you, or zey don't."

She continued to glare harshly at him until she felt Bill's strong hand on her shoulder and she slowly calmed down, feeling peace coming back as she felt his energy.

"Those who don't accept you," he whispered to her, "Aren't worth even dealing with."

"I know," she said almost dreamily to him.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another nervously; Harry would rather have taken fifty Blast-Ended Skrewts for a walk than admit to Hagrid that he had overheard him talking to Madame Maxime, but Hagrid was still talking, apparently unaware that he had said anything odd.**

**"Yeh know wha, Harry?" he said, looking up from the photograph of his father, his eyes very bright, "when I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' Dad gone, an' you was feelin' like yeh wouldn' fit in at Hogwarts, remember? Not sure yeh were really up to it… an' now look at yeh, Harry! School champion!"**

"Well, he's right," Sirius smiled. "Remember when they first met? He said that seven years at Hogwarts, and Harry won't know himself." His smile faded slightly as he thought it over—if Harry was this different after just four, he was almost afraid to see how much more he could change.

**He looked at Harry for a moment and then said, very seriously, "Yeh know what I'd love Harry? I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. It'd show 'em all… yeh don' have ter be pure-blood**** ter do it. Yeh don have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it righ', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic. **

"You know… I never thought of it like that," Arthur said slowly. "Harry being in the tournament is almost like he's standing up for those who are being discriminated…"

"Personally, as long as he made it through this mess alive was the only thing I was thinking of," Sirius sighed.

**How you doin' with that egg, Harry?"**

**"Great," said Harry. "Really great."**

"He didn't just lie to Hagrid," Tonks groaned. "I mean, Hermione's one thing, but Hagrid?"

"He just didn't want to disappoint him," Remus defended.

"Lying's bound to get him into trouble though," Molly sighed.

**Hagrid's miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile.**

"Oh, I bet that's just killing him inside," Sirius groaned.

"But it sure helped to cheer Hagrid up," Bill said. "Now he wants to do his best because he doesn't want to disappoint him."

"But he hasn't even figured out what the clue was," Molly said worriedly.

"Well, he gets the task done doesn't he?" Moody barked, "God, I hope the rest of the book isn't like this."

"Can you grow a heart for just a few minutes?" Tonks asked him.

"Mind your own business," he snarled back.

**"Tha's my boy… you show 'em, Harry, you show 'em. Beat 'em all."**

**Lying to Hagrid wasn't quite like lying to anyone else. Harry went back to the castle later that afternoon with Ron and Hermione, unable to banish the image of the happy expression ****on Hagrid's whiskery face as he had imagined Harry winning the tournament.**

"Like I said, he's now feeling really guilty," Sirius winced sympathetically. "Now, he feels compelled to try and win."

"Define win," Moody asked under his breath. Call him old-fashioned, but going to a graveyard, seeing a fellow student die, watching a snake with legs be reborn, and having to fight for your life really doesn't seem like his idea of winning.

**The incomprehensible egg weighed more heavily than ever on Harry's conscience that evening, and by the time he had got into bed, he had made up his mind - it was time to shelve his pride and see if Cedric's hint was worth anything.**

"Finally," Tonks said. "He shallows his pride and takes Cedric's advice."

"And that's the end of this chapter," Kingsley said, somewhat relieved as he turned to the next chapter. "If it's not too much trouble, but can we take a lunch break and come back?"

"Alright… a quick lunch and then we'll come back. And… how about we read until the end of the Second Task?" Molly asked, her mind going back to making those chocolate eggs. "And then we call it a day."

"Why not?" Arthur asked as he stood up and stretched, thinking longingly of some food.

Moody glanced at the door, and wasn't at all surprised to see that Dumbledore had already disappeared.

**(Hey, sorry for the wait. But school is really becoming a drag. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter though… oh, and just for a matter of opinion, I'm planning on adding Bill and Fleur's date here as a flashback. After what chapter do you think that would that would work best? I'll put up the next chapter soon…)**


	29. The Egg and the Eye

**(I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER! ALL COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING!)**

**Chapter 28: The Egg and the Eye**

After a hurried lunch, with only small talk about what they had just read, no one really in the mood to eat—too tired to think of anything to say.

After awhile, they pushed their mostly uneaten plates of food away before they all trooped back upstairs. Tonks, the first one in, had grabbed the book and offered to read next.

"Fine," Kingsley told her. "It shouldn't be too much longer until we get to the Second Task."

Fleur shivered at the thought.

**"Oh, this should be good," Tonks muttered. "Listen to what this chapter is called. Chapter 25: The Egg and the Eye." She looked up and said, "And right underneath that, is a picture of the egg opening up with some kind of magic coming out."**

"Okay, the egg could only mean that he worked out the egg," Molly said happily.

"And the eye?" Sirius asked looking at Moody. His normal eye narrowed and glared at her. "What?" he demanded.

"Well, if it's talking about an eye?" Sirius asked, "Who other?"

"Though it's not me," he growled. "I wonder what my fake is up to now."

**Harry had no idea how long a bath he would need to work out the secret of the golden egg, he decided to do it at night, when he would be able to take as much time as he wanted. Reluctant though he was to accept more favors from Cedric, he also decided to use the prefects' bathroom; far fewer people were allowed in there, so it was much less likely that he would be disturbed.**

"It's a good plan if you don't get caught that is," Moody pointed out.

"No, it is the best idea," Remus said. "After all, there's no telling how long it will take to figure out the clue, and it would be very difficult to concentrate if there was someone else in there. Like a certain someone I could mention…" he added with a sideways glance at Sirius.

"Why are you looking at me?" he demanded with his eyebrows raised.

"Oh, nothing," he answered innocently. Though he had vivid memories of the endless hours that Sirius would spend in the bathroom taking care of his hair; however, he didn't think it would be wise to be reminded of that.

"Besides," Kingsley said, having a good idea to what Remus was thinking of. "Only Prefects and the Quidditch Captains go in there anyway. So the odds of being disturbed are slim to none."

"Yeah," Tonks said thinking it over. "I'd like to see what the bathroom looks like anyway. I've never been in there."

"Wonder why?" Moody asked idly.

**Harry planned his excursion carefully, because he had been caught out of bed and out-of-bounds by Filch the caretaker in the middle of the night once before, **

"Yeah, but that was only after helping Hagrid get rid of Norbert," Sirius pointed out.

"And Norbert is…?" Fleur asked.

Bill clapped a hand on the back of her own and said, "I promise. I'll fill you in on everything later."

**and had no desire to repeat the experience. The Invisibility Cloak would, of course, be essential, and as an added precaution, Harry thought he would take the Marauders Map, which, next to the cloak, was the most useful aid to rule-breaking Harry owned. **

"That I fully agree with," Sirius said proudly. "Though," he added in a disappointed voice, "He doesn't use it for pranking…"

"At least he's finding a good use for it," Remus chuckled to him. "It's not like he doesn't break enough rules as it is."

"Fair enough," he said brightening up; Molly was frowning heavily at the pair of them.

**The map showed the whole of Hogwarts, including its many shortcuts and secret passageways and, most important of all, it revealed the people inside the castle as minuscule, labeled dots, moving around the corridors, so that Harry would be forewarned if somebody was approaching the bathroom.**

"Zat sounds amazing!" Fleur said looking up at Sirius impressed. "You mean, zat you made something like zat?"

"But of course," Sirius said beaming at her. "And of course, Remus here helped a little." He added as he clapped said friend on the shoulder.

Remus burst out laughing. "A little?" he repeated. "If memory serves me correctly, I'm the one who did most of the work! All you did was sign your name."

"Hey," Sirius laughed as well and shoved him. "Watch it! We all know that you can't draw to save your life!"

"Like you're one to talk!" he laughed loudly.

"Aww…" Fleur said softly.

"It's good to see them like this," Arthur nodded. They let the two of them laugh together for a few more minutes before they calmed down and Tonks went on—a little grudgingly. It was always so nice to see the two old friends laugh like that…

**On Thursday night, Harry sneaked up to bed, put on the cloak, crept back downstairs, and, just as he had done on the night when Hagrid had shown him the dragons, waited for the portrait hole to open. This time it was Ron who waited outside to give the Fat Lady the password ("banana fritters"), "Good luck," Ron muttered, climbing into the room as Harry crept out past him.**

Molly's annoyance at Sirius faded slightly at that… she was just glad to see that Harry and her son were friends again after such a difficult time. Hopefully, it wouldn't happen again.

"They're really getting the hang of this," Sirius muttered, pretending to wipe away a tear of pride. "Teamwork is crucial to any plan…"

**It was awkward moving under the cloak tonight, because Harry had the heavy egg under one arm and the map held in front of his nose with the other.**

**However, the moonlit corridors were empty and silent, and by checking the map at strategic intervals, Harry was able to ensure that he wouldn't run into anyone he wanted to avoid. When he reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a lost-looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands, **

Tonks snorted. "I love this guy. He gets lost so easily…"

"Like you're one to talk," Moody added and she pouted.

"Just because the rest of the trainees were afraid of you," she said firmly, "Doesn't mean that I am!"

"No, but it looks like I can still get to you," he added conversationally.

She glared at him and turned her head away with her now long nose in the air. "Jerk," she said simply and they all laughed at the sight. While neither one would admit it, it was obvious they cared for each other.

**he located the right door, leaned close to it, and muttered the password, "Pine fresh," just as Cedric had told him.**

**The door creaked open. Harry slipped inside, bolted the door behind him, and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, looking around.** **His immediate reaction was that it would be worth becoming a prefect just to be able to use this bathroom. **

Remus chuckled as did Arthur, Bill, and Kinsley… all of them having been prefects in their day.

"It is a marvelous bathroom," Remus nodded. He wasn't used to such nice things, but that bathroom screamed out luxurious. It was a nice change…

**It was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pools edges, each with a differently colored Jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, her long hair over her face. It fluttered every time she snored.**

Tonks whistled impressed. That sounds nice… wish she knew how to get in there while she had been in school.

"Yes," Fleur said frowning. "But why 'ave zat painting there? She sounds beautiful… zat's nothing to 'ow a real mermaid looks!"

"You rather have a painting of what a real mermaid looks like?" Moody asked her. "It might prevent people going into the bathroom."

"Fair point," Fleur nodded. If there was a bathroom with something like that in there, she'd avoid it at all costs.

**Harry moved forward, looking around, his footsteps echoing off the walls. Magnificent though the bathroom was - and quite keen though he was to try out a few of those taps - now he was here he couldn't quite suppress the feeling that Cedric might have been having him on. How on earth was this supposed to help solve the mystery of the egg? **

"Because ze only way you can hear eet is under ze water," Fleur explained.

"We know," Bill grinned at her. "Harry is the one who needed help."

**Nevertheless, he put one of the fluffy towels, the cloak, the map, and the egg at the side of the swimming-pool-sized bath, then knelt down and turned on a few of the taps.**

Remus smirked; he remembered how he first went into that bathroom and how he had played with those taps and watched the bubble baths until the tub was overflowing.

**He could tell at once that they carried different sorts of bubble bath mixed with the water, though it wasn't bubble bath as Harry had ever experienced it. One tap gushed pink and blue bubbles the size of footballs; another poured ice-white foam so thick that Harry thought it would have supported his weight if he'd cared to test it; a third sent heavily perfumed purple clouds hovering over the surface of the water. Harry amused himself for awhile turning the taps on and off, **

Remus chuckled at that.

"I think that everyone does that their first time," Arthur beamed.

"Yeah, one of the taps has a mix that gives your hair the best shine…" Sirius said fondly.

"What?" Tonks asked startled. "What are you talking about? I thought that only Prefects and the Quidditch captains are allowed in there."

"Well, it helps that you had a Prefect and Head Boy for your friends," Sirius pointed out.

"Remus, you do know that's against the rules don't you?" Molly asked.

"It was James who told him," Remus reassured her.

**particularly enjoying the effect of one whose jet bounced off the surface of the water in large arcs. Then, when the deep pool was full of hot water, foam, and bubbles, which took a very short time considering its size, Harry turned off all the taps, pulled off his pyjamas, slippers, and dressing gown, and slid into the water.**

Tonks whistled again, "Good thing that he's not here now. Not sure that he'd take to kindly to people reading about him taking a bath."

At those words they all felt the usual pang of guilt at the thought of reading a book about harry's personally life without his knowledge or permission… but they did their best to ignore it as Tonks cleared her throat and went on.

**It was so deep that his feet barely touched the bottom, and he actually did a couple of lengths before swimming back to the side and treading water, staring at the egg. Highly enjoyable though it was to swim in hot and foamy water with clouds of different-coloured steam wafting all around him, no stroke of brilliance came to him, no sudden burst of understanding. Harry stretched out his arms, lifted the egg in his wet hands, and opened it. The wailing, screeching sound filled the bathroom, echoing and reverberating off the marble walls, but it sounded just as incomprehensible as ever, if not more so with all the echoes. **

"I wonder 'ow 'e figured it out," Fleur wondered quietly to herself.

**He snapped it shut again, worried that the sound would attract Filch, wondering whether that hadn't been Cedric's plan - and then, making him jump so badly that he dropped the egg, which clattered away across the bathroom floor, someone spoke.**

"What? Oh, no," Sirius groaned. The last thing that Harry needed was to be caught by some pompous Prefect. "Just who is it now?"

**"I'd try putting it in the water, if I were you."**

"What?" Tonks repeated. "Hey, you don't think that it's Cedric there do you?"

"Well… maybe…" Kingsley said slowly, though he highly doubted it.

**Harry had swallowed a considerable amount of bubbles in shock. He stood up, sputtering, and saw the ghost of a very glum-looking girl sitting cross-legged on top of one of the taps. It was Moaning Myrtle, who was usually to be heard sobbing in the S-bend of a toilet three floors below.**

"Why it's the bubbly Moaning Myrtle, come to sulk with Harry!" Tonks said happily.

Sirius almost choked, "What?" he demanded. "Myrtle? What the hell is she doing there?"

"I guess to watch him take a bath," Tonks said lightly, trying not to laugh.

"Myrtle?" Fleur questioned.

"She's a ghost who haunts the second floor girl's bathroom," Bill said amused.

"She 'aunts a toilet?" Fleur asked. When everyone nodded she shook her head. "'Ogwarts ees a very strange place."

**"Myrtle!" Harry said in outrage, "I'm - I'm not wearing anything!"**

"It hardly matters though with all the bubbles," Bill pointed out.

"It's still the idea…" Kingsley told him, his thoughts also becoming disturbed at the idea of trying to bathe with a ghost watching you. "And who's to say that she hasn't been watching since he first arrived."

"Oh, the poor guy," Tonks laughed.

"He needs to be more cautious," Sirius said shaking his head. Really, Harry…

**The foam was so dense that this hardly mattered, but he had a nasty feeling that Myrtle had been spying on him from out of one of the taps ever since he had arrived.**

"That wouldn't surprise me," Tonks said with a snigger.

"Wonder if that means that she goes into that bathroom a lot," Moody asked and suddenly, and all the males turned pale at the thought.

"You don't think…?" Bill began, now growing very red in the face.

"Oh, I don't even want to know," Remus said his face in his hand.

**"I closed my eyes when you got in," **

"If she did, then I'm a ballerina," Moody spoke up.

Tonks snorted, but the other males in the room didn't laugh—hoping that this was just a one time thing with Myrtle…

**she said, blinking at him through her thick spectacles. "You haven't been to see me for ages."**

**"Yeah… well…" said Harry, bending his knees slightly, just to make absolutely sure Myrtle couldn't see anything but his head, "I'm not supposed to come into your bathroom, am I? It's a girls' one."**

"Not that anyone would care," Sirius tried to laugh, though still feeling sick. "No one goes in there anyway."

**"You didn't used to care," said Myrtle miserably. "You used to be in there all the time."**

"She's right about that," Remus said.

"Yeah, but they never went in to visit her," Tonks reminded him.

"Why would zey…?" Fleur began before she sighed. "Oh, never mind. If it's mentioned, I'm sure I'll find out."

**This was true, though only because Harry, Ron, and Hermione had found Myrtle's out-of-order toilets a convenient place to brew Polyjuice Potion in secret – a forbidden potion that ****had turned him and Ron into living replicas of Crabbe and Goyle for an hour, so that they could sneak into the Slytherin common room.**

Fleur stared at the book. "Zey brewed Polyjuice Potion in the bathroom to sneak into Slytherin's common room?" she gasped. "Why did zey do zat?"

"It was for a good cause and helped to solve the mysterious of students being petrified," Sirius told her simply as if that explained everything.

"What?" she asked staggered. Bill had told her a little bit about the basilisk… but didn't go into much details about it.

"They thought Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin and setting something on the other students," Bill told her. "See, he was going around acting like he owned the school when Muggle-borns were being attacked so he seemed like the number 1 suspect. However, the only way that they could get proof was to sneak into the Slytherin common room and get some answers."

"Wait, ze 'eir of Slytherin?" Fleur repeated, frowning.

"It was in their Second year," Remus pointed out. "The truth is Voldemort was controlling the basilisk through someone else and was Petrifying Muggle-borns and…" he noticed the dark look that Moody was giving him and he finished up, "Well, to make a long story short, at the end of the year, Harry was the one who fought the Heir and the basilisk."

She stared at them before she thought, _'And Hogwarts is supposed to be a school? Sounds more like a battlefield.'_

**"I got told off for going in there." said Harry, which was half-true; Percy had once caught him coming out of Myrtles bathroom. "I thought I'd better not come back after that."**

"That's not a complete lie," Kingsley said.

"Yeah, but that didn't last long," Arthur reminded him.

**"Oh… I see…" said Myrtle, picking at a spot on her chin in a morose sort of way. "Well… anyway… I'd try the egg in the water. That's what Cedric Diggory did."**

"She was watching 'im too," Fleur said shocked.

"Looks like you can't even take a bath in peace at that school," Moody said.

**"Have you been spying on him too?" said Harry indignantly. "What d'you do, sneak up here in the evenings to watch the prefects take baths?"**

**"Sometimes," said Myrtle, rather slyly, **

At those words, every single male in the room who had ever been in that bathroom looked like they were about to be sick, while Moody and the women all looked amused.

"Yet another good reason why not to take on to much responsibility," Tonks said as she smiled at the horrified looks on Sirius's face. "Or to be so close to those with it."

Though she could understand the urge… she looked at Remus and turned bright red, before she hid her face behind the book and went on.

**"but I've never come out to speak to anyone before."**

**"I'm honored," said Harry darkly. "You keep your eyes shut!"**

"'E doesn't trust 'er at all," Fleur sniggered, for like Tonks, she was thinking of a particular person in that bathroom.

"Can you blame her?" Sirius asked darkly.

**He made sure Myrtle had her glasses well covered before hoisting himself out of the bath, wrapping the towel firmly around his waist, and going to retrieve the egg.**

"How does that work?" Tonks asked. "I mean, how do you cover a ghost's eyes?"

"Oh, quiet," Sirius said, still looking sickened with himself. The idea that Moaning Myrtle had been spying on him when he'd been bathing made him feel so… dirty…

**Once he was back in the water, Myrtle peered through her fingers and said, "Go on, then… open it under the water!"**

**Harry lowered the egg beneath the foamy surface and opened it… and this time, it did not wail. A gurgling song was coming out of it, a song whose words he couldn't distinguish through the water.**

"You need to 'ave your 'ead under as well," Fleur said impatiently.

**"You need to put your head under too," said Myrtle, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying bossing him around. "Go on!"**

"She's spying on him and giving him orders," Moody said. "Well, she certainly isn't shy is she?"

"Alastor," Molly said evenly.

**Harry took a great breath and slid under the surface - and now, sitting on the marble bottom of the bubble-filled bath, he heard a chorus of eerie voices singing to him from the open egg in his hands:**

Everyone but Fleur leaned in, eager to hear what it said.

**_"Come seek us where our voices sound,  
We cannot sing above the ground,  
And while you're searching, ponder this:  
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,  
An hour long you'll have to look,  
_****_And to recover what we took,  
But past an hour- the prospect's black,  
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back"_**

Fleur was once again reminded of how she had thought she had lost her little sister and shivered.

"What is all that?" Tonks asked baffled. "Does that mean that the merpeople will take something and the champions will have to get it?"

"Yes," Fleur said shivering. "Ze one thing zat 'e will miss most of all."

"Whoa… sounds heavy," Tonks muttered. "And if they fail, they don't get them back? That hardly seems fair."

"No, we get zem back," Fleur sighed. "We just didn't know at ze time."

**Harry let himself float back upward and broke the bubbly surface, shaking his hair out of his eyes.**

**"Hear it?" said Myrtle.**

"Not that it's any of your business, but yeah," Sirius said, still in a bad mood.

**"Yeah… 'Come seek us where our voices sound… ' and if I need persuading… hang on, I need to listen again…" He sank back beneath the water. It took three more underwater renditions of the egg's song before Harry had it memorized; then he trod water for a while, thinking hard, while Myrtle sat and watched him.**

"I don't know about you, but I'd find it awkward," Bill said. Thinking about the miserable Myrtle watching you take a bath wasn't what he would find relaxing.

**"I've got to go and look for people who can't use their voices above the ground…" he said slowly. "Er… who could that be?"**

"Ah, he's never seen a mermaid in person has he?" Sirius smirked. "Poor guy."

"Most people do think of a beautiful woman when they hear the word 'mermaid'," Kingsley nodded. "And they are all shocked when they discover that not all mermaids look like that."

"Wait," Fleur said. "You mean, not all mermaids look like ze ones at 'Ogwarts?"

"The ones who live at the bottom of lakes and other large bodies of water do look like that," he admitted, "And while that is the most common form of mermaids, there are some that look very beautiful… though maybe they don't look _exactly_ like the painting in the prefects bathroom. However those kinds of mermaids are almost always found in deep trenches of the ocean. They also go by another name… sirens."

"Aren't they the mermaids that lure sailors to their deaths with their voices?" Tonks asked.

"Exactly," Remus nodded. "Yes, they are the most beautiful type of mermaid… as well as the most deadly. However they are now a very rare race and you don't see them so often these days… even in the ocean."

"Good," Moody said in annoyance. "You all got your mermaid lesson for today. Can we get this over with?"

"Touché," Tonks muttered.

**"Slow, aren't you?"**

**He had never seen Moaning Myrtle so cheerful, apart from the day when a dose of Polyjuice Potion had given Hermione the hairy face and tail of a cat.**

Fleur stared at the book as the others looked at each other in slight amusement. While they all knew that if it hadn't been for Madam Pomfrey, she'd probably still look like a cat; but they couldn't help but admit that the idea was just funny.

"Well, she's lucky zat eet wasn't permanent," Fleur stated awkwardly.

"Yeah," Bill agreed.

**Harry stared around the bathroom, thinking… if the voices could only be heard underwater, then it made sense for them to belong to underwater creatures. **

"You're getting there," Arthur said encouragingly. "Now what kind of creatures have human voices?"

**He ran this theory past Myrtle, who smirked at him.**

**"Well, that's what Diggory thought," she said. "He lay there talking to himself for ages about it. Ages and ages… nearly all the bubbles had gone…"**

"That should be enough motivation for Potter to figure it out," Moody commented.

"Yeah, he might want to hurry," Sirius said at once.

**"Underwater…" Harry said slowly. "Myrtle… what lives in the lake, apart from the giant squid?"**

**"Oh all sorts," she said. "I sometimes go down there… sometimes don't have any choice, if someone flushes my toilet when I'm not expecting it…"**

**Trying not to think about Moaning Myrtle zooming down a pipe to the lake with the contents of a toilet.**

"Zat'd disgusting," Fleur wrinkled her nose.

"Thanks ever so much for that visual, Harry," Sirius grunted in disgust.

**Harry said, "Well, does anything in there have a human voice? Hang on -"**

**Harry's eyes had fallen on the picture of the snoozing mermaid on the wall.**

**"Myrtle, there aren't merpeople in there, are there?"**

"And there we go!" Tonks called out in mock celebration. "He figured it out!"

"Be nice," Kingsley smiled.

**"Oooh, very good," she said, her thick glasses twinkling, "it took Diggory much longer than that! And that was with her awake too" – **

"Which is the reason that Cedric wanted him to use that bathroom," Bill said nodding. "To help give him an extra hint."

"I see," Remus smiled. "It seems that Cedric helped him out more than he knew." His smile faded slightly, he was sure that the two of them would've become good friends if Voldemort never got involved.

**Myrtle jerked her head toward the mermaid with an expression of great dislike on her glum face - "giggling and showing off and flashing her fins…"**

**"That's it, isn't it?" said Harry excitedly. "The second tasks to go and find the merpeople in the lake and… and…"**

"Breath under water for an hour," Sirius finished worriedly.

"They sure don't make this tournament easy do they?" Moody asked interested.

"Well, there wouldn't be much point if they were easy," Bill pointed out. "Shows how tough the champions were…" he glanced at Fleur and she blushed with pleasure.

"First dragons… now Grindylows," Molly demanded shrilly. "How could they do this? What kind of sick person comes up with these challenges? I'm not surprised that half of the champions have died over the years! Honestly, how could they allow a competition where people have been known to die? Honestly…"

Sirius couldn't help but privately agree with her. God, he was sounding like a mother now.

**But he suddenly realized what he was saying, and he felt the excitement drain out of him as though someone had just pulled a plug in his stomach. He wasn't a very good swimmer; he'd never had much practice. Dudley had had lessons in his youth, but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, no doubt hoping that Harry would drown one day,**

Sirius's hands were curled up into fists—just aching to go send them a curse—to show up at their door and turn them into jelly… there is no chance someone as sweet as Lily could ever have had her for a sister!

"'Ow could 'e theenk zat?!" Fleur gasped. "Are zey really zat 'orrible?"

"Maybe now isn't a good time to talk about this, Fleur," Bill muttered sadly.

"But…" Fleur began but Tonks went on quickly, before she could go on.

**hadn't bothered to give him any. A couple of lengths of this bath were all very well, but that lake was very large, and very deep… and merpeople would surely live right at the bottom…**

"When he puts it like that…" Bill said.

"It's 'orrible no matter 'ow you put it," Fleur said miserably.

**"Myrtle," Harry said slowly, "how am I supposed to breathe?"**

"Oh, he's going to regret asking her that," Tonks winced, knowing how Myrtle was going to react.

"But that is a good question," Arthur said frowning. "I mean… there's always the Bubble-Head Charm…"

"'E used Gillyweed," Fleur explained.

"Well, that's an excellent thing to use," Remus said smiling. "He would be able to breathe for an hour and be able to swim better as well."

"But how did he know about that?" Kingsley said frowning. "I mean, students don't learn about that until their Fifth year at least… and that's only if the class is advanced…"

"From Hermione my bet," Bill grinned. After all, when in doubt, go to Hermione!

"There's still the question to how he got his hands on them," Moody said slowly. "What did he do? Break into Snape's stores?"

"Robbed Snape?" Tonks said. "That takes some real guts."

**At this, Myrtle's eyes filled with sudden tears again.**

**"Tactless!" she muttered, groping in her robes for a handkerchief.**

**"What's tactless?" said Harry, bewildered.**

"She can't breathe," Molly sighed.

"Well, it's true," Moody grunted. "What a baby."

"Why would she be so upset over zat?" Fleur asked.

"Because she's a bit sensitive about being dead," Bill said knowingly. "I'm sure you're about to find out."

**"Talking about breathing in front of me!" she said shrilly, and her voice echoed loudly around the bathroom. "When I can't… when I haven't… not for ages…"**

**She buried her face in her handkerchief and sniffed loudly. Harry remembered how touchy Myrtle had always been about being dead, but none of the other ghosts he knew made such a fuss about it.**

"I think it's just the attention that she's desperate for," Arthur said knowingly. He remembered how when his sons were younger and got into fights, they'd play the _innocent victim card_ all the time to get empathy. Though he couldn't help but feel sorry for Myrtle now being trapped inside the place that had once made her life so miserable, there wasn't much that could be done now.

**"Sorry," he said impatiently. "I didn't mean - I just forgot…"**

"Yet another thing that he shouldn't have said," Remus said.

**"Oh yes, very easy to forget Myrtle's dead," said Myrtle, gulping, looking at him out of swollen eyes. "Nobody missed me even when I was alive. Took them hours and hours to find my body - I know, I was sitting there waiting for them. Olive Hornby came into the bathroom – 'Are you in here again, sulking, Myrtle?' she said, 'because Professor Dippet asked me to look for you -' And then she saw my body… ooooh, she didn't forget it until her dying day, **

"That has got to do something to you," Bill muttered. "I mean, finding a body of someone you knew in the bathroom like that?"

"Is that what happened to you?" Tonks asked Moody, half teasing, half serious.

He gave her a dark look. "Mind your own business."

**I made sure of that… followed her around and reminded her, I did. I remember at her brother's wedding -"**

Kingsley tilted his head. Myrtle may appear a bit more 'dense,' but this is not your average spirit. Did she say that flushing water can actually push her and that she was following Olive around at other locations? Moaning Myrtle may not be very social, but she is a very versatile ghost. Wonder what might've happened to Olive?

"Boy, Olive sure got her due didn't she?" Tonks asked.

"I guess," Sirius said shuddering at the idea of being haunted by her for the rest of his life. It's almost as bad as being haunted of the memory of his monstrous mother.

**But Harry wasn't listening; he was thinking about the merpeople's song again.**

**"We've taken what you'll sorely miss." That sounded as though they were going to steal something of his, something he had to get back. What were they going to take?**

_'The one who you will be willing to risk it all to save,'_ Fleur thought grimly.

**"—and then, of course, she went to the Ministry of Magic to stop me stalking her, so I had to come back here and live in my toilet."**

**"Good," said Harry vaguely. "Well, I'm a lot further on than I was… Shut your eyes again, will you? I'm getting out."**

"I don't trust her," Sirius growled.

Remus smirked, he had a feeling that he was still sore about the fact that Myrtle has been spying on the boys. Not that he blamed him… the idea that the ghost had been spying on him disturbed him as well.

"Well, as a ghost, she's got to get her kicks somehow," Tonks laughed.

"Oh, shut it," Sirius growled.

**He retrieved the egg from the bottom of the bath, climbed out, dried himself, and pulled on his pyjamas and dressing gown again.**

**"Will you come and visit me in my bathroom again sometime?" Moaning Myrtle asked mournfully as Harry picked up the Invisibility Cloak.**

"After finding out that you've been spying on everyone?" Sirius asked under his breath.

"Just get over it," Moody snapped. "It's getting annoying hearing you all go on and on about it!"

"Besides, I doubt that anyone would want to go to that bathroom unless all the other toilets weren't working," Arthur muttered in satisfaction.

**"Er… I'll try," Harry said, though privately thinking the only way he'd be visiting Myrtle's bathroom again was if every other toilet in the castle got blocked. **

"He sounds like you now Arthur," Molly smiled.

"Yeah," Bill smirked. "After spending so much time over at the Burrow, I guess."

For some reason, that idea bugged Sirius, though he couldn't put his finger on why.

**"See you. Myrtle… thanks for your help."**

**"Bye, bye," she said gloomily, and as Harry put on the Invisibility Cloak he saw her zoom back up the tap.**

"What a girl," Moody grunted.

"Hey!" Fleur and Tonks snapped at him.

**Out in the dark corridor, Harry examined the Marauders Map to check that the coast was still clear. Yes, the dots belonging to Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris, were safely in their office… nothing else seemed to be moving apart from Peeves, though he was bouncing around the trophy room on the floor above… **

"Good," Molly said in relief, "Now all he has to do is get up to the common room."

**Harry had taken his first step back toward Gryffindor Tower when something else on the map caught his eye… something distinctly odd.**

**Peeves was not the only thing that was moving. A single dot was flitting around a room in the bottom left-hand corner - Snape's office. But the dot wasn't labelled "Severus Snape"… **

"Really?" Moody asked uninterested. "Who?"

**it was Bartemius Crouch. **

"What?" most of them gasped out.

"What's Barty doing there?" Tonks began before she remembered. "Oh," she put her hand on the back of her head and said, "It was Crouch Jr. why do people do that? You'll never know which one you're talking about."

"Just causes the kids to have issues later on," Moody grunted.

**Harry stared at the dot. Mr. Crouch was supposed to be too ill to go to work or to come to the Yule Ball - so what was he doing, sneaking into Hogwarts at one o'clock in the morning? Harry watched closely as the dot moved around and around the room, pausing here and there…**

"Robbing ingredients for Polyjuice potion," Kingsley said unusually dark. Moody was grinding what were left of his teeth together at the thought.

**Harry hesitated, thinking… and then his curiosity got the better of him. He turned and set off in the opposite direction toward the nearest staircase. He was going to see what Crouch was up to.**

"Of course he was," Molly sighed, "That curiosity is always getting him into trouble."

"Like I said before, it's in his nature," Sirius replied.

"With parents like Lily and James I'd be astonished if he didn't," Remus sighed.

**Harry walked down the stairs as quietly as possible, though the faces in some of the portraits still turned curiously at the squeak of a floorboard, the rustle of his pajamas. He crept along the corridor below, pushed aside a tapestry about halfway along, and proceeded down a narrower staircase, a shortcut that would take him down two floors. **

Sirius sighed… oh the memories of sneaking around…

**He kept glancing down at the map, wondering… It just didn't seem in character, somehow, for correct, law-abiding Mr. Crouch to be sneaking around somebody else's office this late at night…**

"That's because it's the wrong Crouch," Moody growled.

Tonks inched away from him, knowing that if he got angry enough he'd attack anyone and anything for stress relief.

**And then, halfway down the staircase, not thinking about what he was doing, not concentrating on anything but the peculiar behavior of Mr. Crouch, Harry's leg suddenly sank right through the trick step Neville always forgot to jump.**

"Oh, come on!" Moody cried out exasperated.

"Should've seen that coming," Remus said, remembering how they mentioned it earlier.

"Why do zey even 'ave those?" Fleur asked Bill.

"I'm afraid that I don't know everything about the castle," he answered. "I suppose that the Founders had a strange sense of humor."

**He gave an ungainly wobble, and the golden egg, still damp from the bath, slipped from under his arm. He lurched forward to try and catch it, but too late; the egg fell down the long staircase with a bang as loud as a bass drum on every step – the Invisibility Cloak slipped - Harry snatched at it, and the Marauder's Map fluttered out of his hand and slid down six stairs, where, sunk in the step to above his knee, he couldn't reach it.**

"Wait," Bill said. "Can't he just summon them real quick? If he hurries, then he might be able to get away with it."

"I don't think he's thinking about that," Remus said worriedly. "He's probably panicking right now about being caught…"

"He's still got a lot to learn," Moody growled. That kid had a lot of potential, no doubt about that, but he still needs to have more experience if he wants to join the Aurors.

**The golden egg fell through the tapestry at the bottom of the staircase, burst open, and began wailing loudly in the corridor below. **

"Crap," Sirius said, biting down on his thumb in worry. "There's no doubt that's gonna wake someone up."

**Harry pulled out his wand and struggled to touch the Marauder s Map, to wipe it blank, but it was too far away to reach –**

"Just summon it!" Molly said anxiously.

"Like I said, he's probably not thinking about that," Remus said. "I mean, if this happened all at once, then he's not going to be thinking of that."

"He better do something quick," Tonks said.

**Pulling the cloak back over himself Harry straightened up, listening hard with his eyes screwed up with fear… and, almost immediately –**

**"PEEVES!"**

**It was the unmistakable hunting cry of Filch the caretaker. **

"Of all the people, of course he would show up," Tonks muttered.

"At least it's not Snape," Sirius said bitterly.

**Harry could hear his rapid, shuffling footsteps coming nearer and nearer, his wheezy voice raised in fury.**

**"What's this racket? Wake up the whole castle, will you? I'll have you, Peeves, I'll have you, you'll… and what is this?"**

"And he finds the egg," Molly said worriedly.

"It's hard not to," Bill muttered. "If that thing was as loud as it said it is, then you have to be deaf not to be able to hear it."

"But if 'e finds eet, zen zere's only four people zat it could belong to," Fleur pointed out. "So 'e would know zat one of ze champions zere…"

"And since you and Viktor aren't in the castle, then there's only two people that it could be," Remus finished for her anxiously.

**Filch's footsteps halted; there was a clink of metal on metal and the wailing stopped - Filch had picked up the egg and closed it. Harry stood very still, one leg still jammed tightly in the magical step, listening. Any moment now, Filch was going to pull aside the tapestry, expecting to see Peeves… and there would be no Peeves… but if he came up the stairs, he would spot the Marauder's Map… and Invisibility Cloak or not, the map would show "Harry Potter" standing exactly where he was.**

"He's in quite a bind," Tonks said. "He's so dead if Filch finds him."

"Ya think?" Sirius called out.

**"Egg?" Filch said quietly at the foot of the stairs. "My sweet!" - Mrs. Norris was obviously with him - "This is a Triwizard clue! This belongs to a school champion!"**

"No, really?" Tonks asked with her voice heavy with sarcasm. "Jeez, I never would've guessed that. You can't get past old Filch alright."

Remus had to fight back a laugh.

**Harry felt sick; his heart was hammering very fast -**

**"PEEVES!" Filch roared gleefully. "You've been stealing!"**

"Good, good…" Sirius said hopefully. "If he thinks it's Peeves, then maybe Harry can get out of it!"

"I guess Peeves has his uses after all, eh Fleur?" Tonks asked her and Fleur politely giggled.

"Perhaps," she answered.

"But still," Arthur said, not smiling. "That doesn't mean that Harry's getting out of trouble. Sure Filch is distracted by the idea of Peeves, but Harry's still trapped in the stairs. As well as the map is out in open sight. If he climbs the stairs he's either going to find the map or just walk right into him."

"Oh, take away my good mood again why don't ya?!" Sirius snapped.

**He ripped back the tapestry below, and Harry saw his horrible, pouchy face and bulging, pale eyes staring up the dark and (to Filch) deserted staircase.**

**"Hiding, are you?" he said softly. "I'm coming to get you, Peeves… You've gone and stolen a Triwizard clue, Peeves… Dumbledore'll have you out of here for this, you filthy, pilfering poltergeist…"**

"I doubt that," Kingsley said in amusement. "He likes having Peeves around. I doubt that Peeves would do that Dumbledore would throw him out."

"As well as Hogwarts is stuck with Peeves whether we like it or not," Remus smiled.

**Filch started to climb the stairs, his scrawny, dust-coloured cat at his heels. Mrs. Morris's lamp-like eyes, so very like her masters, were fixed directly upon Harry. He had had occasion before now to wonder whether the Invisibility Cloak worked on cats… Sick with apprehension, he watched Filch drawing nearer and nearer in his old flannel dressing gown - he tried desperately to pull his trapped leg free, but it merely sank a few more inches - any second now, Filch was going to spot the map or walk right into him -**

"Not good…" Bill said nervously.

**"Filch? What's going on?"**

"I hope that it's someone who'd be able to help," Molly said. Course, if Harry hadn't been sneaking around in the first place…

"Dear, with Harry's terrible luck…" Arthur pointed out, "Then I bet that there's only one people that could be."

**Filch stopped a few steps below Harry and turned. At the foot of the stairs stood the only person who could make Harry's situation worse: **

"Of course," Sirius groaned. And then he said at the exact same time as Tonks said: **Snape.**

"Sure that greasy-haired, overgrown bat would stick his over-large nose into this," Sirius said bitterly.

**He was wearing a long gray nightshirt and he looked livid.**

"Now that should give you nightmares," Sirius said lightly causing Tonks to burst out laughing.

**"It's Peeves, Professor," Filch whispered malevolently. "He threw this egg down the stairs."**

**Snape climbed up the stairs quickly and stopped beside Filch. Harry gritted his teeth, convinced his loudly thumping heart would give him away at any second…**

"Dramatic as always," Moody said in annoyance. Oh well… at least things were finally starting to look interesting.

**"Peeves?" said Snape softly, staring at the egg in Filch's hands. "But Peeves couldn't get into my office…"**

**"This egg was in your office. Professor?"**

**"Of course not," Snape snapped. "I heard banging and wailing -"**

"Maybe that was because it was the egg?" Sirius asked as if he was speaking to someone slow and dumb.

"I think that you might want to wait and hear it all before you jump right in and insult him, Sirius," Molly suggested.

"Whatever," he said moodily.

Fleur blinked before she whispered to Bill, "Just what 'appened wiz those two to make zem 'ate each other so much?"

"You know how it is," he answered, closing his eyes. "There are just some people that you can't stand."

**"Yes, Professor, that was the egg -"**

**"- I was coming to investigate -"**

**"- Peeves threw it. Professor -"**

**"- and when I passed my office, I saw that the torches were lit and a cupboard door was ajar! Somebody has been searching it!"**

"Well, nothing gets past him," Sirius growled again.

"Ok, we get it," Tonks said wearily. "You both hate each other."

**"But Peeves couldn't -"**

**"I know he couldn't, Filch!" Snape snapped again. "I seal my office with a spell none but a wizard could break!" Snape looked up the stairs, straight through Harry, and then down into the corridor below. "I want you to come and help me search for the intruder, Filch."**

**"I - yes, Professor - but -"**

"Wait," Sirius said slowly. "It sounds like Snape might actually get Harry out of this. Unknowingly… but still…"

"I guess he does have his uses to," Tonks smirked.

"Only a wizard can break into Severus office?" Remus reminisced. "We'll have to keep that in mind."

"Yeah," Sirius said. "Knowing Snape, wouldn't at all be surprised if it's even booby-trapped."

**Filch looked yearningly up the stairs, right through Harry, who could see that he was very reluctant to forgo the chance of cornering Peeves. Go, Harry pleaded with him silently, go with Snape… go… Mrs. Norris was peering around Filch's legs… Harry had the distinct impression that she could smell him… why had he filled that bath with so much perfumed foam?**

"Remember that next time!" Sirius added brightly. "That's all that matters."

"If there'll be a next time," Moody added.

"So cheerful as always Mad-Eye," Tonks grinned, flipping another page.

**"The thing is, Professor," said Filch plaintively, "the headmaster will have to listen to me this time. Peeves has been stealing from a student, it might be my chance to get him ****thrown out of the castle once and for all -"**

**"Filch, I don't give a damn about that wretched poltergeist; it's my office that's -" **

"What does he have in his office that he's so desperate to keep hidden?" Sirius frowned.

"Well, if I were him, I would want to keep my potion supplies safe and out of student hands," Kingsley said.

"Don't you have any imagination, Kingsley?" Sirius asked annoyed.

"I do," he answered back calmly. "But I'm also being realistic."

"Just another word for unimaginative," he added in an undertone.

**Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.**

"Oh, right, Moody grunted. "I see what the chapter title meant now. So the fake will be able to help him out. He doesn't want Potter to get into trouble until he gets into the maze after all," he added darkly in an undertone.

**Snape stopped talking very abruptly. He and Filch both looked down at the foot of the stairs. Harry saw Mad-Eye Moody limp into sight through the narrow gap between their heads. Moody was wearing his old travelling cloak over his nightshirt and leaning on his staff as usual.**

A muscle was going in Moody's forehead. He had to burn all his old clothes after that… the only reason he didn't get rid of his eye and leg was because he still needed them.

**"Pyjama party, is it?" he growled up the stairs.**

"That sounds like something you would say," Kingsley said, though he said this quietly because Alastor was looking angrier by the second.

**"Professor Snape and I heard noises, Professor," said Filch at once. "Peeves the Poltergeist, throwing things around as usual - and then Professor Snape discovered that someone had broken into his off -"**

**"Shut up!" Snape hissed to Filch.**

"It sure doesn't seem like Snape wants Moody (or rather fake Moody) to know that someone had been lurking in his office," Sirius said happily.

"Not that it would matter," Arthur pointed out.

"Yeah, I bet that Crouch would have a serious laugh about it because he's the one who did it," Tonks frowned.

**Moody took a step closer to the foot of the stairs. Harry saw Moody's magical eye travel over Snape, and then, unmistakably, onto himself.** **Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. Moody could see through Invisibility Cloaks… he alone could see the full strangeness of the scene: Snape in his nightshirt, **

Sirius gagged at that. If he didn't know better, he'd swear that the overgrown bat slept in a coffin.

**Filch clutching the egg, and he, Harry, trapped in the stairs behind them. Moody's lopsided gash of a mouth opened in surprise. For a few seconds, he and Harry stared straight into each other's eyes. Then Moody closed his mouth and turned his blue eye upon Snape again.**

**"Did I hear that correctly, Snape?" he asked slowly. "Someone broke into your office?"**

"I can't say I'm surprised," Arthur growled.

"Like I said, he needs Potter to survive to compete in the Third Task," Moody grunted. "Though I highly doubt that Snape and Filch would've killed him, it's not a bad guess."

"I dare them," Sirius responded threateningly.

**"It is unimportant," said Snape coldly.**

**"On the contrary," growled Moody, "it is very important. Who'd want to break into your office?"**

"Don't know why anyone would want to go near him," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Sirius," Arthur said wearily.

**"A student, I daresay," said Snape. Harry could see a vein flickering horribly on Snape's greasy temple. "It has happened before. Potion ingredients have gone missing from my private store cupboard… students attempting illicit mixtures, no doubt…"**

"You mean like Polyjuice Potion?" Tonks asked in mock curiosity.

"No?" Sirius asked with sarcastic surprise. He place a hand over his heart and pretended to gasp, "Please tell us what you really think…"

**"Reckon they were after potion ingredients, eh?" said Moody. "Not hiding anything else in your office, are you?"**

**Harry saw the edge of Snape's sallow face turn a nasty brick color, the vein in his temple pulsing more rapidly.**

"Good," Sirius whispered to himself. Anything that made Snape angry was good in his book.

**"You know I'm hiding nothing, Moody," he said in a soft and dangerous voice, "as you've searched my office pretty thoroughly yourself."**

**Moody's face twisted into a smile. "Auror's privilege, Snape. Dumbledore told me to keep an eye -"**

"Though he told _me_ that," Moody grunted. "I doubt Dumbledore meant to keep an eye on Snape seeing as he trusted Snape. Barmy he is…"

"I still think that he's lost his mind for that," Sirius added softly to himself. Just what on earth did Snape do or say to convince the old man that?

**"Dumbledore happens to trust me," said Snape through clenched teeth. "I refuse to believe that he gave you orders to search my office!"**

**"Course Dumbledore trusts you," growled Moody. "He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me - I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?"**

They all glanced at each other, knowing full well what he was talking about.

**Snape suddenly did something very strange. He seized his left forearm convulsively with his right hand, as though something on it had hurt him.**

"'E ees speaking about ze Mark isn't 'e?" Fleur asked, though already knowing the answer.

"Why anyone would have something so ugly branded onto their skin is beyond me," Tonks snapped before turning to Moody. "I mean… you talk all the time about how anyone with that brand is less than human."

"And I haven't change my mind," he added. But he was now aware that it was made clear that Snape is on a 'second chance.' He also took careful note how Dumbledore's trust seemed important to Snape. Very interesting…

**Moody laughed. "Get back to bed, Snape."**

**"You don't have the authority to send me anywhere!" Snape hissed, letting go of his arm as though angry with himself. "I have as much right to prowl this school after dark as you do!"**

"Prowl," Sirius repeated with a snigger.

**"Prowl away," said Moody, but his voice was full of menace. "I look forward to meeting you in a dark corridor sometime…**

_'Hey that doesn't sound like a half bad idea,' _Sirius thought with a grin. He'd love to go one-on-one with Snape and give him a lesson he was always to nice to give back in school.

**you've dropped something, by the way…"**

**With a stab of horror Harry saw Moody point at the Marauders Map, still lying on the staircase six steps below him.**

Sirius froze at the idea of Crouch ever taking the map…

**As Snape and Filch both turned to look at it, Harry threw caution to the winds; he raised his arms under the cloak and waved furiously at Moody to attract his attention, mouthing "It's mine! Mine!"**

**Snape had reached out for it, a horrible expression of dawning comprehension on his face -**

**_"Accio_**** Parchment!"**

"See how easy it is, Harry?" Bill asked to no one in particular.

"Well, seeing that the kid is still alive, I doubt that they did anything horrible to him," Moody muttered coolly.

"Alright, everyone," Kingsley said soothingly.

**The map flew up into the air, slipped through Snape's outstretched fingers, and soared down the stairs into Moody's hand.**

"On one hand Snape doesn't have it," Sirius said thinking it over, "But on the other hand, now Crouch Jr. does." He looked to Remus and asked, "What do you think?"

He sighed. "I don't know," he admitted tiredly. "How much longer is this chapter?"

Tonks checked real quick and answered, "Only a few more pages…"

"Good," he answered. He wasn't sure how much more of this he wanted to hear. Every chapter just seem to get harder and harder to hear…

**"My mistake," Moody said calmly. "It's mine - must've dropped it earlier -"**

"I doubt he'll buy that," Arthur said.

"If he does then I'll eat Ron's chess set," Bill agreed with a nod.

**But Snape's black eyes were darting from the egg in Filch's arms to the map in Moody's hand, and Harry could tell he was putting two and two together, as only Snape could…**

**"Potter," he said quietly.**

"Funny that his mind automatically jumps to Harry isn't it?" Sirius asked surprisingly polite. See? This was proof that he had it in for his godson.

**"What's that?" said Moody calmly, folding up the map and pocketing it.**

**"Potter!" Snape snarled, and he actually turned his head and stared right at the place where Harry was, as though he could suddenly see him. "That egg is Potters egg. That piece of parchment belongs to Potter. I have seen it before, I recognize it! Potter is here! Potter, in his Invisibility Cloak!"**

"It doesn't help that he found out about the cloak and map the year before," Remus declared, thinking back to book three.

**Snape stretched out his hands like a blind man and began to move up the stairs; Harry ****could have sworn his over-large nostrils were dilating, trying to sniff Harry out - trapped. **

Sirius burst out laughing again as he pictured Snape doing that… for some reason, that didn't surprise him… he could swear that he could pick up smells for miles around with that beak of his.

**Harry leaned backward, trying to avoid Snape's fingertips, but any moment now-**

The smile slowly faded as he tensed up—if he had been caught, he was sure that Snape would've given Harry detention every night for the rest of the year…

**"There's nothing there, Snape!" barked Moody, "but I'll be happy to tell the headmaster how quickly your mind jumped to Harry Potter!"**

Sirius frowned, hating the fact that he had just said that same thing just a moment ago. He noticed that the others were all looking at him.

"Not…" he croaked out, "A word…"

"Listen," Kingsley told him. "How Severus treats Harry isn't fair, it's safe to say that. But we can't deny that Harry does seem to get into a lot of trouble now doesn't he?"

"Still…" Sirius said, not liking where this was going and not interested in hearing it. "The fact is that he's a git that likes to torture children. Simple as that."

He then turned away and refused to look at any of them. They all gave him a tired look, but no one said anything, knowing that it would just be a waste of breath.

**"Meaning what?" Snape turned again to look at Moody, his hands still outstretched, inches from Harry's chest.**

**"Meaning that Dumbledore's very interested to know who's got it in for that boy!" said Moody, limping nearer still to the foot of the stairs. "And so am I, Snape… very interested…" **

"You mean aside from Voldemort?" Remus said darkly. "Of course you would be…"

"I mean after all, he's one of them," Arthur frowned.

**The torchlight flickered across his mangled face, so that the scars, and the chunk missing from his nose, looked deeper and darker than ever.**

**Snape was looking down at Moody, and Harry couldn't see the expression on his face. For a moment, nobody moved or said anything. Then Snape slowly lowered his hands.**

**"I merely thought," said Snape, in a voice of forced calm, "that if Potter was wandering around after hours again… it's an unfortunate habit of his… he should be stopped. For - for ****his own safety."**

A great deal of the room stared at each other at that. Since when did _Snape_, of all people, care about Harry's well-being?

"Now why do I find that hard to believe?" Sirius asked.

"I don't think that Snape being entirely honest with that," Tonks agreed.

"Now, I know that he might not be the nicest teacher," Molly said darkly. "But he's still a teacher, and I'm sure that he wouldn't want any of his students to get hurt."

"But he has no trouble causing trouble for everyone," Sirius growled.

**"Ah, I see," said Moody softly. "Got Potter's best interests at heart, have you?"**

**There was a pause. Snape and Moody were still staring at each other, Mrs. Norris gave a loud meow, still peering around Filch's legs, looking for the source of Harry's bubble-bath smell.**

**"I think I will go back to bed," Snape said curtly.**

"Good, get out of the book already," Sirius muttered.

"Sirius," Remus warned him softly. "You can insult Severus all you want, but in your mind please?"

**"Best idea you've had all night," said Moody. "Now, Filch, if you'll just give me that egg-"**

**"No!" said Filch, clutching the egg as though it were his firstborn son. "Professor Moody, this is evidence of Peeves' treachery!"**

_'I can't say that I'd ever want to meet any son of his,'_ Sirius thought to himself.

"It doesn't look like he's going to give up easily," Bill sighed.

"Some people never do," Kingsley smiled with a slight shake of the head.

**"It's the property of the champion he stole it from," said Moody. "Hand it over, now."**

**Snape swept downstairs and passed Moody without another word. Filch made a chirruping noise to Mrs. Norris, who stared blankly at Harry for a few more seconds before turning and following her master. **

"Good, get lost," Tonks said. Though she was bursting to say that the fake Moody was acting just like the real deal; however she also knew that he'd curse her to within an inch of her life as well so she sat it out.

**Still breathing very fast. Harry heard Snape walking away down the corridor; Filch handed Moody the egg and disappeared from view too, muttering to Mrs. Norris. "Never mind my sweet… we'll see Dumbledore in the morning… tell him what Peeves was up to…"**

"With as much good that's gonna do," Remus said lightly, "He might've just saved his breath."

**A door slammed. Harry was left staring down at Moody, who placed his staff on the bottommost stair and started to climb laboriously toward him, a dull clunk on every other step.**

**"Close shave Potter," he muttered.**

"You're telling me," Molly said miserably. "Why can't he learn to stay out of unnecessary trouble?"

Sirius merely sighed in agreement.

**"Yeah… I – er… thanks," said Harry weakly.**

**"What is this thing?" said Moody, drawing the Marauder's Map out of his pocket and unfolding it.**

"None of your business," Sirius answered at once.

**"Map of Hogwarts," said Harry, hoping Moody was going to pull him out of the staircase soon; his leg was really hurting him.**

**"Merlin's beard," Moody whispered, staring at the map, his magical eye going haywire. "This… this is some map. Potter!"**

"It is, now give it back to him and get lost," Sirius muttered, feeling that his anger was about to explode.

**"Yeah, it's… quite useful," Harry said. His eyes were starting to water from the pain. "Er - Professor Moody, d'you think you could help me -?"**

**"What? Oh! Yes… yes, of course…"**

"That's proof there he's nothing but a fake," Moody growled. He never would've let his guard down for an instant.

**Moody took hold of Harry's arms and pulled; Harry's leg came free of the trick step, and he climbed onto the one above it. Moody was still gazing at the map. "Potter…" he said slowly, "you didn't happen, by any chance, to see who broke into Snape's office, did you? On this map, I mean?"**

**"Er… yeah, I did…" Harry admitted. "It was Mr. Crouch."**

**Moody's magical eye whizzed over the entire surface of the map. He looked suddenly alarmed.**

"If I were him, I'd be to," Remus said, his usually warm eyes turning cold.

"'Ow could someone be like zis?" Fleur demanded, remembering Cedric with a pang. "'E doesn't care 'ow many people would die!"

"What else do you expect out of a lowlife Death Eater?" Moody asked bitterly. "The only thing he was thinking of was impressing his 'master'."

"Sick," Tonks muttered, sounding just like Moody. "That's just sick."

**"Crouch?" he said. "You're - you're sure Potter?"**

"Of course," Remus sighed. "However, it's his father… not _him_ that he's talking about."

"It's Crouch's fault he gave his son the same name," Bill spoke up.

**"Positive," said Harry.**

**"Well, he's not here anymore," said Moody, his eye still whizzing over the map. "Crouch… that's very - very interesting…"**

"Oh, he's there," Moody grunted. He's standing right there… if only Potter still had the map he could've looked and seen it. Damn, if he had then maybe they could've stopped him sooner.

**He said nothing for almost a minute, still staring at the map. Harry could tell that this news meant something to Moody and very much wanted to know what it was. He wondered whether he dared ask. Moody scared him slightly… **

"Yes…" Tonks nodded sympathetically. "You wouldn't be the first to have those feelings, Harry." She jerked her thumb over at Moody and finished, "He's got a face that scares small children after all. How can you not be afraid?"

"At least my name's not Nymphadora," Moody retorted calmly.

Tonks eye began to twitch horribly as she glared at him. "Shut it," she muttered holding up a fist. "Now I know that you're strange, but that's a strange comment from a guy who looks as if every Dark Wizard has taken a piece out of him already!"

"Yeah, well sticks and stones," Moody grunted unconcerned.

"Dora, why don't you just keep reading?" Remus smiled at her.

She blushed and turned back to the book, "Fine," she grunted. "But don't call me Dora!"

**yet Moody had just helped him avoid an awful lot of trouble…**

**"Er… Professor Moody… why d'you reckon Mr. Crouch wanted to look around Snape's office?"**

"Because he was out of ingredients for his Polyjuice Potion," Moody growled angrily.

**Moody's magical eye left the map and fixed, quivering, upon Harry. It was a penetrating glare, and Harry had the impression that Moody was sizing him up, wondering whether to answer or not, or how much to tell him.**

"Or thinking about the best lie he could come up with," Moody went on again.

Kingsley was privately hoping that the chapter would end, because all this anger from Sirius and Alastor wasn't good for either of them.

**"Put it this way Potter," Moody muttered finally, "they say old Mad-Eye's obsessed with catching Dark wizards… but I'm nothing - nothing - compared to Barty Crouch."**

"Now is zat true?" Fleur asked.

"Hmm, I would say that is a good point but Moody definitely put more Death Eaters in Azkaban than any other Auror. However Barty was the one that lead their trials," Arthur said.

"And look at where that got me," Sirius snarled under his breath.

**He continued to stare at the map. Harry was burning to know more.**

**"Professor Moody?" he said again. "D'you think … could this have anything to do with … maybe Mr. Crouch thinks there's something going on…"**

**"Like what?" said Moody sharply.**

"Like you being a Death Eater impersonating Alastor Moody and trying to send Harry to Voldemort," Bill hissed under his breath.

**Harry wondered how much he dare say. He didn't want Moody to guess that he had a source of information outside Hogwarts; that might lead to tricky questions about Sirius.**

"Good boy," Moody said grimly. "Especially since it isn't the real me. And even if it had been, I still wouldn't trust me."

"There is something seriously wrong with you, eh Mad-Eye?" Tonks asked.

"Shut up," he grumbled.

**"I don't know," Harry muttered, "odd stuffs been happening lately, hasn't it? It's been in the Daily Prophet… the Dark Mark at the World Cup, and the Death Eaters and everything…"**

**Both of Moody's mismatched eyes widened.**

"I hope he made him nervous," Sirius whispered vindictively.

**"You're a sharp boy. Potter," he said. **

Mad-Eye had to agree with the imposter there. He was certainly sharp enough to notice little things that others didn't, to put things together to form an answer and to walk straight into the heart of the danger, and walk out again.

**His magical eye roved back to the Marauder's Map. "Crouch could be thinking along those lines," he said slowly. "Very possible… there have been some funny rumors flying around lately - helped along by Rita Skeeter, of course. **

"Yes, indeed," Kingsley agreed thinking it over. "Those rumors certainly have been helped along by Rita flying around."

"Like a leech," Fleur said, wrinkling her nose. "Or a mosquito."

**It's making a lot of people nervous, I reckon." A grim smile twisted his lopsided mouth. "Oh if there's one thing I hate," he muttered, more to himself than to Harry, and his magical eye was fixed on the left-hand corner of the map, "its a Death Eater who walked free…"**

"So, in other words," Tonks said pretending to think it over. "He hates himself then?"

"Can you blame him?" Sirius smirked slightly. "I would hate me too!"

Remus thought that over. Something was strange there. He had made that map and remembered every single detail… in the left-hand _top corner_ is Dumbledore's office, but that doesn't make sense. In the left-hand _bottom corner_ is Snape's office…

He shook his head. While he wasn't fond of Severus after everything that had happened between them, if Dumbledore trusted him, he must have a good reason…

**Harry stared at him. Could Moody possibly mean what Harry thought he meant?**

**"And now I want to ask you a question Potter," said Moody in a more businesslike tone.**

**Harry's heart sank; he had thought this was coming. Moody was going to ask where he had got this map, which was a very dubious magical object - and the story of how it had fallen into his hands incriminated not only him, but his own father, Fred and George Weasley, and Professor Lupin, their last Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. **

"Don't say a word," Sirius said holding his breath.

**Moody waved the map in front of Harry, who braced himself-**

**"Can I borrow this?"**

"What?" Molly said shocked.

"No," Sirius, Bill, and Tonks all answered at once.

"He can't give it to him!" Tonks said worriedly.

"Oh, I hope that he doesn't…" Sirius whispered.

"I doubt that he has much of a choice here," Remus bit his lip. Oh, so that was how Crouch had been able to kill his father… he must've saw his name on the map… he really hoped that Harry didn't blame himself for that.

**"Oh!" said Harry.**

**He was very fond of his map, but on the other hand, he was extremely relieved that Moody wasn't asking where he'd got it, and there was no doubt that he owed Moody a favor.**

"No, you don't…" Sirius scolded. "You don't owe him anything. Make up some kind of excuse… a lie… anything!"

**"Yeah, okay."**

**"Good boy," growled Moody. "I can make good use of this … this might be exactly what I've been looking for… Right, bed, Potter, come on, now…"**

Everyone groaned in disbelief.

"I can't believe that he did that," Sirius groaned.

"What else could he have done?" Kingsley sighed. "He thought that it was the real Alastor Moody… how could anyone suspect this."

"The kid not suspecting anything, I can understand," Moody growled. "But how anyone else could by that crap for almost a year I'll never know."

"You're such a talented wizard how could anyone ever suspect that something like this could've happened to you?" Arthur pointed out. "You put all those Death Eaters behind bars, it's not surprising that they would think something like this would happen to you of all people."

"Spare me the details," he snapped back.

**They climbed to the top of the stairs together, Moody still examining the map as though it was a treasure the like of which he had never seen before. **

_''Cause he found a new toy to help his lowlife master,'_ Sirius thought angrily, hating that something that he and his friends worked so hard to create was used like that.

**They walked in silence to the door of Moody's office, where he stopped and looked up at Harry.**

**"You ever thought of a career as an Auror, Potter?"**

"Well, I'm not saying that's not a good idea," Kingsley said. "After a little more training, I'd be more than happy to have him join the Aurors. But…"

Remus finished for him, "It's ironic that a Death Eater would suggest that."

**"No," said Harry, taken aback.**

"'Arry would make a great Auror," Fleur smiled.

"Well, you can't say he doesn't get practice," Sirius sighed.

"And he does have a talent for solving problems and putting things together," Remus reminded them, thinking back to when he helped to put the mystery of the Basilisk together.

"And some of the best instinct's I've ever seen," Kingsley nodded.

"I don't know," Molly said worriedly. "I mean, I'm not saying that he would've be good at it, but after everything's he's been through, he deserves to have a quiet and peaceful life." She then added in a undertone, "With no danger…"

"While I wish that too," Remus sighed, "But to be honest, I don't think that will happen… whether he becomes an Auror or not."

**"You want to consider it," said Moody, nodding and looking at Harry thoughtfully. "Yes, indeed… and incidentally… I'm guessing you weren't just taking that egg for a walk tonight?"**

**"Er - no," said Harry, grinning. "I've been working out the clue."**

**Moody winked at him, his magical eye going haywire again. "Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas, Potter… see you in the morning…"**

Moody seem to be restraining himself with difficulty. "I hate this guy," he growled. Why did he sound more like him than he did?!

**He went back into his office, staring down at the Marauders Map again, and closed the door ****behind him.** **Harry walked slowly back to Gryffindor Tower, lost in thought about Snape, and Crouch, and what it all meant… why was Crouch pretending to be ill, if he could manage to get to Hogwarts when he wanted to? What did he think Snape was concealing in his office? And Moody thought he, Harry, ought to be an Auror! **

"Why is that surprising, Harry?" Remus asked smiling. "I think that you will be an amazing Auror."

**Interesting idea… but somehow. Harry thought, as he got quietly into his four-poster ten minutes later, the egg and the cloak now safely back in his trunk, he thought he'd like to check how scarred the rest of them were before he chose it as a career.**

Everyone laughed at that.

"At least he has some common sense," Tonks nodded before she closed the book.

"Is that it?" Sirius asked surprised.

"Yep," she answered. She then grinned, "And I got a look at the next chapter! It's called, **Chapter 26: The Second Task."**

**(Yeah! Another chapter down! Hope you enjoyed it!)**


	30. The Second Task

_**********(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**_

**Chapter 29: The Second Task**

"Yep," she answered. She then grinned, "And I got a look at the next chapter! It's called, **Chapter 26: The Second Task."**

Most of the room looked up in anticipation at her. Finally, they were on to the Second Task. All of them were dying to know what had happened down there.

"Finally!" Sirius said excited, rubbing his hands together, "This is gonna be good!"

The only person who didn't look happy was Fleur. She was biting her lower lip—they may find it exciting and interesting—but that ask was the worst for her. Forced to swim down into a deep lake, surrounded on all sides by darkness and who knew what else? Trying to find someone you love… not sure if you would like what you saw.

They may find it interesting, but she knew better… it had been a terrifying experience for her.

**"You said you'd already worked out that egg clue!" said Hermione indignantly. **

"He simply lied to you, Hermione," Remus said lightly, a brief smile on his face. "That's not surprising…"

"What is surprising that she believed him," Tonks snorted, her hair turning to a happy orangish color. "She should know better than anyone that he'll say that everything's alright when it isn't."

"Yes, it's a bad habit of his," Sirius agreed, nodding.

**"Keep your voice down!" said Harry crossly. "I just need to - sort of fine-tune it, all right?" **

"I other words, figure it out," Moody grunted.

**He, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the very back of the Charms class with a table to ****themselves. **

"All classes are good to have conversations," Sirius said smiling. After all, they spent most of their classes talking. "But Charms was always the best."

"More bad habits…" Molly sighed shaking her head. Really, how did he make it through all seven years of school like this?

**They were supposed to be practicing the opposite of the Summoning Charm today - the Banishing Charm. Owing to the potential for nasty accidents when objects kept flying across the room, Professor Flitwick had given each student a stack of cushions on which to practice, the theory being that these wouldn't hurt anyone if they went off target. **

"It's a good idea, too bad it won't work," Remus said knowingly. Even the best laid out safety measures for students have a tendency to backfire in the end.

**It was a good theory, but it wasn't working very well. **

"Only teenagers could find a way around that," Arthur said fondly as they all laughed.

"But pillows?" Molly asked. "How could they be dangerous?"

"Anything can be turned into a weapon in the right hands," Moody told them as he ran his hand over his staff.

**Neville's aim was so poor that he kept accidentally sending much heavier things flying across the room - Professor Flitwick, for instance. **

Everyone burst out laughing picturing Flitwick flying around the room.

"If zat 'appened at Beauxbatons, 'e'd be given detention," Fleur muttered.

"Well, it's a good thing that Filius is so understanding," Bill laughed as he flung his arm around her shoulders.

**"Just forget the egg for a minute, all right?" Harry hissed as Professor Flitwick went whizzing resignedly past them, landing on top of a large cabinet. **

Once again everyone laughed at the idea of the tiny professor now trying to get down from a cabinet.

"Wonder how he got down there?" Sirius grinned.

**"I'm trying to tell you about Snape and Moody…" **

**This class was an ideal cover for a private conversation, as everyone was having far too much fun to pay them any attention. Harry had been recounting his adventures of the previous night in whispered installments for the last half hour. **

"Why can't they just pay attention?" Molly moaned. School was important…

**"Snape said Moody's searched his office as well?" Ron whispered, his eyes alight with interest as he Banished a cushion with a sweep of his wand (it soared into the air and knocked Parvati's hat off). "What… d'you reckon Moody's here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?" **

"No, Dumbledore wouldn't ask Moody to do that," Bill muttered darkly. "He trusts Snape after all."

"Still, Snape deserves to be searched," Sirius told him. "And why the old man trusts him I still…?"

"Sirius," Remus sighed. "What did I tell you?"

"That if I'm going to insult Snape," Sirius recited dully, "That I do it in my mind."

"Good boy," Tonks said as she read: **"Well, I dunno if that's what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he's definitely doing it," said Harry, waving his wand without paying much attention, so that his cushion did an odd sort of belly flop off the desk. "Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he's giving him a second chance or something…"**

While he didn't say anything, Sirius snorted. Oh, what he wouldn't give to know what this was about. What did that miserable snake in the grass do?

**"What?" said Ron, his eyes widening, his next cushion spinning high into the air, ricocheting off the chandelier, and dropping heavily onto Flitwick's desk. "Harry… maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire!" **

"Oh, Moody knows who put his name in alright," Arthur said bitterly. "It's not like he has to look around offices to figure it out."

**"Oh Ron," said Hermione, shaking her head skeptically, "we thought Snape was trying to kill Harry before, and it turned out he was saving Harry's life, remember?" **

"Yeah," Sirius muttered. While he was grateful for that… that didn't change anything… not after all he read_… 'But that doesn't change the fact that he's evil.'_

**She Banished a cushion and it flew across the room and landed in the box they were all supposed to be aiming at. Harry looked at Hermione, thinking… it was true that Snape had saved his life once, but the odd thing was, Snape definitely loathed him, just as he'd loathed ****Harry's father when they had been at school together.**

"But who doesn't loath Snape?" Bill muttered, still angry at how Snape had treated him and all the other Gryffindors when he was at school.

"He only hates Harry because who his father is," Sirius snapped. "Harry can't help who his parents were anymore than Snape could with his!" he then added in a dark undertone, "If he wasn't born from sludge in a swamp, or hatched that is…"

"As much as Severus hates Harry, I don't think he'd try and kill him," said Remus slowly.

"Why's that?" Tonks asked curiously. "You could've fooled me with how he treats him."

Remus looked away. He had a slight feeling that it might've been because that Severus had feelings for Lily… even after all these years, he didn't think that the memory of their friendship would fade so easily. He knew better than anyone how difficult that was.

**Snape loved taking points from Harry, and had certainly never missed an opportunity to give him punishments, or even to suggest that he should be suspended from the school. **

"Expel more like it," Sirius disagreed softly.

**"I don't care what Moody says," Hermione went on. "Dumbledore's not stupid. **

"That I agree with… but I still can't imagine what possessed him to leave Harry with those… those _dreadful_ Muggles," Molly said to herself, still furious at that piece of injustice.

**He was right to trust Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of people wouldn't have given them jobs, so why shouldn't he be right about Snape, **

"She does have a very good point there, Sirius," Remus said looking up at him.

"Doesn't mean that he can't make a mistake," Sirius said stubbornly, crossing his arms around his chest.

**even if Snape is a bit -" **

"Cruel?" suggested Tonks.

"Bitter?" added Sirius helpfully.

**"- evil," said Ron promptly. **

"Oh, good one," Sirius said approvingly.

**"Come on, Hermione, why are all these Dark wizard catchers searching his office, then?"**

"Well, technically it was the same person looking just for potion ingredients," Kingsley pointed out.

**"Why has Mr. Crouch been pretending to be ill?" said Hermione, ignoring Ron. "It's a bit funny, isn't it, that he can't manage to come to the Yule Ball, but he can get up here in the middle of the night when he wants to?" **

"Zat's because eets not 'im," Fleur sighed.

**"You just don't like Crouch because of that elf, Winky," said Ron, sending a cushion soaring into the window. **

**"You just want to think Snape's up to something," said Hermione, sending her cushion zooming neatly into the box.**

"Yet another good point," Remus said raising his eyebrows. That was how it seemed to him after all…

"Well, it's easy to think that," Sirius said coolly. "He's always up to something."

**"I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he's on his second one," said Harry grimly, **

Sirius shook his head. Come on Harry, keep up. It's obvious that he was a Death Eater, and then came whining to Dumbledore about making a mistake to keep himself out of trouble and then for some reason, Dumbledore believed him.

**and his cushion, to his very great surprise, flew straight across the room and landed neatly on top of Hermione's.**

"See Harry?" Remus mumbled proudly. "You are amazing with magic once you put your mind to it."

**Obedient to Sirius's wish of hearing about anything odd at Hogwarts, Harry sent him a letter by brown owl that night, explaining all about Mr. Crouch breaking into Snape's office, and Moody and Snape's conversation.**

"Yeah, I remember that letter," Sirius sighed. "It didn't make any more sense to me than him at the time."

"How could you have guessed what was going on?" Bill asked him grimly.

**Then Harry turned his attention in earnest to the most urgent problem facing him: how to survive underwater for an hour on the twenty-fourth of February. **

"He should've told me about that," Sirius frowned. "I could've helped him… but since he didn't mention it, I assumed that he was ok…"

"I wonder how he found out about the Gillyweed," Molly asked them worriedly.

"Hermione's my bet," Bill said with half a smirk.

**Ron quite liked the idea of using the Summoning Charm again – **

"Ok…" Moody asked, as if he was speaking to someone dim. "How would that work?"

**Harry had explained about Aqua-Lungs, and Ron couldn't see why Harry shouldn't Summon one from the nearest Muggle town.**

"Huh, that'd be a good plan, except for the fact that the nearest Muggle town is miles from Hogwarts," Remus frowned.

Arthur nodded and said, "And it would also break the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy when the Muggles see objecting flying past."

**Hermione squashed this plan by pointing out that, in the unlikely event that Harry managed to learn how to operate an Aqua-Lung within the set limit of an hour, he was sure to be disqualified for breaking the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy - it was too much to hope that no Muggles would spot an Aqua-Lung zooming across the countryside to Hogwarts. **

"Good, Hermione," Remus said in relief.

**"Of course, the ideal solution would be for you to Transfigure yourself into a submarine or something," Hermione said. "If only we'd done human Transfiguration already! But I don't think we start that until sixth year, and it can go badly wrong if you don't know what you're doing…" **

"True," Sirius said smugly, "But I was able to became an Animagus in my fifth year."

"Though that wouldn't help you survive underwater," Remus reminded him smiling.

"And that should be proof that if someone like you can learn it, then maybe it's not as hard as everything thinks."

"What's a submarine?" Arthur asked as Sirius reached over to pretend to throttle her.

"Muggle thing. It's a great metal vessel that allows them to travel underwater to great depths…" Kingsley explained.

Arthur looked amazed, but Bill was asking, "Then why is she mentioning all that?"

"Just making a point dear," Molly told him.

"Krum tried zat too but 'e only managed to change 'is 'ead," Fleur remembered, seeing the shark head appear out of the water that day had scared her… though nowhere near as terrifying as hearing that Gabrielle was still at the bottom of the lake.

**"Yeah, I don't fancy walking around with a periscope sticking out of my head," said Harry. "I s'pose I could always attack someone in front of Moody; he might do it for me…" **

That caused more laughter.

"The only problem with that is that he might not turn him into an water animal," Sirius said beaming. "But I'm glad to see that he's doing a little more positive thinking."

"I wouldn't let him get a choice," Moody grunted. "But of course the imposter might've done it for him if he asked."

"I just find it funny that he thinks about getting cursed before both tasks," Kingsley said deeply.

**"I don't think he'd let you choose what you wanted to be turned into, though," said Hermione seriously. **

"Hermione, it was a joke," Sirius sighed in great disappointment. "Honestly, Hermione have you ever heard of a sense of humor? Really, I think she's spending too much time with books and not enough with her friends."

"She's too busy thinking to worry about Harry making jokes," Tonks said, "But, yeah… she really needs to relax a little."

**"No, I think your best chance is some sort of charm." **

**So Harry, thinking that he would soon have had enough of the library to last him a lifetime, **

"I hardly spent any time in there and that was still too much!" Sirius stated.

"How did you ever pass your exams?" Molly asked him exasperated. But she suddenly regretted asking him that because he thumped his chest and said, "Natural genius!"

"Ignore him," Remus advised them all. "It's usually the only thing that works when he gets full of himself."

**buried himself once more among the dusty volumes, looking for any spell that might enable a human to survive without oxygen. However, though he, Ron, and Hermione searched through their lunchtimes, evenings, and whole weekends - though Harry asked Professor McGonagall for a note of permission to use the Restricted Section, and even asked the irritable, vulture-like librarian Madam Pince, for help – **

"You know that it has to be desperate to ask the old vulture for help," Sirius muttered to himself

**they found nothing whatsoever that would enable Harry to spend an hour underwater and live to tell the tale. **

"They have to be looking in the wrong sections," Bill muttered. "Because I know that there are a number of ways to survive underwater…"

"Maybe you should've told them that," Kingsley said.

"They just have the worst luck don't they?" Moody said, a hint of amusement in his tone.

**Familiar fluttering of panic were starting to disturb Harry now, and he was finding it difficult to concentrate in class again. The lake, which Harry had always taken for granted as just another feature of the grounds, drew his eyes whenever he was near a classroom window, a great, iron-gray mass of chilly water, whose dark and icy depths were starting to seem as distant as the moon. **

"Creepy," Tonks said in hushed tones. "He's making it sound like the lake is something from a nightmare."

"Oh, I can relate," Fleur said bitterly. Just looking at that lake before the task was horrible…

"Honestly, sending a few teenagers down into a cold lake in _February_," Molly muttered under her breath in suppressed anger. "What were they thinking? Who knew what could've happened down there?"

**Just as it had before he faced the Horntail, time was slipping away as though somebody had bewitched the clocks to go extra-fast. There was a week to go before February the twenty-fourth (there was still time)… there were five days to go (he was bound to find something soon)… three days to go (please let me find something… please)… With two days left. **

_'Harry's getting a hard lesson in procrastination,'_ Kingsley thought idly. _'He needs a lifesaver—or at least a water expert. Wait…' _he suddenly realized something._ 'Wasn't Neville doing some reading a while ago on water-type things? Wonder if he noticed anything?'_

"No wonder 'e was late to ze task, I wondered what took 'im so long," Fleur said to herself.

"He was late?" Bill asked her in surprise.

"Only a little bit," Fleur shrugged. "About five minutes…"

**Harry started to go off food again. **

"No, this isn't worth risking your heath, Harry," Molly fretted. The poor boy was already so thin as it was. He needed every meal he could get…

**The only good thing about breakfast on Monday was the return of the brown owl he had sent to Sirius. He pulled off the parchment, unrolled it, and saw the shortest letter Sirius had ever written to him. **

**_Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend by return owl. _**

**Harry turned the parchment over and looked at the back, hoping to see something else, but it was blank. **

Sirius winced, wishing that he wrote something more comforting.

**"Weekend after next," whispered Hermione, who had read the note over Harry's shoulder. ****"Here - take my quill and send this owl back straight away." **

"What did you want that for?" Bill asked Sirius, but Remus gasped.

"You didn't," he said and Sirius looked away.

"What?" Fleur asked confused.

"He was back in Hogsmeade," Moody said. It wasn't a question… just a fact.

"Sirius…" Molly said staring at him.

"I wasn't in Hogsmeade yet!" he told them all. "I just wanted to know when his next visit would be so that I would be there that day!"

"You've come back to Hogsmeade?" Remus demanded. But he wasn't sure why he was surprised to find this out…

"Do you know how dangerous that is?" Molly said worried. "If you were caught…"

"I'm fine aren't I?" he said annoyed. "I haven't been caught!"

"That was still risky, even for you, Sirius," Arthur said.

"Let's just keep reading," he snapped at them. And they knew that it would be pointless to question him anymore. So Tonks just turned another page and kept reading.

**Harry scribbled the dates down on the back of Sirius's letter, tied it onto the brown owl's leg, and watched it take flight again. What had he expected? Advice on how to survive underwater? He had been so intent on telling Sirius all about Snape and Moody he had completely forgotten to mention the eggs clue. **

"Harry," Tonks said rolling her eyes. "That should have been the most important thing on your list of things to write!"

"Like I said," Sirius muttered grimly. "I had no idea that he didn't have a clue to how to do the task. If I had, I would've given him some ideas."

"Well, he got there in the end didn't he?" Bill said brightly.

**"What's he want to know about the next Hogsmeade weekend for?" said Ron. **

"So he could pop over and say hello," Moody said bored.

"Ok, I get it," Sirius snapped.

**"Dunno," said Harry dully. The momentary happiness that had flared inside him at the sight of the owl had died. "Come on … Care of Magical Creatures." **

**Whether Hagrid was trying to make up for the Blast-Ended Skrewts, or because there were now only two Skrewts left, **

"What a shame," Bill said sarcastically, his eyebrows rose high enough that they were hidden in his hair.

**or because he was trying to prove he could do anything that Professor Grubbly-Plank could. ****Harry didn't know, but Hagrid had been continuing her lessons on unicorns ever since he'd returned to work. It turned out that Hagrid knew quite as much about unicorns as he did about monsters, though it was clear that he found their lack of poisonous fangs disappointing.**

"Oh, that's too bad," Sirius said, though he didn't sound too broken up about it.

"But I think that it would be good change to have unicorns lessons instead of Skrewts," Molly said in relief, "At least they don't have to worry about being eaten."

"Yeah, only being trampled or getting gorged," Moody said.

As Molly began thinking that over, Tonks shot Moody an annoyed look and kept going.

**Today he had managed to capture two unicorn foals. Unlike full-grown unicorns, they were pure gold. Parvati and Lavender went into transports of delight at the sight of them, and even Pansy Parkinson had to work hard to conceal how much she liked them. **

"Zey sound so sweet," Fleur sighed, suddenly wishing she could've seen them.

Moody gave her a strange look. Women… such strange creatures.

**"Easier ter spot than the adults," Hagrid told the class. "They turn silver when they're abou' two years old, an' they grow horns at aroun' four. Don' go pure white till they're full grown, 'round about seven. They're a bit more trustin' when they're babies… don mind boys so much… c'mon, move in a bit, yeh can pat 'em if yeh want… give 'em a few o' these sugar lumps… **

Tonks smirked. So even unicorn foals aren't thrilled about males, so if a wizard ever needs to approach a unicorn, it's best to remember not to send a guy in to do a woman's job…

"Zey sound gorgeous," Fleur said smiling.

Bill laughed. "They don't have unicorns in France?" he asked.

She smiled back. "No… zere aren't forests like ze ones at 'Ogwarts. Zey only live in places like zat."

**"You okay Harry?" Hagrid muttered, moving aside slightly, while most of the others swarmed around the baby unicorns. **

"Just great," Sirius grunted, his grin fading slightly. "He's doing just peachy…"

**"Yeah," said Harry. **

**"Jus' nervous, eh?" said Hagrid. **

**"Bit," said Harry. **

"Did he just say _'bit?'_" Sirius sighed. What was with that boy? Why couldn't he just come right out and say when something's wrong?

"Yep," Arthur answered. "Unless it was a misprint."

"Okay, so that was a bit of an understatement," Kingsley said.

**"Harry," said Hagrid, clapping a massive hand on his shoulder, so that Harry's knees buckled under its weight, "I'd've bin worried before I saw yeh take on tha' Horntail, but I know now yeh can do anythin' yeh set yer mind ter. **

"That I can't disagree with," Remus smiled.

**I'm not worried at all. Yeh're goin ter be fine. Got yer clue worked out, haven' yeh?" **

**Harry nodded, but even as he did so, an insane urge to confess that he didn't have any idea how to survive at the bottom of the lake for an hour came over him. **

"Hagrid might know something that would help," Bill pointed out. "He takes care of everything else after all…"

"He might," Arthur said. "But I think that most of the creatures in the lake look after themselves."

**He looked up at Hagrid - perhaps he had to go into the lake sometimes, to deal with the ****creatures in it? He looked after everything else on the grounds, after all- **

Fleur giggled.

"Déjà vu!" Tonks laughed.

"If some of you would quit talking once in awhile, then maybe this won't happen!" Moody grunted.

"Touché," Tonks said.

**"Yeh're goin' ter win," Hagrid growled, patting Harry's shoulder again, so that Harry actually felt himself sink a couple of inches into the soft ground. "I know it. I can feel it. Yeh're goin' ter win, Harry" **

"I wish he didn't," Sirius said, looking grim again. Because once again, being forced to witness Voldemort return and almost being killed didn't sound like winning to him.

**Harry just couldn't bring himself to wipe the happy, confident smile off Hagrid's face. Pretending he was interested in the young unicorns, he forced a smile in return, and moved forward to pat them with the others. **

"Oh, the poor dear," Molly said sympathetically, "He just feels that everyone's counting on him, and he doesn't want to let them down…"

"He shouldn't have to feel that way," Sirius said darkly. "It's none of their business! Instead of looking for someone to solve your problems, do it yourself. Why can't they give him a break?"

"Tis the price of fame," Moody summarized clearly, and for some reason, no one could think of anything to say to that.

**By the evening before the second task Harry felt as though he were trapped in a nightmare. **

Fleur looked shocked, "You mean 'e was still looking for a way up to ze last night? 'Ow did ever 'e manage to find ze Gillyweed?"

"Sounds like a miracle to me," Bill muttered. He couldn't wait to hear what happened next.

**He was fully aware that even if, by some miracle, he managed to find a suitable spell, he'd have a real job mastering it overnight. How could he have let this happen? Why hadn't he got to work on the egg's clue sooner? **

"Because he's too stubborn to listen to Hermione?" Tonks offered… and that typical male pride wasn't much help either.

**Why had he ever let his mind wander in class - what if a teacher had once mentioned how to breathe underwater?**

"No," Kingsley said shaking his head at once.. "They don't cover spells like that until fifth year…"

"Besides," Sirius said. "I think that Hermione would've been able to tell them in a second if they did."

**He sat with Hermione and Ron in the library as the sun set outside, tearing feverishly through page after page of spells, hidden from one another by the massive piles of books on the desk in front of each of them. Harry's heart gave a huge leap every time he saw the word "water" on a page, but more often than not it was merely "Take two pints of water, half a pound of shredded mandrake leaves, and a newt…"**

**"I don't reckon it can be done," said Ron's voice flatly from the other side of the table. "There's nothing. Nothing. Closest was that thing to dry up puddles and ponds, that Drought Charm, but that was nowhere near powerful enough to drain the lake." **

"Besides," Arthur stated, "Even if it had, I don't think that the merpeople would be too happy with that."

**"There must be something," Hermione muttered, moving a candle closer to her. Her eyes were so tired she was poring over the tiny print of _Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes_ with her nose about an inch from the page. "They'd never have set a task that was undoable." **

"Could've fooled me," Molly muttered under her breath. Really, who had been the one to come up with these ideas?

**"They have," said Ron. "Harry, just go down to the lake tomorrow, right, stick your head in, ****yell at the merpeople to give back whatever they've nicked, and see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, mate." **

"Ronald!" cried Molly angrily, "Now is not the time for joking!"

"It would be a laugh though," Sirius said thinking it over. "For the merfolk I mean…"

**"There's a way of doing it!" Hermione said crossly. "There just has to be!" **

**She seemed to be taking the library's lack of useful information on the subject as a personal insult; it had never failed her before. **

"Looks like she's getting a tough lesson to," Kingsley said softly. "You can't find everything in a book."

"That's a good lesson for her," Sirius agreed with a nod. But did they really have to find that out before the Second Task?

**"I know what I should have done," said Harry, resting, face-down, on Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts. "I should've learned to be an Animagus like Sirius." **

"I doubt that it would've helped even if he had," Remus said, lowering his head slightly at the thought of the silver stag. "After all, it takes years… and Harry wouldn't have a choice in what he would become. The odds of it becoming a creature that could breathe underwater is unlikely."

"And he would be arrest for it as well," Moody smirked.

**An Animagus was a wizard who could transform into an animal. **

**"Yeah, you could've turned into a goldfish any time you wanted!" said Ron. **

**"Or a frog," yawned Harry. He was exhausted. **

They all shook their heads, knowing that they were just trying to lighten the situation, but it just wasn't fair.

**"It takes years to become an Animagus, and then you have to register yourself and everything," said Hermione vaguely, now squinting down the index of _Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions. _**

"Once again Hermione," Tonks sighed. "It was a joke!"

**"Professor McGonagall told us, remember… you've got to register yourself with the Improper Use of Magic Office… what animal you become, and your markings, so you can't abuse it…"**

**"Hermione, I was joking," said Harry wearily. "I know I haven't got a chance of turning into a frog by tomorrow morning…" **

**"Oh this is no use," Hermione said, snapping shut Weird Wizarding Dilemmas. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?" **

"That would be something interesting to talk about though!" Sirius added brightly.

**"I wouldn't mind," said Fred Weasleys voice. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?" **

"I should've known…" Arthur chuckled.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up. Fred and George had just emerged from behind some bookshelves. **

**"What're you two doing here?" Ron asked. **

"It would be a surprise," Arthur said softly. After all, he knew that the twins avoided the library at all costs.

**"Looking for you," said George. "McGonagall wants you, Ron. And you, Hermione."**

**"Why?" said Hermione, looking surprised. **

"So that they can be taken to the bottom of the lake to wait until morning," Molly hissed.

"What are you…?" Tonks began before she understood.

"Something that he would sorely miss," Remus said.

"But both of them?" Bill asked at once. "I would think if the item is a person, it would only need to be one. But two?"

"Hermione wasn't Harry's hostage," Sirius answered in a teasing tone.

"But who…?" Arthur began, but it was Fleur who answered.

"Viktor," she told him. "'E really did 'ave a large crush on 'er."

"Awwww," Tonks cooed. "It's always nice to meet such a sensitive man." She glanced over at Remus, not so secretly at that.

**"Dunno… she was looking a bit grim, though," said Fred. **

"Of course she would be," Molly sighed. Minerva couldn't have been any happier about this anymore than she was.

**"We're supposed to take you down to her office," said George. **

**Ron and Hermione stared at Harry, who felt his stomach drop. Was Professor McGonagall about to tell Ron and Hermione off? Perhaps she'd noticed how much they were helping him, when he ought to be working out how to do the task alone? **

"I doubt that," Sirius snorted. "After all, the rules don't say anything about having friends help you."

"And Potter needs all the help he can get," Moody muttered under his breath.

**"We'll meet you back in the common room," Hermione told Harry as she got up to go with Ron - both of them looked very anxious. "Bring as many of these books as you can, okay?" **

**"Right," said Harry uneasily. **

**By eight o'clock Madam Pince had extinguished all the lamps and came to chivvy Harry out of the library. Staggering under the weight of as many books as he could carry, Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room, pulled a table into a corner, and continued to search. **

"Just how did he pull this off?" Sirius asked in amazement. He was having trouble coming up with a solution to how his godson was able to survive this task.

**There was nothing in _Madcap Magic for Wacky Warlocks_… nothing in _A Guide to Medieval Sorcery_… not one mention of underwater exploits in _An Anthology of Eighteenth-Century Charms_, or in _Dreadful Denizens of the Deep, or Powers You Never Knew You Had and What to Do with Them Now You've Wised Up. _**

"That sounds like an interesting read," Tonks sniggered. "They sure got the title straight and to the point.

"Good books, but not helpful here," Remus declared, having read them all.

"You read too much, Moony," Sirius said in a long-suffering voice.

"Is it wrong to have a hobby?" he asked lightly.

"No," Sirius admitted, before he grumbled to himself, "But you need to have a normal life to, buddy."

**Crookshanks crawled into Harry's lap and curled up, purring deeply. The common room emptied slowly around Harry. People kept wishing him luck for the next morning in cheery, confident voices like Hagrid's, all of them apparently convinced that he was about to pull off another stunning performance like the one he had managed in the first task. **

"Well he does, they have nothing to worry about," Sirius stated confidently. "After all, that's what he does best."

"But if it's in the lake, will they even be able to see the task?" asked Arthur.

"Don't know, don't care," Moody said.

**Harry couldn't answer them, he just nodded, feeling as though there were a golfball stuck in his throat. By ten to midnight, he was alone in the room with Crookshanks. He had searched all the remaining books, and Ron and Hermione had not come back. **

"He needs his friends now more than ever," Kingsley stated carefully. He could only imagine how terrible it would be to have to face something as terrible as the Triwizard tournament without someone there to support you.

**It's over, he told himself. You can't do it. You'll just have to go down to the lake in the morning and tell the judges… **

"I don't see how he did it," Bill said stunned. "How could he have gotten the Gillyweed?"

**He imagined himself explaining that he couldn't do the task. He pictured Bagman's look of round-eyed surprise, Karkaroff's satisfied, yellow-toothed smile. He could almost hear Fleur Delacour saying "I knew it… 'e is too young, 'e is only a little boy." **

Fleur blushed slightly; she had a feeling that would have been exactly what she said. Thankfully, no one said a word to her about it. They were all to worried as it was.

**He saw Malfoy flashing his POTTER STINKS badge at the front of the crowd, **

"Well, I'd love to see him go through this," Sirius hissed. "He'd wet his pants for sure. He wouldn't have made it past the First five minutes without crying for daddy."

**saw Hagrid's crestfallen, disbelieving face… **

"Oh, he's good at this," Tonks said at once. "My mum was right… the imagination can be a curse."

**Forgetting that Crookshanks was on his lap.** **Harry stood up very suddenly; Crookshanks hissed angrily as he landed on the floor, gave Harry a disgusted look, and stalked away with his bottlebrush tail in the air, but Harry was already hurrying up the spiral staircase to his dormitory… he would grab the Invisibility Cloak and go back to the library, he'd stay there all night if he had to… **

**_"Lumos,"_**** Harry whispered fifteen minutes later as he opened the library door. **

"There's my nightmare," Sirius shivered. Spending all night in a library! The only thing that could make it worse was if Madam Pince was there watching…

**Wand tip alight, he crept along the bookshelves, pulling down more books – books of hexes and charms, books on merpeople and water monsters, books on famous witches and wizards, on magical inventions, on anything at all that might include one passing reference to underwater survival. He carried them over to a table, and then set to work, searching them by the narrow beam of his wand, occasionally checking his watch… **

"He'll run himself ragged if he kept this up any longer," Molly fretted anxiously. "The poor boy needs his sleep!"

**One in the morning… two in the morning… the only way he could keep going was to tell himself, over and over again, next book… in the next one… the next one… **

**The mermaid in the painting in the prefects' bathroom was laughing. Harry was bobbing like a cork in bubbly water next to her rock, while she held his Firebolt over his head. **

"He has the strangest dreams," Moody said causally.

Fleur tilted her head. She was surprised to hear that she wasn't the only one having nightmares about that lake—though thinking of it now,

**"Come and get it!" she giggled maliciously. "Come on, jump!" **

**"I can't," Harry panted, snatching at the Firebolt, and struggling not to sink. "Give it to me!" **

**But she just poked him painfully in the side with the end of the broomstick, laughing at him. **

**"That hurts - get off- ouch -" **

**"Harry Potter must wake up, sir!" **

"Dobby?" Sirius cried in astonishment. "That nutty elf?"

"Oh," Arthur said in understanding. "So it must've been Dobby who helped him out."

"But how could he have known?" Molly asked baffled.

"No one notices house-elves," Remus stated slowly. "I guess that they hear things that no one else does."

"No, I mean, how did he know that Harry needed help?" she made clear.

"No idea," was the only thing that Kingsley could come up with it.

But Moody had an idea who had let it slip.

**"Stop poking me -" **

**"Dobby must poke Harry Potter, sir, he must wake up!" **

"Looks like he would've missed the whole thing if Dobby hadn't been there," Bill stated. "Hate to think what would've happened if he did…"

**Harry opened his eyes. He was still in the library; the Invisibility Cloak had slipped off his head as he'd slept, and the side of his face was stuck to the pages of _Where There's a Wand, There's a Way_. **

"Sure…" Sirius said rolling his eyes. That had to be one of the dumbest titles he ever hears.

**He sat up, straightening his glasses, blinking in the bright daylight. **

**"Harry Potter needs to hurry!" squeaked Dobby. "The second task starts in ten minutes, and Harry Potter -" **

"He only had ten minutes left?!" Molly repeated. "Good lord, no wonder he was late!"

**"Ten minutes?" Harry croaked. "Ten - ten minutes?" **

**He looked down at his watch. Dobby was right. It was twenty past nine. A large, dead weight seemed to fall through Harry's chest into his stomach. **

"That's one heck of an alarm clock…" Sirius muttered. If that didn't wake him up, nothing world.

**"Hurry, Harry Potter!" squeaked Dobby, plucking at Harry's sleeve. "You is supposed to be down by the lake with the other champions, sir!" **

**"It's too late, Dobby," Harry said hopelessly. "I'm not doing the task, I don't know how-" **

"Why do you think that Dobby's there, Harry?" Arthur grinned, his fondness for the elf growing with every second.

**"Harry Potter will do the task!" squeaked the elf. "Dobby knew Harry had not found the right book, so Dobby did it for him!" **

"Ok, now I think I can overlook some of the things that Dobby has done," Sirius said.

**"What?" said Harry. "But you don't know what the second task is -" **

"You're forgetting that he's an elf," Tonks laughed. "They always know somehow…"

Remus glanced over at Sirius—wondering if he was thinking the same thing… that maybe Kreacher knew things that they didn't know.

**"Dobby knows, sir! Harry Potter has to go into the lake and find his Wheezy -" **

"And I thought my engleesh was bad," Fleur said to herself

"Wheezy," Sirius repeated to himself with a snort.

**"Find my what?" **

"Your wheezy Harry, why haven't you figured that out?" Bill smirked.

**"- and take his Wheezy back from the merpeople!" **

**"What's a Wheezy?" **

"Well, we have three of them in the room," Tonks teased. And Bill shot her an amused look.

"That's a great name," Sirius smirked as he looked to Bill and his parents. "Maybe I'll call you all that from now on."

"Sure…" Arthur said with his eyes rolling. "But only if we call you something like Siri?"

Sirius held his hands up in surrender. "I get it! No need to hit below the belt like that."

**"Your Wheezy, sir, your Wheezy-Wheezy who is giving Dobby his sweater!" Dobby plucked at the shrunken maroon sweater he was now wearing over his shorts. **

**"What?" Harry gasped. "They've got… they've got Ron?" **

Molly groaned; they were just lucky that none of them were hurt during this task. Otherwise she would've had a few words to say to the ones in charge.

**"The thing Harry Potter will miss most, sir!" squeaked Dobby.**

_'I guess they should've said 'the one' they'll miss most,'_ Moody thought grimly.

**"'But past an hour- '" **

**"- 'the prospect's black,'" Harry recited, staring, horror-struck, at the elf. "'Too late, it's ****gone, it won't come back.' Dobby - what've I got to do?" **

"Oh no," Remus said, knowing where this was going.

"Oh dear," Arthur said almost at the same time. "He thinks that Ron is in real danger."

"Harry, didn't really think that they would let anything happen to the hostages if their champion doesn't get there, did he?" Tonks asked.

"Well, no one ever told us otherwise," Fleur said darkly. "At least I wasn't ze only one to take ze song seriously. Whether Gabrielle was in danger or not, just ze idea zat my baby sister was at ze bottom of ze lake scared me 'alf to death!"

She looked so fierce there, no one said a word, though Molly felt her sympathy for her increase.

**"You has to eat this, sir!" squeaked the elf, and he put his hand in the pocket of his shorts and drew out a ball of what looked like slimy, greyish-green rat tails.**

"So Dobby was the one who gave him the Gillyweed," Remus sighed in relief before he asked, "But… wait… where did Dobby get it from?"

"Who cares?" Sirius asked, pushing that question aside. "He got it for him, and he gets through the task! That's all that matters!"

**"Right before you go into the lake, sir - Gillyweed!" **

**"What's it do?" said Harry, staring at the Gillyweed. **

**"It will make Harry Potter breathe underwater, sir!" **

**"Dobby," said Harry frantically, "listen - are you sure about this?" **

**He couldn't quite forget that the last time Dobby had tried to "help" him, he had ended up with no bones in his right arm. **

"Well, that was Lockhart's fault," Arthur pointed out. "Not Dobby's."

"I can understand why he's cautious," Kingsley said, "I mean… Dobby's idea of help isn't what you call… ah, helpful…"

"Yeah, but that was then!" Tonks reminded him. "This time he knows what he's talking about!"

**"Dobby is quite sure, sir!" said the elf earnestly. "Dobby hears things, sir, he is a house-elf, he goes all over the castle as he lights the fires and mops the floors. Dobby heard Professor McGonagall and Professor Moody in the staffroom, talking about the next task … Dobby cannot let Harry Potter lose his Wheezy!" **

"Looks like Dobby was worried about Ron too," Molly smiled weakly.

Mad-Eye's eye narrowed. So his imposter really did set up all this as well? Why wasn't he surprised?

**Harry's doubts vanished. **

Moody held back a groan. The boy trusted to easily! He thought that over before he shook his head. Well, he had a good idea where he picked that bad habit from.

**Jumping to his feet he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, stuffed it into his bag, grabbed the Gillyweed, and put it into his pocket, then tore out of the library with Dobby at his heels. **

**"Dobby is supposed to be in the kitchens, sir!" Dobby squealed as they burst into the corridor. "Dobby will be missed - good luck, Harry Potter, sir, good luck!" **

"Looks like we owe Dobby one," Bill grinned.

"Wish I thought of Gillyweed," Fleur muttered. "It would've been so much easier…"

**"See you later, Dobby!" Harry shouted, and he sprinted along the corridor and down the stairs, three at a time. **

**The entrance hall contained a few last-minute stragglers, all leaving the Great Hall after breakfast and heading through the double oak doors to watch the second task. They stared as Harry flashed past, sending Colin and Dennis Creevey flying as he leapt down the stone steps and out onto the bright, chilly grounds. **

"Oh, I doubt they mind," Arthur chuckled, remembering how enthusiastic the Creevey brothers were.

"Yeah, they probably think that it was an honor that Harry Potter almost flattened them!" Sirius joked.

**As he pounded down the lawn he saw that the seats that had encircled the dragons' enclosure in November were now ranged along the opposite bank, rising in stands that were packed to the bursting point and reflected in the lake below. The excited babble of the crowd echoed strangely across the water as Harry ran flat-out around the other side of the lake toward the judges, who were sitting at another gold draped table at the water's edge. Cedric, Fleur, and Krum were beside the judges' table, watching Harry sprint toward them. **

"'E looked like a madman ze way 'e was running at us," Fleur said thinking back.

**"I'm… here…" Harry panted, skidding to a halt in the mud and accidentally splattering Fleur's robes. **

"Bet you loved that," Tonks poked fun at Fleur and she gave her a rather forced smile. "Well, zey sure got clean after spending almost an 'our in ze lake," she stated.

**"Where have you been?" said a bossy, disapproving voice. "The task's about to start!" **

"Three guesses who that is," Sirius whispered to Remus, his optimistic mood fading a little. Really, did that power-hungry git have to be there to?

**Harry looked around. Percy Weasley was sitting at the judges' table - Mr. Crouch had failed to turn up again. **

**"Now, now, Percy!" said Ludo Bagman, who was looking intensely relieved to see Harry. "Let him catch his breath!" **

_'Yeah, Perce,'_ Sirius thought angrily. _'Who died and made you boss?'_ he suddenly realized what he was thinking and shivered.

**Dumbledore smiled at Harry, but Karkaroff and Madame Maxime didn't look at all pleased to see him… it was obvious from the looks on their faces that they had thought he wasn't going to turn up. **

"Awwww… isn't that just too bad?" Sirius said with fierce pride. His godson sure showed them all here.

**Harry bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath; he had a stitch in his side that felt as though he had a knife between his ribs, but there was no time to get rid of it; Ludo Bagman was now moving among the champions, spacing them along the bank at intervals of ten feet. Harry was on the very end of the line, next to Krum, who was wearing swimming trunks and was holding his wand ready.**

Sirius smirked, having fight back laughing again… he was willing to bet that Krum's fan club loved that.

**"All right. Harry?" Bagman whispered as he moved Harry a few feet farther away from Krum. "Know what you're going to do?" **

"Only just," Molly spoke weakly.

**"Yeah," Harry panted, massaging his ribs. **

**Bagman gave Harry's shoulder a quick squeeze and returned to the judges' table; he pointed his wand at his throat as he had done at the World Cup, said, "_Sonorus!"_ and his voice boomed out across the dark water toward the stands. **

But before she could read any further, they all heard a slight creak outside the door.

"What was that?" Kingsley asked in surprise.

"Probably Kreacher," Sirius grunted, wanting to go back to the book, and honestly not caring who was there at the minute.

"Yeah, nothing out there to worry about," agreed Moody, seeing who it was. And it was about time he came back.

*Hall*

Albus had returned later than he thought he would. But as a leader in the war against Voldemort, he had several tasks that needed to be done. But once he was finished, he returned in time to hear Tonks reading that last paragraph.

And he was so focused on listening, that he forgot that the top stair creaked. He remained still for a moment to see if they would do anything but one word from Alastor had turned attention away from him and he sighed in relief. So they were reading about the Second Task now? He remembered that day all too well…

_*Flashback*_

_"Where is Potter?" Minerva asked him anxiously as he headed to his seat at the judges table which had been conjured up at the water's edge. "How could he be late? What is he doing? I don't even remember seeing him at breakfast and…?"_

_"It'll be alright, Minerva," he said, surprised at how calm his voice was. To be honest, he wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure Minerva or himself. "I'm sure that he's on his way right now… he'll be here."_

_"Vell, I say ve start without the boy already," Karkaroff said nastily. "He's already late! And if he can't show us respect by being on time for the task, he doesn't deserve to be competing! Not that he should've in the first place!"_

_"Igor," he said warningly, not in the mood to be listening to him about rules at the moment._

_Karkaroff opened his mouth to complain when he heard someone shout out, "There he is!"_

_Albus turned just as everyone did, and sure enough, there was Harry, running flat out across the lawn, his robes flying behind him. Karkaroff looked furious as Ludo, for some reason, looked immensely relieved._

_"I'm… here…" Harry gasped as he came to a skidded stop in front of the table, accidentally splattering Fleur's robes with mud. Fleur glared at him and whipped out her wand to clear the mud away._

_"Where have you been?" Percy Weasley said pompously. "The task's about to start!"_

_"Now, now, Percy!" Ludo reproached him with a grin on his face, as Harry bent over trying to get his breath. "Let him catch his breath!"_

_As he said this, he led the four of them to the very edge of the lake where each of them would be starting. Albus looked at Harry, wondering what on earth he was going to be doing, and as he watched the boy pull something out of his pocket and shoved it into his mouth._

_What was going on now? Did he really still have a plan? He was still in the library last time he checked… unless he could've mastered a spell that could've helped over night he couldn't see how…_

_Suddenly, Ludo returned to the judges' table and pointed his wand at his throat, and Albus wasn't able to think about it anymore._

_"Sonorus!" His voice suddenly boomed out across the water to where the stands were on the other side of the Lake. "Well, all our champions are ready for the Second Task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One… two… three!"_

_The shrill whistle pierced through the air, and the stands erupted with cheers and applause as all the champions started to wade into the water. Cedric and Fleur were the first to act, and both cast the Bubble-Head Charms. Massive bubbles materialized around their heads, which disoriented their features before they dove straight into the water and disappeared almost at once. Viktor took a little more time as he raised his wand and had preformed a very sloppy job of Transfiguration on his head; changing it into one of a shark's. However he seemed satisfied with it and he plunged into the water just as Cedric and Fleur had done._

_Now only Harry was left standing on the very edge of the Lake. He watched as he stumbled through the water, wondering what on earth he was planning on doing. As he walked out, he could hear laughs and jeers from the Slytherins in the stands—now he was about waist-deep in the water, and still nothing was happening. Everyone watched, but when nothing happened, there was more laughter which then turned into catcalls and jeering… just when Albus was beginning to think that Harry hadn't been able to find a way to do the task, it happened._

_There were gasps coming from the crowded and he had to strain his eyes to see what was happening… he watched as Harry clapped his hands around his throat as if he had trouble breathing and when he pulled them away he saw that there were long slits just below his ears…_

_"He's got gills!" he heard someone shout. Everyone stopped laughing at once, and watched in amazement._

_'Gillyweed!' Albus thought, and glanced over at Karkaroff and had to fight the urge to laugh at the dumbfounded look on his face. "Clever boy," Albus whispered to himself before he turned back just in time to see, Harry flung himself forward into the water and disappeared beneath the surface._

_Ludo was roaring with laughter, and for once it didn't bother him—really it had been worth the stress of planning this task just to see the looks of astonishment from everyone in the crowd. Once he had calmed down, Ludo cleared his throat and called out, "Well, now that all the champions are underwater, I might as well tell you all what this is about. Last night, something was taken from each of them and is now waiting for them to come and bring them back from the bottom of the lake!"_

_As he let that sink in, he could hear them all talking among themselves, wondering what was taken from the champions no doubt._

_Ludo then went on to say, "They have one hour to retrieve the one thing that each of them will most sorely miss - or I guess I should say, who." The stands fell silent, as they looked around, understanding now what was happening._

_"That's right," he called to the stunned crowd, "The task is simple enough. There are hostages at the bottom of the lake and the task is for the champions to bring back what was taken from them. In this case, Fleur Delacour's hostage is her own little sister Gabrielle Delacour."_

_A few people gasped as Ludo went on, "Cedric Diggory's hostage is Cho Chang. Harry Potter's hostage is his best friend Ronald Weasley. And Viktor Krum's hostage is Hermione Granger."_

_Albus could hear a few of the girls let out cries of indignation at Hermione's name, but Ludo didn't seem to have noticed. "Rest assure that the hostages aren't in any real danger. Each one of them has been put into an enchanted sleep that will wear off once they are brought back to the surface. But as for what the champions had all just done right now…"_

_He pointed to the lake, "Just now, I'm sure that you all saw that both Cedric Diggory and Fleur Delacour had preformed the Bubble-Head Charm which, for those of you who don't pay attention in class, creates a giant bubble of air around their heads to breathe. Viktor Krum did a partial Transfiguration and gave himself a shark's head. A clever idea, however that also had to be some of the most awful Transfiguration work I've seen in years."_

_Again, Albus had to stop himself from laughing at the look of fury on Igor's face. "As for our youngest champion, our Mr. Harry Potter, on the other hand, used what is known as gillyweed. To those of you out there who never heard of such a thing, gillyweed is a water plant that actually allows one to breathe underwater by growing gills and webbed hands and feet. It's effects last for about an hour before they wear off… so, now that's all taken care of, all we've got to do is wait for the champions to return, hopefully with their respective hostages."_

_Ludo looked to him and he nodded in return as he looked out at the lake, wondering what was going on down there…_

_*End of Flashback*_

He shook his head. That was a tense day that he never wanted to repeat for as long as he lived…

He took his usual place behind the door in the shadows as he listened, not planning on staying long. Once the talking inside died down, he heard Tonks continuing to read.

**"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One… two… three!" **

_'And here it goes…'_ they all thought, none of them realizing that their heads were slowly leaning forward, and that they all seemed to be holding their breaths. It was a mark at how uptight the situation had become that Sirius couldn't even think of something to say…

**The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause; without looking to see what the other champions were doing, Harry pulled off his shoes and socks, pulled the handful of Gillyweed out of his pocket, stuffed it into his mouth, and waded out into the lake. **

**It was so cold he felt the skin on his legs searing as though this were fire, not icy water. **

They all winced—Fleur's eyes were twitching as she remembered that burning cold…

**His sodden robes weighed him down as he walked in deeper; now the water was over his knees, and his rapidly numbing feet were slipping over silt and flat, slimy stones. He was chewing the Gillyweed as hard and fast as he could; it felt unpleasantly slimy and rubbery, like octopus tentacles. Waist-deep in the freezing water he stopped, swallowed, and waited for something to happen.**

Albus shook his head in remembrance… for a moment, it looked like Harry had no idea what to do.

**He could hear laughter in the crowd and knew he must look stupid, walking into the lake without showing any sign of magical power. **

Molly pursed her lips. How could they laugh at that?

**The part of him that was still dry was covered in goose pimples; half immersed in the icy water, a cruel breeze lifting his hair, Harry started to shiver violently. He avoided looking at the stands; the laughter was becoming louder, and there were catcalls and jeering from the Slytherins… **

"Well, I'd love to see them all try it," Sirius snarled. At least Harry had the guts to go through it! Those rotten snakes couldn't do anything without bribery or blackmail!

**Then, quite suddenly, Harry felt as though an invisible pillow had been pressed over his mouth and nose. He tried to draw breath, but it made his head spin; his lungs were empty, and he suddenly felt a piercing pain on either side of his neck – **

"Oh, that sounds horrible," Bill muttered, looking at Fleur, who was shivering next o him. Whether it was the memory of the cold, or just the whole experience, he couldn't tell.

**Harry clapped his hands around his throat and felt two large slits just below his ears, flapping in the cold air… he had gills. **

Molly let out a sigh of relief. It had worked.

**Without pausing to think, he did the only thing that made sense - he flung himself forward into the water. **

**The first gulp of icy lake water felt like the breath of life. His head had stopped spinning; he took another great gulp of water and felt it pass smoothly through his gills, sending oxygen back to his brain.**

"That must've felt so strange," Arthur said thinking it over. "Normally when you go under water you're trying not to breath in water."

"But it sounds cool," Tonks said. Maybe she should try it sometime?

**He stretched out his hands in front of him and stared at them. They looked green and ghostly under the water, and they had become webbed. He twisted around and looked at his bare feet - they had become elongated and the toes were webbed too: It looked as though he had sprouted flippers. **

**The water didn't feel icy anymore either… on the contrary, he felt pleasantly cool and very light… Harry struck out once more, marveling at how far and fast his flipper-like feet propelled him through the water, and noticing how clearly he could see, and how he no longer seemed to need to blink. He had soon swum so far into the lake that he could no longer see the bottom. He flipped over and dived into its depths. **

"Zat definitely sounds like it works better zan ze Bubble-Head Charm," Fleur admitted.

"At least he didn't have to worry about it popping," Moody grunted to her.

**Silence pressed upon his ears as he soared over a strange, dark, foggy landscape. He could only see ten feet around him, so that as he sped through the water new scenes seemed to loom suddenly out of the incoming darkness: forests of rippling, tangled black weed, wide plains of mud littered with dull, glimmering stones. **

Fleur gulped loudly—almost painfully. She remembered all this so well… hearing this was bringing up some very painful memories. She was now seriously considering not coming back later on with the still darker chapters… she didn't want to know how Cedric died…

**He swam deeper and deeper, out toward the middle of the lake, his eyes wide, staring through the eerily grey-lit water around him to the shadow beyond, where the water became opaque. **

"And it only gets darker from here…" she muttered.

**Small fish flickered past him like silver darts. Once or twice he thought he saw something larger moving ahead of him, but when he got nearer, he discovered it to be nothing but a large, blackened log, or a dense clump of weed. There was no sign of any of the other champions, merpeople, Ron - nor, thankfully, the giant squid. **

"Oh, I wouldn't worry," Remus said knowingly. "The giant squid avoids humans most of the time… and even when they do, they're really surprisingly gentle."

"Like with most people," Kingsley agreed, "Appearances can be deceiving."

**Light green weed stretched ahead of him as far as he could see, two feet deep, like a ****meadow of very overgrown grass. **

"Oh, 'e shouldn't go zat way!" Fleur said at once, knowing at once what lurked in the tall weeds. "Zere are ze Grindylows!"

"He can avoid them if he stays high enough," Remus said at once.

"But zere are so many…" Fleur stated.

"Did you run into them?" Bill asked worriedly and she nodded, looking ashamed of herself.

"I was ze only one who couldn't get passed zem," she said bitterly. "One of ze merpeople pulled me back to ze surface." She looked down at the floor, but Bill clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok," he told her. "It's tough enough to go through a task like this. How were you supposed to know what was in there?"

"But I should've been able to guess…" she grumbled.

Kingsley wore a very kind expression. "Not many people could've gone through the entire tournament. They're supposed to be challenging. If they were easy, then there wouldn't have been any point. We all think that you did amazingly well."

Fleur blushed at the praise, and tried to hide a proud smile. Bill on the other hand showed no restraint and beamed at her. Once this heart-warming scene was over, Tonks went back to the book.

**Harry was staring unblinkingly ahead of him, trying to discern shapes through the gloom… and then, without warning, something grabbed hold of his ankle. **

"So a Grindylow attacked 'im to," she said in surprise, but as Tonks went on, it only got worse.

**Harry twisted his body around and saw a Grindylow, a small, horned water demon, poking out of the weed, its long fingers clutched tightly around Harry's leg, its pointed fangs bared – **

Fleur was having a bad flashback to seeing those horrible creatures grab her and try to pull her down. She hit her head hard on a rock and it popped her bubble… she thought that she for sure that she would drown until she felt someone grab her and bring her back to the surface. The next thing she knew was waking up in the medical tent being told that she had been disqualified from the task.

**Harry stuck his webbed hand quickly inside his robes and fumbled for his wand. By the time he had grasped it, two more Grindylows had risen out of the weed, had seized handfuls of Harry's robes, and were attempting to drag him down. **

**"_Relashio!_" Harry shouted, **

"Good thing that he paid attention to your class, Remus," Molly sighed in relief.

"Wish I thought of zat," Fleur told Bill under her breath. He only smiled and gripped her hand comfortingly.

**except that no sound came out… A large bubble issued from his mouth, and his wand, instead of sending sparks at the Grindylows, pelted them with what seemed to be a jet of boiling water, for where it struck them, angry red patches appeared on their green skin. Harry pulled his ankle out of the Grindylows grip and swam, as fast as he could, occasionally sending more jets of hot water over his shoulder at random; **

"Good keep them off you," Sirius cheered on as if he was watching the whole thing himself.

"That is impressive, most people would panic," Kingsley said softly. "He does well under pressure."

"Haven't you been paying attention?" Sirius asked annoyed. "He's amazing under stress."

**every now and then he felt one of the Grindylows snatch at his foot again, and he kicked out, hard; finally, he felt his foot connect with a horned skull, and looking back, saw the dazed Grindylow floating away, cross-eyed, while its fellows shook their fists at Harry and sank back into the weed. **

Fleur leaned against Bill, trying to remind herself that it had all worked out in the end. Everyone came out safe and alive…

**Harry slowed down a little, slipped his wand back inside his robes, and looked around, listening again. He turned full circle in the water, the silence pressing harder than ever against his eardrums. He knew he must be even deeper in the lake now, but nothing was moving but the rippling weed.**

**"How are you getting on?" **

"Now who is it?" Bill asked suspiciously. Was it one of the merpeople… or…?"

**Harry thought he was having a heart attack. He whipped around and saw Moaning Myrtle floating hazily in front of him, gazing at him through her thick, pearly glasses. **

"Oh, it's just Myrtle," Tonks said happily. "Funny how she shows up when you least expect it."

"Why's she there?" Arthur asked in surprise.

"I think that she wanted to see the champions do the task in person," Remus said.

"Or to see Harry," Tonks added in an undertone.

**"Myrtle!" Harry tried to shout - but once again, nothing came out of his mouth but a very large bubble. Moaning Myrtle actually giggled. **

They all looked at each other.

"Wow, she must like him," Sirius said startled. "Just so long as she doesn't plan to keep spying on the boy's bathroom."

"That really bugs you doesn't it, Sirius?" Tonks asked happily.

"How would you feel if you heard that the Bloody Baron was spying on the girls like that?" he demand and she looked sick.

"Come to think of it," Arthur said thinking it over, "Just what do ghosts do in their spare time?"

"I rather not know," Remus stated firmly.

**"You want to try over there!" she said, pointing. "I won't come with you… I don't like them much, they always chase me when I get too close…" **

"That's good of her," Molly smiled.

"Moaning Myrtle has been extremely helpful in these last two chapters," Arthur said content. "It's nice to see her this way instead of just moaning and self-pitying herself."

"But that's what makes Myrtle Moaning Myrtle!" Tonks laughed. "She wouldn't be herself if she cheered up!"

**Harry gave her the thumbs-up to show his thanks and set off once more, careful to swim a bit higher over the weed to avoid any more Grindylows that might be lurking there. **

Fleur sighed yet again; she had been taught how to deal with Grindylows and how to avoid them of course. But she lost her head completely here…

**He swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. He was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as he disturbed the water. Then, at long last, he heard a snatch of haunting mersong. **

**_"An hour long you'll have to look, _**

**_And to recover what we took…" _**

Fleur thought back to that haunting music and could anyone blame her for taking the song seriously?

**Harry swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. **

"Wow, remind me never to get on their bad side," Sirius said uncomfortably. "That's intimidating…"

"Right I'll make a note next time you go to visit them," Moody countered sarcastically.

**Harry swam on past the rock, following the mersong.**

**"… _your time_'_s half gone, so tarry not  
Lest what you seek stays here to rot…"_**

Bill could feel that Fleur was shaking again so put his arm around her knowing that both Fleur and Harry had good reasons for taking the song seriously. After all, people who were waiting for them to come meant so much to them and they didn't want to risk just the idea of losing them. He didn't blame them one bit for feeling that way… just showed how much they loved them in his opinion…

**A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Harry saw faces… faces that bore no resemblance at all to the painting of the mermaid in the prefects' bathroom… **

"Yes," Remus stated thinking about that. "I can see that couldn't have been a pleasant slight."

"So long as they're on our side, who cares how they look?" Sirius asked.

**The merpeople had greyish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Harry as he swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch him better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands. **

"They sound like real lookers eh?" Sirius joked half-heartedly.

**Harry sped on, staring around, and soon the dwellings became more numerous; there were ****gardens of weed around some of them, and he even saw a pet Grindylow tied to a stake outside one door. **

"Sounds like the kind of pet that Charlie would like," Bill rolled his eyes sarcastically. "We better be careful not to mention it to him or he'll really get one."

"Cool," Tonks said in awe. "An entire underwater village of merpeople. There's a lot going on in the Hogwarts lake—it's a whole world down there."

"Really makes you think about what you can learn from other species if we didn't spend so much time being ignorant," Kingsley sighed—he cast half a glance at Remus at those words, and while he didn't see it, Remus knew that he was talking to him.

**Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, pointing at his webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another. **

_'That's because they love magic,'_ Albus thought. _'They find it a beautiful thing… just not when it's used against them.'_

**Harry sped around a corner and a very strange sight met his eyes. **

"How could it get any stranger?" Moody asked interested.

**A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson.**

**Ron was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang. There was also a girl who looked no older than eight, whose clouds of silvery hair made Harry feel sure that she was Fleur Delacour's sister.**

Bill tightened his grip around Fleur who looked upset now; he knew that hearing this couldn't be a pleasant experience for her.

**All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths. **

"That sounds horrible," Molly said; they must have looked like they were… dead. Or at least close to it. She felt horrid chills go up her spine at the thought. How could they do this? Wasn't it bad enough that the four of them had to be there without putting four others involved in a stupid tournament?

**Harry sped toward the hostages, half expecting the merpeople to lower their spears and charge at him, but they did nothing. The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong. For a fleeting second he thought of the knife Sirius had bought him for Christmas - locked in his trunk in the castle a quarter of a mile away, no use to him whatsoever.**

"Damnit," Sirius said. He wished that Harry kept it with him all the time.

**He looked around. Many of the merpeople surrounding them were carrying spears. He swam swiftly toward a seven-foot-tall merman with a long green beard and a choker of shark fangs and tried to mime a request to borrow the spear. The merman laughed and shook his head. **

**"We do not help," he said in a harsh, croaky voice. **

"They shouldn't laugh," Molly said annoyed.

**"Come ON!" Harry said fiercely (but only bubbles issued from his mouth), and he tried to pull the spear away from the merman, **

"That was bold," Kingsley said… if it had been under any other circumstance then it wouldn't have ended well.

"Well, how's he supposed to cut them free?" Tonks asked.

"He could've just used a Severing Charm to cut them," Moody said as if it was obvious.

**but the merman yanked it back, still shaking his head and laughing. **

**Harry swirled around, staring about. Something sharp… anything… **

**There were rocks littering the lake bottom. He dived and snatched up a particularly jagged one and returned to the statue. He began to hack at the ropes binding Ron, and after several minutes' hard work, they broke apart. Ron floated, unconscious, a few inches above the lake bottom, drifting a little in the ebb of the water. **

"Great, now get out of there," Sirius said at once. But the corners of Fleur's mouth twitched. He didn't leave… he stayed… that was braver than anything that anyone else did that day.

**Harry looked around. There was no sign of any of the other champions. What were they ****playing at? Why didn't they hurry up? **

"Here's a first. He's annoyed that he got there first," Sirius laughed. "Just go Harry. They'll be fine."

"Well, 'e wanted to make sure zat zey all made it out," Fleur explained. "You could learn a lesson from zat."

"What do you mean by '_zat'_?" he asked, his eyes narrowing at her and she just turned her head away.

"Why don't you figure zat out?" she asked crisply.

**He turned back to Hermione, raised the jagged rock, and began to hack at her bindings too – **

**At once, several pairs of strong grey hands seized him. Half a dozen mermen were pulling him away from Hermione, shaking their green-haired heads, and laughing. **

"Oh, that's horrible," Molly said angrily. "Why are they laughing?"l

"Probably because they know that he thought they were in actual danger," Arthur guessed. That made the only logical sense to him…

"All the more reason not to laugh!" Molly cried furiously.

**"You take your own hostage," one of them said to him. "Leave the others…" **

**"No way!" said Harry furiously - but only two large bubbles came out. **

**"Your task is to retrieve your own friend… leave the others…"**

"But what if there's more than one friend?" Tonks asked.

"It's ok, Tonks," Remus answered calmly.

**"She's my friend too!" Harry yelled, gesturing toward Hermione, an enormous silver bubble emerging soundlessly from his lips. "And I don't want them to die either!" **

"They won't die," Moody said in his usual bored tones. "Though that would make the whole thing more challenging…"

"Shut it!" Fleur snapped, which caused everyone to stare at her. Normally, the only person who could tell Mad-Eye Moody what to do was Kingsley or even Tonks. But suppose seeing the hurt expression on Fleur's face caused him to do what he was told and he fell silent there.

Tonks looked at Fleur with new respect before she read the next line.

**Cho's head was on Hermione's shoulder; the small silver-haired girl was ghostly green and ****pale. **

Fleur shuddered at the description of her baby sister.

**Harry struggled to fight off the mermen, but they laughed harder than ever, holding him back. Harry looked wildly around. Where were the other champions? Would he have time to take Ron to the surface and come back down for Hermione and the others? Would he be able to find them again? He looked down at his watch to see how much time was left - it had stopped working. **

Moody's eyes rose up. More time references? Funny that Potter's watch has stopped. That just might mean the time has come for some destined event to occur… he sighed… with details like this, it really seemed obvious that something terrible was about to happen.

**But then the merpeople around him pointed excitedly over his head. Harry looked up and saw Cedric swimming toward them. There was an enormous bubble around his head, which made his features look oddly wide and stretched. **

"So that's the Bubble-Head Charm," Arthur said at once. "So both you and Cedric used it," he asked and Fleur nodded.

"Gillyweed is way better," Sirius smirked.

**"Got lost!" he mouthed, looking panic-stricken. "Fleur and Krum're coming now!" **

"No," Fleur said shaking her head in regret. "It was just Viktor."

**Feeling enormously relieved, Harry watched Cedric pull a knife out of his pocket and cut Cho free. He pulled her upward and out of sight. **

**Harry looked around, waiting. Where were Fleur and Krum? Time was getting short, and according to the song, the hostages would be lost after an hour… **

"What were we supposed to theenk after 'earing a song like zat?" Fleur snapped at them, as though daring them to laugh.

"Because Dumbledore would never let someone get harmed like that," Remus answered her gently. In the hall, Albus nodded at once. While he hated using people for bait… he never would've let them get hurt on his watch if he had anything to say about it.

"But we are stuck in ze lake wiz those…" Fleur said, trying to think of something to call the merpeople without insulting them. "People… zat kept singing zat if we didn't save our hostages zen zey'd stay there! What would you theenk if you heard zat?"

"You know, that is a fair point," Arthur said. "Especially, if it's someone you love."

Seeing that she still looked upset, he gestured for Tonks to continue.

**The merpeople started screeching animatedly. Those holding Harry loosened their grip, staring behind them. Harry turned and saw something monstrous cutting through the water toward them: a human body in swimming trunks with the head of a shark… it was Krum.**

"That sounds like sloppy transfiguration," said Remus.

"He could have killed himself doing that," Kingsley said worriedly.

"Bet he had a few points taken off for soddy work if you ask me," Sirius declared.

"Was this what Krum was doing when they saw him diving into the lake on their way to Hogsmeade?" Molly asked, remembering the previous chapters.

"Probably—but since no mention was made of him having an egg or a wand, it could have been a refreshing January swim…" Tonks said. "For a penguin or otter, that is…" she added and they laughed.

"Be nice," Fleur told them, but she was smiling for the first time all chapter.

**He appeared to have transfigured himself- but badly. **

**The shark-man swam straight to Hermione and began snapping and biting at her ropes; the trouble was that Krum's new teeth were positioned very awkwardly for biting anything smaller than a dolphin, and Harry was quite sure that if Krum wasn't careful, he was going to rip Hermione in half. **

"What?!" Molly cried out in horror. "Does he even care about biting her? What if he _did_ tear her apart?"

"Well, he would've failed wouldn't he?" Sirius said jokingly.

"This is not a joking matter, Sirius!" Molly snapped at him. "He could've killed her if he hadn't been careful!"

"Oh, I don't think that the merpeople would've allowed that," Remus disagreed.

"But still!" she said, now angry. You think that the boy would've been more careful if he cared for Hermione…

**Darting forward Harry hit Krum hard on the shoulder and held up the jagged stone. Krum seized it and began to cut Hermione free. Within seconds, he had done it; he grabbed Hermione around the waist, and without a backward glance, began to rise rapidly with her toward the surface. **

"It sounds to me that he just wanted to win, he doesn't care about Hermione at all," Molly muttered angrily; Krum had nearly bitten Hermione in half!

"Perhaps he just wanted to get them both out of there as quickly as possible," Kingsley suggested, but she just ignored him.

**Now what? Harry thought desperately. If he could be sure that Fleur was coming… but still no sign.**

"I'm not," Fleur sighed miserably.

Albus heard her and he felt his heart go out to the young woman. He remembered how hard she fought to get back to the lake after she had been brought back to the surface. She was determined to go back in and get her sister even if it had been the last thing she ever did.

_*Flashback*_

_After an excruciating wait about 50 minutes later… something finally happened on the lake's surface._

_"Someone's coming!" he heard someone screaming, Albus got to his feet, looking at the water, trying to see who it was. The stands, who had all fallen silent and had been talking amongst themselves for over half an hour, now all turned to the lake and tried to see what was going on and who was the first champion to return._

_"Now, let's see who it is and if they had succeed!" Ludo called gleefully running to the water's edge and shaded his eyes from the sun as he squinted at the water. The surface of the water rippled and suddenly broke, and the stands gasped._

_"Fleur Delacour!" Ludo cried out at once. "Can't say for sure what's wrong, but I think she's out cold! The merpeople have brought her up!"_

_Next to him, Madame Maxime was up on her feet in a flash, and Albus followed her as they all made towards the lake as the group of merpeople began dragging her back. One mermaid with particularly wild hair gently laid Fleur on the bank of the lake as the others sank back below the water. Madam Pomfrey, rushed up and carried Fleur away to the medical tent as Madame Maxine hurried after her with an anxious look on her face._

_Albus watched as they took Fleur away and turned to the mermaid. "Please tell me what happened."_

_"It was the Grindylows," she said in her high voice. "Saw the whole thing. She got to close to the weeds and they pulled her down." She sank back into the water until there wasn't anything but her head showing, "They popped her bubble and her head was hit pretty hard against the stones. We pulled her free and brought her back up here… she passed out just before we reached the surface."_

_Albus nodded. "Thank you. I'm sure that she'll be fine thanks to you all. Now, what of the others?"_

_"Saw the boy with gills a little while ago not to far from where the village is," she confessed. "He should be there by now. As for the other two boys, they got lost but are heading in the right direction as we speak. They should be along soon."_

_Albus let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you," he said again, trying to put as much sincerity in his voice as he could._

_She nodded before her head sank, and disappeared under the waves. He got up and went over to the judges and told them what she told him._

_Ludo nodded and addressed the crowd who were all standing, trying to get a view of the medical tent._

_"The merpeople have informed us that Fleur Delacour was attacked by grindylows," Ludo called to them. "And after she lost her air bubble, she was no longer able to continue, and was unable to reach her hostage."_

_After the announcement, the crowd began talk all at once to their friends like a hive of excited bees. Albus went back to the tent to see how she was doing, and saw that Fleur had already come to and appeared to have been arguing with Madam Pomfrey._

_"No! You can't be serious! Zat ees my little sister! Zat is not fair!" Fleur cried, sounding close to hysterical "She ees waiting for me! Please let me go down and get 'er!"_

_Albus looked at her in sympathy. "I am sorry," Madame Maxime said, "but eet's part of ze tournament's rules. No 'ostages can be released until all of ze champions 'ave surfaced, successful or not."_

_"Who cares about ze tournament and eets rules?" she yelled as she got up, and tried to move, but stumbled. As she fell back to her knees she started to cry, "Gabrielle! Gabrielle! I need to go and get 'er! I can't let 'er down! Let me go!"_

_Albus lowered his head as he returned back to his seat, almost as if in a trance. A failure? He knew what it was like to be a failure of an older sibling better than anyone. And that girl right there was anything but a failure._

_Many here would not even have been able to have been brave enough to face the task. She did amazingly well and he was sure she fought bravely against the Grindylows. No, she was very impressive today. But most of all… he admired her dedication to her little sister. Her determination to protect her no matter what happened to her. He stared up at the sky._

_"Which is more than I ever did," he mumbled to himself._

_"Headmaster?" Percy Weasley called which caused him to look back down. "Is she going to be ok?"_

_Albus nodded. "Yes, she'll be fine. Though I think that she'll be better as soon as we bring her sister back up." He turned his full attention back to the lake again and waited. If what the mermaid said was true, then the boys should be coming up any moment… "It shouldn't be long now."_

_*End of Flashback*_

Albus shuddered at the memory, trying not snap himself out of his self-pity. He was grateful that they were reading again.

**There was nothing to be done except… **

**He snatched up the stone, which Krum had dropped, but the mermen now closed in around Ron and the little girl, shaking their heads at him. Harry pulled out his wand. **

"Oooohhh, this is gonna be good!" Sirius said eagerly. He wondered if his godson was going to curse them…

**"Get out of the way!" **

**Only bubbles flew out of his mouth, but he had the distinct impression that the mermen had understood him, because they suddenly stopped laughing. Their yellowish eyes were fixed upon Harry's wand, and they looked scared. There might be a lot more of them than there were of him, but Harry could tell, by the looks on their faces, that they knew no more magic than the giant squid did. **

"Most creatures who don't know magic could take that as a threat and attack," Remus explained at once. "I mean… look at giants and centaurs…"

"Should we be asking how much magic the giant squid knows?" Kingsley asked, completely unrelated to the subject and Tonks let out a snort of laughter.

Even Remus smiled. "No… not very much to be honest. I think that it extends to being able to understand what humans are say if that much. But I can't be completely sure."

**"You've got until three!" Harry shouted; a great stream of bubbles burst from him, but he held up three fingers to make sure they got the message. "One…" (he put down a finger) "two…" (he put down a second one) - They scattered. **

"Good," Sirius said grinning. There was James's son… if anyone got in the way of his goal, they prepare to pay the price…

**Harry darted forward and began to hack at the ropes binding the small girl to the statue, and at last she was free. He seized the little girl around the waist, grabbed the neck of Ron's robes, and kicked off from the bottom. **

"Zank you, '_Arry_," Fleur whispered under her breath. Glad that someone had been able to go and get Gabrielle while she was unable to.

**It was very slow work. He could no longer use his webbed hands to propel himself forward; he worked his flippers furiously, but Ron and Fleur's sister were like potato-filled sacks dragging him back down… he fixed his eyes skyward, though he knew he must still be very deep, the water above him was so dark… **

"So he's still far down," Arthur said anxiously.

"But the Gillyweed isn't going to last for much longer…" Remus said apprehensively. "And if it wears off while he's still deep down…"

"He makes it back alive doesn't he?" Moody snapped. "Just keep reading and you'll find out."

**Merpeople were rising with him. He could see them swirling around him with ease, watching him struggle through the water… would they pull him back down to the depths when the time was up? Did they perhaps eat humans? **

Sirius had to fight back a laugh. Really, was Harry that dramatic?

"No," Remus said quickly. "They eat fish and anything else they can catch. And while they might occasionally drown one, they'd never eat humans."

"Thanks for the comforting thought, Remus," Bill stated darkly.

**Harry's legs were seizing up with the effort to keep swimming; his shoulders were aching horribly with the effort of dragging Ron and the girl… **

**He was drawing breath with extreme difficulty. He could feel pain on the sides of his neck again… **

"I knew it," Remus stated and Sirius's face had gone white.

"I didn't know he cut it this close!" he cried. "If he had been down there any longer than he'd have drowned for sure!"

"Would you all just listen to yourselves?" Moody said, truly annoyed now. He slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand, "I don't know how many times we have to go through this! The kid's alive isn't he?"

It all suddenly came back to them, and they calmed down. Sirius's heart started to go back to it's usual pace, but he was still anxious.

**he was becoming very aware of how wet the water was in his mouth… yet the darkness was definitely thinning now… he could see daylight above him… **

"Come on… kid…" Sirius moaned in a undertone. "You're almost there…"

**He kicked hard with his flippers and discovered that they were nothing more than feet… water was flooding through his mouth into his lungs… he was starting to feel dizzy, but he knew light and air were only ten feet above him… he had to get there… he had to… **

"I know he made it, but he's just killing me here!" Tonks moaned, and turned the page hurriedly.

**Harry kicked his legs so hard and fast it felt as though his muscles were screaming in protest; his very brain felt waterlogged, he couldn't breathe, he needed oxygen, he had to keep going, he could not stop – **

"Come on," Sirius said, biting his lip, his heart feeling that it was about to burst out of his chest.

**And then he felt his head break the surface of the lake; wonderful, cold, clear air was making his wet face sting; he gulped it down, feeling as though he had never breathed properly before, and, panting, pulled Ron and the little girl up with him. All around him, wild, green-haired heads were emerging out of the water with him, but they were smiling at him. **

All of them let out sighs of relief. Finally, the Second Task was over with.

"I think that he really impressed them with making sure all the hostages were saved," Remus said smiling.

"Why would you think that?" Tonks asked.

"They admire bravery and self-sacrifice," he answered. "He could've easily have just grabbed Ron when he got there and won the whole thing… but he chose to stay behind and make sure that everyone was safe before he left… including bringing the last hostage with him."

**The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming, they all seemed to be on their feet; Harry had the impression they thought that Ron and the little girl might be dead, but they were wrong… both of them had opened their eyes; the girl ****looked scared and confused, **

"Doing something like that to a little girl," Molly muttered under her breath in disgust. "They'd be lucky if she wasn't traumatized for life after an experience like that.

"That must've been a shock," Sirius said with a grin. "She probably expected Fleur to be there… instead she's in the arms of a dashing young man…"

"Sirius," Remus laughed. "I think that she's a bit young for that."

Fleur fought back a smirk. The truth was, Gabrielle had a huge crush on Harry. All last summer she never stopped talking about him.

**but Ron merely expelled a great spout of water, blinked in the bright light, turned to Harry, and said, "Wet, this, isn't it?"**

Everyone laughed; that sounded exactly like something that Ron would say.

"Well yeah, he woke up in the middle of a lake," Bill joked. "At least he's taking it well."

**Then he spotted Fleur's sister. "What did you bring her for?" **

**"Fleur didn't turn up, I couldn't leave her," Harry panted. **

"Which I am grateful for," Fleur murmured, a hand over her heart in relief.

**"Harry, you prat," said Ron, "you didn't take that song thing seriously, did you? Dumbledore wouldn't have let any of us drown!" **

Albus nodded in agreement.

"You think that he would be more appreciative than that. He should be glad that Harry brought him back," Sirius said in annoyance. "Why didn't he just leave Ron down there and save the girl?"

"Cause that would defeat the point of the task," Remus reminded him patiently.

**"The song said -" **

**"It was only to make sure you got back inside the time limit!" said Ron. "I hope you didn't waste time down there acting the hero!" **

"To late to hope for that," Sirius said shaking his head. "Harry, you have my permission to just let him drown now."

**Harry felt both stupid and annoyed. It was all very well for Ron; he'd been asleep, he hadn't felt how eerie it was down in the lake, surrounded by spear-carrying merpeople who'd looked more than capable of murder. **

"That is a fair point," Arthur chuckled. "Maybe if Ron had been awake, he'd understand a little differently."

"I doubt they'd try doing that to a student," Remus interrupted. "Even if they did eat humans."

"Cause then they have to face Dumbledore," Kingsley muttered.

**"C'mon," Harry said shortly, "help me with her, I don't think she can swim very well." **

"She can't," Fleur stated. "But she's been taking lessons over ze summer though."

"Good," Bill told her.

**They pulled Fleur's sister through the water, back toward the bank where the judges stood watching, twenty merpeople accompanying them like a guard of honor, singing their horrible screechy songs. **

"Now there's an entrance," Sirius smirked.

**Harry could see Madam Pomfrey fussing over Hermione, Krum, Cedric, and Cho, all of whom were wrapped in thick blankets. **

"Why did this task have to be in the middle of the winter?" demanded Molly. "Couldn't they have thought to do this in the spring at least?"

"But they still needed time for them to be ready for the third task," Kingsley reminded her.

"Well, why have it at all?" she demanded coldly and Albus flinched slightly.

**Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at Harry and Ron from the bank as they swam nearer, but Percy, who looked very white and somehow much younger than usual, ****came splashing out to meet them. **

"He must've been really worried," Remus said softly. At those words, Molly's anger disappeared and she started crying; she missed Percy so much and hearing how worried he had been about his brother was like a slap in the face when she thought that just a few months later, he would disown his family. As for her husband and son in the room, Arthur was pale and his expression impassive… but his eyes were shining with sadness. As for Bill, he was smiling slightly—glad that he still had proof that his thick-headed brother did care…

Sirius on the other hand was thinking that Percy was more concerned about his image and probably thought that seeing his little brother in the lake like that might cause people to start talking. He didn't dare say that out loud though and waited until Molly was done crying.

**Meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water. **

**"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?" **

"Were you alright?" Bill asked her and she heave a sigh.

"No, I was just so worried," she told him while shaking her head. "And of course no one thought of telling me she was safe ze whole time." She had a put out look on her face before she said, more to herself than the rest of the room, "Thank you, 'Arry."

**"She's fine!" Harry tried to tell her, but he was so exhausted he could hardly talk, let alone shout. **

**Percy seized Ron and was dragging him back to the bank ("Gerroff, Percy, I'm all right!")**

Molly smiled weakly through her red and swollen eyes.

**Dumbledore and Bagman were pulling Harry upright; Fleur had broken free of Madame ****Maxime and was hugging her sister. **

**"It was ze Grindylows… zey attacked me… oh Gabrielle, I thought… I thought…" **

"I know the feeling," said Arthur quietly. The rest all looked in agreement knowing they couldn't stand it if anything happened to someone they loved, they would be heartbroken.

"Zere eesn't a lake with grindylows at Beauxbtons," explained Fleur quietly. "I don't know what I would 'ave done."

"You don't need to be ashamed," Kingsley told her again. "Grindylows are dangerous. Especially if they attack in a group. Harry was actually lucky that he was able to get out of there."

**"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey. She seized Harry and pulled him over to Hermione and the others, wrapped him so tightly in a blanket that he felt as though he were in a straitjacket, and forced a measure of very hot potion down his throat. **

Sirius raised his eyebrows at the word _straitjacket_. He hated anything that made his godson out to be a lunatic.

**Steam gushed out of his ears. **

**"Harry, well done!" Hermione cried. "You did it, you found out how all by yourself!" **

"Well, not exactly," Arthur chuckled. "He had a little help from Dobby of course."

**"Well -" said Harry. He would have told her about Dobby, but he had just noticed Karkaroff watching him. He was the only judge who had not left the table; the only judge not showing signs of pleasure and relief that Harry, Ron, and Fleur's sister had got back safely. **

"Yeah, I wouldn't say anything with him around," Tonks spat angrily. "Make him worry that his champion might not win."

"Oh, just get over yourself already, Igor," growled Sirius, exasperatedly.

**"Yeah, that's right," said Harry, raising his voice slightly so that Karkaroff could hear him. **

"Good, that'll get to him easily," Bill smirked.

**"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Krum. Harry had the impression that Krum was drawing her attention back onto himself; perhaps to remind her that he had just rescued her from the lake, **

Everyone laughed a little at that except for Molly. She snorted, part of her anger coming back, "He deserves to be ignored. He nearly tore her apart."

**but Hermione brushed away the beetle impatiently and said,**

"She doesn't seem to care at all about him," Remus smirked.

"Oh, poor Krum," Sirius laughed. But Moody was yawning. Now that they were done here, he was getting bored again. He vaguely thought over, '_Another beetle? Hogwarts seems to be infested with these bugs.'_

**"You're well outside the time limit, though, Harry… did it take you ages to find us?" **

"Nope, he was first there," Sirius said proudly.

**"No… I found you okay…" **

**Harry's feeling of stupidity was growing. Now he was out of the water, it seemed perfectly clear that Dumbledores safety precautions wouldn't have permitted the death of a hostage just because their champion hadn't turned up. Why hadn't he just grabbed Ron and gone? He would have been first back… Cedric and Krum hadn't wasted time worrying about anyone else; they hadn't taken the mersong seriously… **

"Yes," Remus chuckled. "But you are also a unique person with a good heart, Harry."

"Well, said," Sirius beamed proudly.

**Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female. He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish.**

"That is a very impressive ability," Arthur stated.

"Well," Kingsley established. "This confirms that the merpeple were in on the whole task, and it seems that Dumbledore may be friends with them. So, the merpeople can exist out of water as well. Good allies. I wonder if it was it one of them, or something else, that rescued Dennis Creevey when he fell into the lake?"

"I say that it's a good guess," Moody said calmly. "Doubt we'll ever find out. Not that I care. How much more of this chapter? We're calling it a day once we're done right?"

"We're almost done, Mad-Eye," Tonks told him as she checked. "Only a few more pages." She then cleared her throat and was able to continue.

**Finally he straightened up, turned to his fellow judges, and said, "A conference before we give the marks, I think." **

**The judges went into a huddle. Madam Pomfrey had gone to rescue Ron from Percy's clutches; she led him over to Harry and the others, gave him a blanket and some Pepperup Potion, then went to fetch Fleur and her sister. Fleur had many cuts on her face and arms and her robes were torn, but she didn't seem to care, nor would she allow Madam Pomfrey to clean them.**

"Fleur, you really should have got those seen too," Molly said; and Bill beamed at the slightly worried tone in his mother's voice. Maybe these books were a good thing after all.

"I was too worried about Gabrielle," Fleur shook her head. "I let 'er clean me up once I was sure zat Gabrielle was taken care of."

**"Look after Gabrielle," she told her, and then she turned to Harry. "You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage." **

**"Yeah," said Harry, who was now heartily wishing he'd left all three girls tied to the statue. **

"No you don't, Harry," Arthur smiled widely. "He's just upset that he took the song so seriously, but I'm sure he doesn't regret it."

**Fleur bent down, kissed Harry twice on each cheek (he felt his face burn and wouldn't have been surprised if steam was coming out of his ears again), then said to Ron, "And you too-you 'elped"**

"Yeah he was a great help," Sirius said rolling his eyes at Fleur. "I mean… he must've been a great deal of help being dead weight."

"I was just so 'appy," Fleur sighed.

"Well, he did help her back to shore," Arthur pointed out.

**"Yeah," said Ron, looking extremely hopeful, "yeah, a bit -" **

"Sure, sure," Bill muttered, a little annoyed with Ron's behavior. Was he really this venerable to the Veela's charms?

**Fleur swooped down on him too and kissed him. Hermione looked simply furious, **

Molly shook her head in exasperation. It's not a mystery that Ron and Hermione really like each other—even if they haven't admitted it to themselves. Yet, the question is, are they right for each other?

"Someone sounds a little jealous," Tonks said in a singsong voice.

"It ees a normal French greeting, kissing someone on both cheeks," Fleur shrugged, unabashed.

**but just then, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet. **

**"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus **

_'What a name,' _Sirius thought. And he thought his was bad…

**has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows… **

**"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by Grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."**

They all clapped, Fleur went a bit red. "It's over wiz," she reminded them.

"But it's still impressive," Bill grinned. "That's something that you'll be telling your children."

Fleur looked down again. Everyone thought that she was blushing because of the praise—but really it was because she was thinking of having children… with long, red hair…

**Applause from the stands. **

**"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head. **

"No, you didn't, you worked out the clue and worked out how to breathe under water," Arthur smiled at her.

"But I still failed," she answered darkly.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Bill said quickly. "Like we keep telling you… the Triwizard Tournament is supposed to be hard. You did amazingly well here."

**"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour."**

Albus smiled as his thoughts came back.

_*Flashback*_

_But after five more minutes, the hour was up._

_"It has now been one hour," Ludo called for everyone's attention. "And so far, none of the other champions have returned with their hostage. So now, all the judges will give him marks on how much longer it will take for them to…"_

_But no one was paying attention to Ludo anymore and Albus could see why. The water was stirring again, and as he watched, two heads broke through the surface._

_"Ah ha! It's Cedric Diggory!" Ludo cried happily, as Cedric's Bubble-Head broke the surface. "And…" he squinted to see, "Yes, he has his hostage, Cho Chang!"_

_Albus sighed with relief as he watched Cedric bring Cho back to the shore—with Cho wide awake and clinging tightly to him. The stands erupted into cheers at the sight of Cho and Cedric stepping back onto land and Madam Pomfrey hurried over to treat any injuries and dragged them back to give them some Pepper-up Potion._

_But they didn't have to wait much longer for something to happen because about ten minutes later, Viktor Krum arrived, with Hermione in tow._

_"Viktor Krum also returns successfully with Ms. Hermione Granger," Ludo announced to them all as the two of them swam back to land with Madam Pomfrey there waiting for them—and Albus felt more relief wash through him as he watched the two of them climb out and wrapped in blankets, "About ten minutes outside the time limit I'd guess. Now we just have to wait for Harry Potter to return… it won't be long now, I reckon…"_

_*End of Flashback*_

He gave a rather sad smile at that particular memory as he heard Tonks going on.

**Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; Harry saw Cho give Cedric a glowing look. **

**"We therefore award him forty-seven points." **

**Harry's heart sank. If Cedric had been outside the time limit, he most certainly had been. **

**"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."**

"Well…" Tonks said carefully. "I guess he deserves it… but it's a good thing that no one other than Harry knows that he could've killed Hermione there."

"Well, we know now don't we?" Molly asked coldly.

**Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior. **

"Bloody git," Sirius said rolling his eyes.

**"Harry Potter used Gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."**

Albus shook his head, remembering how afraid he had been there.

_*Flashback*_

_Last again…_

_Albus bit his lower lip and stared determinedly out at the lake. What on earth was going on down there? The Gillyweed would be wearing off by now… if Harry had been closest to the village, then why is he the last to return?_

_Five minutes passed but still nothing happened… then another ten minutes… finally after about ten minutes, just when he was starting to think that something went wrong, three heads suddenly burst out of the water._

_As soon as he saw them, he put his face in his hand in deep reprieve. He didn't he realize that there were three people instead of two. At least until Ludo called out flabbergasted, "Harry Potter has returned with both Ronald Weasley and Gabrielle Delacour!"_

_The stands were on their feet, shouting and screaming themselves hoarse. At the sound of her sister's name Fleur Delacour came bursting out of nowhere and ran to the bank, apparently prepared to fling herself into the water to her sister. However, Madame Maxime was there and was restraining Fleur with her massive arms, though with some difficulty._

_"Let me go!" she screamed at her headmistress, fighting to get to the water. "I need to see her! I need to go and get Gabrielle!"_

_Meanwhile, about twenty merpeople had also just emerged out of the water beside Harry and the others, beaming and singing as they escorted the three back to the bank. He, Ludo, and Percy all got up from their seats and walked to the edge of the lake. He was beaming at Harry as he and Ron helped Gabrielle back to shore, but Percy ran past them and went plowing into the water to pull his brother back himself._

_"Gabrielle!" Fleur called out to them, still fighting to get to the water like Percy. "Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?"_

_Harry called out, but no words came out… apparently too exhausted to speak. He and Ludo both came out as soon as they were close enough and pulled him back to his feet—though he was so tired he almost fell over again._

_At that moment, Ron yelled out angrily at Percy, "Get off me Percy, I'm alright!" Just as Fleur finally broke free of Madame Maxime and practically flew to her sister._

_"It was ze grindylows… zey attacked me… oh Gabrielle, I thought… I thought…" and suddenly both sisters started hugging and crying._

_"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey from his left. And he let her practically dragging him to Hermione and the others, forcing a Pepper-up Potion down his throat. Hermione came forward and was busy talking to Harry, as Krum looked surlier than ever at this sight. Madam Pomfrey then went to go and get Ron from Percy as well as going to Fleur and her sister. Fleur was in bad shape; she had cuts on her face and arms and her robes were torn; however it didn't look like she cared as she gave Gabrielle over to her._

_Albus smiled at the two sisters before he crouched at the edge of the lake, talking to Murcus once again as soon as she reappeared. She gestured him to come closer and he asked, desperate for some answers, "Just what happened down there?"_

_"The boy," she said nodding to Harry, "He was the first one to reach them."_

_He blinked in surprise. "But then why was he the last one back?"_

_"Because he didn't want to leave anyone behind," she answered with a smile._

_Realization washed over him like the waves that were beating on the shore. "I should've known," he said shaking his head, a smile also appearing._

_"We tried to tell him to leave once he got his hostage," she told him. "Had he, he would've been back before time ran out. But he stayed. Then the next boy came… the second boy with the bubble."_

_"Yes, Cedric," Albus said at once, "So he was second? And then what happened?"_

_"He cut his hostage free and left for the surface," she answered simply. "We thought that the first boy would leave once he did, but he tried to cut the girl with brown hair as well. Of course we stopped him."_

_Albus could see that Fleur wasn't the only one who took the song seriously. "After that, the shark-head boy arrived," Murcus went on. "Though I suppose it was a good thing the boy stayed."_

_Albus raised his eyebrows. "Why?" he asked._

_"Shark boy tried to use his teeth to cut her free," she answered with a shake of her head, "Could've sliced her into two if he wasn't careful… but just as we were about to stop him, the other boy gave him a sharp rock instead and they left."_

_Albus nodded in understand. "And he waited for the last champion to show up?"_

_"She never did," she answered, "He finally got tired of waiting and cut the girl free."_

_Albus stared at her, that didn't sound like something they would just let him do. "And you let him?"_

_She shrugged. "He had a wand."_

_Closing his eyes in understanding as he nodded to her. He could see now clearly what had happened as if he had been there himself Harry wanted to ensure that all the hostages were safe before he came back up. He waited for the other champions, but as soon as he realized that Fleur wasn't going to show up, he finally took matters into his own hands and took her hostage to. He smiled to her, "Thank you… that's all I needed to know."_

_He was about to leave when she suddenly said, "He's a strange one that boy… don't you think?" she asked him, still smiling as the rest of her brethren retreated into the water._

_Albus chuckled at her. "He certainly is…"_

_She grinned wider at him before she dove back into the water, her fins flashing in the sunlight, and disappearing. He got up and went to the judges, "A conference before we give the marks, I think."_

_*End of Flashback*_

He shut his eyes as he smiled. That's how Harry has always been…

**Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks. **

**"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However… Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."**

"Yes!" Sirius cried out joyfully.

**Harry's stomach leapt - he was now tied for first place with Cedric. Ron and Hermione, caught by surprise, stared at Harry, then laughed and started applauding hard with the rest of the crowd. **

**"There you go. Harry!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all - you were showing moral fiber!" **

"Well looks like being a noble git can pay off sometimes," Tonks laughed.

**Fleur was clapping very hard too, but Krum didn't look happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering Harry to listen. **

"I'm sure he loved that," Sirius laughed.

**"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions." **

**It was over. Harry thought dazedly, as Madam Pomfrey began herding the champions and hostages back to the castle to get into dry clothes… it was over, he had got through… he didn't have to worry about anything now until June the twenty-fourth… **

"Which would be the hardest of all…" Albus said softly, his smile fading as he remembered what was sure to come.

**Next time he was in Hogsmeade, Harry decided as he walked back up the stone steps into ****the castle, he was going to buy Dobby a pair of socks for every day of the year.**

"I hope he got them for him," Molly smiled. "I think that he'd like that."

"And that's the end of the chapter," Tonks announced in reprieve, tossing the book back down onto the table. "Thank goodness for that," she said rubbing her tired eyes. "I'm sick of reading for today. Let's call it a day."

"Fine by me," Arthur stated as he stretched. "I think that it's a good way to end the day. By the way, how many chapters are left?"

"I checked," she groaned out. "About eleven."

They all groaned.

"Man, I can't tell you how glad I'll be when we're done here," Sirius said.

"Yes," Albus whispered as he turned and left while they all discussed what they found out. "But I'm also dreading what we will hear when we do…"

He thought back to this last part… so Harry had help for this task from Cedric, Crouch, Dobby, and Myrtle. This proves that even in the wizarding world, you're only as strong as your advisors. Obviously, he already knew that… and he was glad to see that Harry now seems to be gaining an understanding for the importance of a reliable network.

**(Sorry. But I'm now stuck studying for midterms. And as I keep repeating myself, I have the other three books up on another site. If you want to know where, I put it up on my profile. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.)**


	31. The Same Feelings

**(Again, I'm sorry for taking so long. Hope you all liked my version of Bill and Fleur's date. And for the LAST time! If you want to read the other three stories of Discovering the Legend, then the site that they're on is on my profile! If not, then it's at . I hope that you read this part because I'm getting really tired of people asking me where they are.)**

**Chapter 30: The Same Feelings**

Bill was wandering the familiar marble halls of Gringotts, his mind completely lost in memories of what he had heard recently. Soon, he ended up walking right past Fleur's office. Once he realized this fact, he turned his head to stare at it for a moment, a sudden idea coming to mind. He walked back and with a sigh, he knocked, hoping that she was willing to talk.

The familiar voice called him in and when he entered, the first thing that he saw were that the flowers he had given her were in a crystal vase on her desk. Fleur, herself, was bent over a piece of parchment and didn't look up until he entered and shut the door behind him.

"Bill," she said looking at him… he could tell right away that she was feeling as down as he was.

He walked over and sat in the chair where clients usually sat in front of her desk before he gave her a long, hard look. After a few minutes he spoke, "It must've been hard…"

She didn't ask what he meant, only her eyes saddened.

"I mean… to feel that you let your little sister down… believe me I know the feeling," he said softly.

At first she didn't say anything, but then… "You mean Ginny?" she asked quietly.

He nodded. "When we read the second book… I honestly had no idea just how bad things were. And knowing just how much danger she was in… and I didn't even know it." And he quietly told her about the incident with the Chamber of Secrets.

She didn't react at all at his words, but she seemed to understand. "I never felt so helpless as I did then… and I just couldn't help but think just how I let her down."

"But you didn't know…" she told him. "At least wiz Gabrielle, she wasn't actually in any danger."

"But you _thought_ she was," he interrupted. "Same thing really… you feel that you let your little sister down that day. That you blamed yourself that she was there in the first place. Like… like maybe there was something that you could've done to prevent it from ever happening in the first place. I had no idea how close I came to losing Ginny until then…"

"But you didn't," Fleur said at once. "You know zat your sister is alright now right?"

"And you shouldn't blame yourself with what happened during the Second Task," he told her simply. "I just wanted to tell you that… because out of everyone else I've ever met, I think that you're the only person who can really understand the pain I felt when I heard."

She stared at him sadly as he got up and went to the door.

"Wait…" she pleaded just as he placed a hand on the doorknob. He looked back to see that she had gotten to her feet and walked around the desk so that they were only standing a few feet away from each other. Her eyes were still sad, but suddenly she looked behind her at the flowers sitting there.

At that moment, they were both thinking about their first and only date.

_*Flashback*_

_Bill Weasley was sitting at his desk in his office, just finishing up the last piece of work for the day before he put down his quill and checked his watch. It was almost time… he gulped. Why was he suddenly nervous? He'd been out on dates before! He got up and quickly disapparated to his flat for a moment so that he could freshen up. _

_Once he felt that he was presentable, he returned to Gringotts and went straight down to Fleur's office. She was still there waiting for him and flashed a beaming smile as he came in._

"_You ready?" he asked, but she was already up, and had grabbed her purse by the time that he finished knocking._

_They left together through the marble halls, and down the street in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. "So where are we going?" she asked him._

"_Well…" he said grinning, "I've got two places in mind. One's just a Muggle restaurant, but it has some delicious food there."_

"_And ze other?" she asked politely._

"_Is a secret," he told her lightly and she mock pouted, but he knew that she was enjoying his playful attitude._

"'_As eet really been so long?" she asked him once they passed through the brick wall._

"_Hmm?" he asked, not sure he understood what she meant._

"_Since we met?" she finished. "Since 'Ogwarts last year… I mean…" _

"_Oh, yeah," Bill said thinking back. "Wow… hard to believe that it's already almost been a year."_

_"I remember ze earring," she added embarrassed and he laughed as he reached up and touched the familiar fang dangling from his ear. _

"_Really?" he asked good-naturedly. "You know, girls really seem to notice it for some reason."_

"_You look good wiz eet," she said to him and his ears turned a little red._

"_Thanks," he told her. "And I'm sure that you must hear this often, but I want you to know that I think you look absolutely stunning tonight," Bill proceeded. "Of course, you're always beautiful, but you've really outdone yourself tonight, Fleur." _

_He took it as a good thing that she blushed silver._

_It was just a short walk from Diagon Alley when he brought her to the restaurant that he mentioned. Though small, it was nice and had only a slightly aristocratic feel to the air. The waiter stuttered and gawked at Fleur as they walked in, but she wasn't looking at anyone else but at him, which made his heart warm._

_They ordered, and spent the time talking. About what life was like at their schools, families, hobbies, and even old childhood memories…_

_They really weren't paying attention to anything else around them and didn't even notice when their food was brought out, until he put his hand down to take a sip of water, only to see his plate. They ate, but they only did when they took a breath from talking, both just seem to be enjoying the sound of each other's voices._

_Once they were full—though they didn't remember if the food even tasted good or not, Bill paid for their meal before he led her out, taking her hand under his arm._

"_I know this one place that I think you're going to love," he told her and she was excited, dying to know what he had in mind. In the end, it was to a dance club. It was a bit of a change from the quiet atmosphere to this… but he was relieved to see that she was looking thrilled._

_As the music blared around them, and people were running onto the dance floor underneath the bright lights, he then held out his hand and asked, "Would you like to dance?"_

_And that was how it was. Fleur was without a doubt the most graceful person he had ever seen, and they danced through song after song… only stopping to buy a brief drink before they returned to the lose each other in their eyes…_

_It was like their own little world as he spun her around expertly, and she trusted him enough not to miss a single step. After hours of this, the place was starting to close, and he said that he would take her home. Once they left, the sun had long since set and they were both suddenly exhausted. They slipped down an alley so they could disapparate together and back to her flat. _

_Neither one said a word as he walked her up to her door and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. And she just smiled back before she went in… but even as he went home himself, his heart felt happier than it could ever remember feeling._

_*End of Flashback*_

Bill gulped. He wasn't sure how Fleur felt that night, but he knew what it had been for him. The feeling of being with her had been more wonderful… just more… _magical_ than any spell he had ever used. Fleur slowly walked towards him…

He glanced hesitantly at the door in front behind him, and then back at Fleur, who was smiling slightly. Not knowing what he was doing, he brushed a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear as he looked into those beautiful blue eyes again.

Cupping her face with his hands, he slowly lowered his head, and when she gave no signs of pulling away, he kissed her gently.

By instinct, he closed his eyes and as he listened to the pattering of his heart, he heard Fleur let out a sigh. He was surprised when Fleur actually reacted, wrapping her slim arms around his neck and intertwining her fingers with his fiery locks. His reaction was instinct as he shifted his hands to waist, bringing her closer to him. They both felt like white-hot fire was spreading though every part of their bodies. The kiss was short and chaste yet somehow… held a hidden passion that only the two of them felt.

And when they broke apart, both of them smiling.

"Wow…" they both said at the same time, and then smiling broader at that.

"Thank you…" she told him softly.

"Any time," he answered… though he wasn't sure if he was talking about the pep talk or the kiss at the moment.

"If you don't mind," she said softly running her fingers down his cheek. "I don't think I want to go to ze rest of ze book."

He nodded. "To be honest, I've been thinking the same thing."

He played with a tiny piece of her hair as they stared at each other for a long time. Finally, they seemed to remember that they were in her office, and he quickly left with a hurried goodbye.

But as he quickly made his way back down to his own office, Bill came to a conclusion. It felt natural, the way that she had touched him, and the way she fit against him perfectly. He liked it too. Maybe it was love, what he felt for her. Whatever it was, he was damn sure it was more than simply fancying her. It was then that Bill realized he loved her. And what could be more important than that?

_*Two days later*_

"So Bill and Fleur won't be joining us today?" Remus asked surprised as he joined Tonks, Sirius, Kingsley, and the Weasleys in the drawing room.

"Bill said that they couldn't get away from work," Molly sighed as she pulled out her wand and tapped her hair, causing it to become untangled. She had been up late last night wondering if Errol had gotten to Hogwarts yet with those Easter eggs.

"And Mad-Eye said that he had to check on something quick but he should be here a little later," Tonks stated.

"Great," Sirius yawned as he pulled out the book. "I told Kreacher to get lost in the attic again so I don't think we need to worry for a while. Let's get this over with."

"I think that we should be able to finish this book today…" Arthur said, looking at how much they still had to read.

"Something that I'll be looking forward to," Tonks sighed. "Really, these books are just getting depressing now. How that coot enjoys that I'll never know. Alright… so who reads first?"

"I guess I will," Sirius sighed as he flipped through the pages, trying to remember where they left off. "I haven't done it in a long time now and…" he stopped.

"Sirius?" Remus asked politely puzzled, wondering what was wrong. Then, without warning, Sirius suddenly burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter, startling them all.

"What's with you?!" Tonks asked staring at him.

Sirius calmed down slightly and just waved his hand at them all. "Oh, nothing," he grinned. "Just that this chapter's perfect for me." He grinned wider as he looked at the picture of a familiar black dog with the newspaper in his mouth. Knowing that he was about to get told of he read out loudly, "**Chapter 27: Padfoot Returns**."


	32. Padfoot Returns

**(Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling! I own nothing)**

**Chapter 31: Padfoot Returns**

Sirius calmed down slightly and just waved his hand at them all. "Oh, nothing," he grinned. "Just that this chapter's perfect for me." He grinned wider as he looked at the picture of a familiar black dog with the newspaper in his mouth. Knowing that he was about to get told of he read out loudly, "**Chapter ****27: Padfoot Returns."**

"You're right," Tonks smirked. "This chapter must've been made for you to read!"

"Maybe," Sirius laughed back. But the rest of them didn't find the chapter name as funny as he did.

"That means that they'll be meeting you in Hogsmeade?" Remus asked, hoping that he was wrong in guessing what his old friend had done. They all stared him who pretended to look at the page.

"You really are insane aren't you?" he asked almost in awe. Really, what kind of wanted man goes back?

"Who asked you?" Sirius asked lightly and went on to read before they said anything else.

**One of the best things about the aftermath of the second task was that everybody was very keen to hear details of what had happened down in the lake, which meant that Ron was ****getting to share Harry's limelight for once. **

"I thought Ron was asleep the whole time," Tonks stated, her eyebrows raised.

"He was," Arthur chuckled.

"Well, in that case," Sirius laughed, "He must've had the best details!"

"At least Ron has no case of being jealous here," Remus smiled glad that this worked out.

**Harry noticed that Ron's version of events changed subtly with every retelling. **

Molly shook her head exasperatedly. Really… that boy of hers…

**At first, he gave what seemed to be the truth; it tallied with Hermione's story, anyway – **

"I'm going to go with that story then for the truth," Tonks said happily.

**Dumbledore had put all the hostages into a bewitched sleep in Professor McGonagall's office, first assuring them that they would be quite safe, and would awake when they were back above the water. **

"That's pretty much what happened," Kingsley said calmly.

**One week later, however, Ron was telling a thrilling tale of kidnap in which he struggled single-handedly against fifty heavily armed merpeople who had to beat him into submission before tying him up.**

"Oh, Ron," Molly said shaking her head.

"You don't say?" Sirius roared with laughter.

"Well, it's not the first time he exaggerated," Arthur said fondly.

"Exaggerated?" Remus asked. "Nothing about that story is true."

"Good story for the ladies though," Sirius grinned.

**"But I had my wand hidden up my sleeve," he assured Padma Patil, who seemed to be a lot keener on Ron now that he was getting so much attention and was making a point of talking to him every time they passed in the corridors.**

"Of course she would," Tonks said sarcastically. "Now that he's Mr. Popular, she wants to get to know him more."

**"I could've taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted."**

"Yep," Sirius said nodding encouragingly. "You keep telling yourself that Ron."

**"What were you going to do, snore at them?" said Hermione waspishly. People had been teasing her so much about being the thing that Viktor Krum would most miss that she was in a rather tetchy mood.**

"I don't blame her," Tonks said. "Kids are so cruel."

"You just notice?" Sirius asked, his grin fading ever so slightly, at the memories of hearing how hard Harry was treated by the rest of the school.

**Ron's ears went red, and thereafter, he reverted to the bewitched sleep version of events.**

"I bet he did," Kingsley smiled. The last thing he wanted was to add more fuel to the fire right now.

**As they entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time they went out onto the grounds. There were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course. The brown owl that Harry had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up the wrong way; Harry had no sooner torn off Sirius's reply than it took flight, clearly afraid it was going to be sent outside again.**

"Poor thing," Tonks winced. The last thing that anyone would want was to go and work in the cold.

**Sirius's letter was almost as short as the previous one.**

**_Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can._**

"You really went all the way back to Hogsmeade?" Kingsley gasped at him. He couldn't believe it… no actually, he _could_ believe it. That was just so typical of the Sirius Black he had gotten to know.

"Maybe," Sirius said without looking at him.

"You're an idiot," Remus said simply, staring at Sirius.

"I'm smart enough to know to hide so I won't get caught!" he snapped back.

"That doesn't guarantee that you won't be spotted," Molly stated worriedly. "And why did you want them to bring food?"

"Well, it's hard to get food on the run," he grumbled. "And I've been avoiding trouble for years. I can look after myself."

**"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" said Ron incredulously.**

"He did," Remus muttered.

"Ok, shut it!" Sirius called out, truly annoyed now.

**"It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione.**

**"I can't believe him," said Harry tensely, "if he's caught …"**

"Well, I wasn't," Sirius said shaking his head. Great, now Harry was doing it.

"Is there something wrong with letting someone worry about you?" Arthur asked him calmly.

Sirius gave him a sharp look before he turned back to the book, unable to answer him he continued reading.

**"Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" said Ron. "And it's not like the place is swarming with dementors anymore."**

_'At least someone believed he could take care of myself,'_ Sirius thought appreciatively.

**Harry folded up the letter, thinking. If he was honest with himself, he really wanted to see Sirius again. He therefore approached the final lesson of the afternoon - double Potions - feeling considerably more cheerful than he usually did when descending the steps to the dungeons.**

"Why do I get the feeling that this isn't going to end well?" Tonks sighed.

"When does it ever?" Sirius grumbled at her. "Let's not forget that oil-haired git Snape teaches it."

"Alright, Sirius," Remus said with his usual patience. "That's enough."

**Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls. All of them were looking at something Harry couldn't see and sniggering heartily. Pansy's pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle's broad back as Harry, Ron, and Hermione approached.**

**"There they are, there they are!" she giggled, and the knot of Slytherins broke apart. Harry saw that Pansy had a magazine in her hands - _Witch Weekly._**

"I'm guessing this has something to do with Skeeter…" Tonks said not liking where this was going.

With a rush of understanding, Molly slapped her hand over her face. "I know what this is about. It's that article about how Hermione was toying with Harry's heart."

"What?" Remus stated.

"Oh, that's just great," Tonks muttered "But you'd have to be pretty thick to believe something like that."

Molly went red and looked away ashamed.

"Molly?" Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't…?"

"I did," she said bitterly. "But I hardly knew Hermione then. I'd only knew her for a couple short weeks… and who knows what could've happened at that school. I truly feel terrible for believing that story… and that's one of the main reasons why I stopped reading Witch Weekly."

"Skeeter wrote it though," Sirius shot back.

"Okay, we get it, the article was the biggest load of rubbish," Kingsley said impatiently. "Now can we read on?"

**The moving picture on the front showed a curly-haired witch who was smiling toothily and pointing at a large sponge cake with her wand.**

**"You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!" Pansy said loudly, and she threw the magazine at Hermione, who caught it, looking startled. At that moment, the dungeon door opened, and Snape beckoned them all inside.**

**Hermione, Harry, and Ron headed for a table at the back of the dungeon as usual. Once Snape had turned his back on them to write up the ingredients of today's potion on the blackboard, Hermione hastily rifled through the magazine under the desk. At last, in the centre pages, Hermione found what they were looking for.**

"They're gonna regret that," Molly winced, remembering with painful clarity what that awful paper said.

**Harry and Ron leaned in closer. A color photograph of Harry headed a short piece entitled:**

**_Harry Potter's Secret Heartache_**

"More lies!" Sirius rolled his eyes. "Why can that over-grown bug go and bug someone else for a change? Why bother a bunch of teenagers?"

"Oh… I'm not sure I want to hear this," Tonks muttered, sticking her fingers in her ears, but it was no use, Sirius's loud voice caused her to hear every word.

**_A boy like no other, perhaps - yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen-year-old Harry Potter thought he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-born Hermione Granger. _**

"God," Remus sighed, shaking his head, "We just started here, and I already feel sick. I don't think I can handle the rest of the book."

**_Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss._**

**_Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, _**

"Funny," Sirius scoffed. "Call me crazy, but I seem to recall that she called her pretty in the last article about Harry."

"But we know that she hates Hermione now," Tonks said.

"Disgusting," Kingsley said darkly. "Using the press to get back at someone."

"And they're nothing but lies," Arthur said just as angry. "How could anyone let that be printed?"

"Yeah, but people do love hearing how miserable the famous are living," Sirius muttered harshly as he turned the tearing page.

**_seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections._**

"Hardly," Tonks said rolling her teal-colored eyes, her hair slowly turning red in anger, "She didn't even speak to Krum until he asked her to the ball. And they haven't been together since… at least I don't think they have. And even if she did, it's no one else's business but her own. And as for her 'toying with Harry's affections' that's just a load of rubbish that Rita put in to smear Harry's name and get back at Hermione in one fell swoop!"

"Well said," Remus stated grimly.

**_Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about _****_any other girl."_**

"Really?" asked Sirius with a smirk. "Who knew Mr. Grumpy had a soft spot?"

"Well, if he really did say all that, then clearly the feeling's not mutual," Tonks said.

"But if it is, how could she have heard that?" wondered Arthur. "She's not allowed onto the grounds anymore, so I don't know how she could've done it."

"There's just no point asking questions and expecting answers," Kingsley answered deeply. "But I'm sure we'll find out soon."

**_However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest._**

_"**She's really ugly," **_

"No, she isn't," Tonks snapped.

**_says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, _**

"Pretty and vivacious?" she questioned at once with a high-pitched laugh. "Compared to what pray tell? A dragon? She's the one who looks like a pug right? How can she say something like that?"

"Parkinson is an idiot then," said Sirius cynically.

"And you're forgetting Rita…" Arthur muttered.

"And her quill," Remus stated, remembering what the Quick-Quotes Quill wrote back during the weighing of the wands.

**_"but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."_**

"Of course she isn't," Tonks fumed. "She's got brains, good looks, and friends… three things you don't!"

"Ha!" Sirius cried at that in agreement.

**_Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. _**

"I'm sure he will," Kingsley said rolling his eyes.

**_In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate._**

**"I told you!" Ron hissed at Hermione as she stared down at the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of- of scarlet woman!"**

Arthur suddenly burst out laughing, startling them all.

"What's with you?" Kingsley asked as Molly turned red.

"It's what I call them," Molly muttered quietly. Sirius and Tonks both burst out laughing at that.

"At least you know he listens!" Sirius chortled.

"Yes," she said sourly, "But not to what I want him to!"

Kingsley shook his head as he privately thought to himself, _'Rita is starting to drive everyone buggy here. Not only does she attack Hermione; but she also Krum and Harry into it. It's almost as if she has ulterior motives…'_

**Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted with laughter. **

**"Scarlet woman?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed giggles as she looked around at Ron.**

**"It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red.**

Molly ran her fingers through her hair and wondered why her son remembered things like this.

**"If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said Hermione, still giggling, as she threw _Witch Weekly_ onto the empty chair beside her. "What a pile of old rubbish."**

"Well, she's taking public humiliation well," Sirius said in surprise.

**She looked over at the Slytherins, who were all watching her and Harry closely across the room to see if they had been upset by the article. Hermione gave them a sarcastic smile and ****a wave, **

Another round of laughter from everyone at that.

"Hah! In your face, Parkinson!" Sirius said through his laughter. "You show 'em!"

"Don't let those idiots keep you down, Hermione!" Tonks roared with approval. "Personally, I would've cursed them."

"In Snape's class?" Sirius asked her.

"Detention would've been worth it," she told him stubbornly.

**and she, Harry, and Ron started unpacking the ingredients they would need for their Wit-Sharpening Potion.**

**"There's something funny, though," said Hermione ten minutes later, holding her pestle suspended over a bowl of scarab beetles. "How could Rita Skeeter have known…?"**

**"Known what?" said Ron quickly. "You haven't been mixing up Love Potions, have you?"**

"I highly doubt she would be making love potions in her spare time, Ron," Arthur said.

"Of course she hasn't," Molly told him crossly. "Honestly, how could he ask her something like that?"

"You don't know everything about your best friends," Remus said, almost sadly as he shared a look with Sirius.

**"Don't be stupid," Hermione snapped, starting to pound up her beetles again. "No, it's just… how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?"**

"So he actually _did_ say that?" Remus said surprised.

"But how did she find out?" Arthur couldn't help but ask, and unsurprisingly, no one was able to answer him.

**Hermione blushed scarlet as she said this and determinedly avoided Ron's eyes.**

**"What?" said Ron, dropping his pestle with a loud clunk.**

"Again with the jealously, Ron?" Tonks sighed, really not looking forward to another scene like at the Yule Ball.

**"He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake," Hermione muttered. "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing ****anything over the summer, would I like to -"**

**"And what did you say?" said Ron, who had picked up his pestle and was grinding it on the desk, a good six inches from his bowl, because he was looking at Hermione.**

"Sounds like he's distracted," Sirius said. "I really don't think that he'll let that drop unless she give him an answer."

"And if she says yes, then he'll get angry and won't talk to her," Tonks said knowingly. "That… or yell at her 'fraternizing with the enemy'!"

"That boy…" Molly muttered to herself. She would have to have a word with her son over the summer.

**"And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on, going so red now that Harry could almost feel the heat coming from her, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there… or was she? Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second task…"**

"But Moody would've seen her though if that was the case," Arthur disagreed.

"But that's not the real Moody though was it?" Tonks pointed out. "Maybe he wanted Rita to publish crap about Harry?"

"What's the point though?" Kingsley asked.

Tonks thought it over before saying, "Make him upset? Easier to manipulate? I don't know! But it's the best I got."

**"And what did you say?" Ron repeated, pounding his pestle down so hard that it dented the desk.**

**"Well, I was too busy seeing whether you and Harry were okay to-"**

"Further proof that she doesn't have any special feelings for Krum," Tonks smirked.

**"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is Miss Granger," said an icy voice right behind them, and all three of them jumped, "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."**

"Bloody overgrown bat," Sirius muttered. He was sure that if Malfoy was discussing in his class, then Snape would've told him to finish it up before getting back to work.

**Snape had glided over to their desk while they were talking. The whole class was now looking around at them; Malfoy took the opportunity to flash POTTER STINKS across the dungeon at Harry.**

"You think they'd grow up by now," Arthur stated.

"Why would they?" Sirius asked. "They're in Snape's class. He'll let them get away with murder!"

**"Ah… reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape added, snatching up the copy of _Witch Weekly_. "A further ten points from Gryffindor… oh but of course…" Snape's black eyes glittered as they fell on Rita Skeeter's article. "Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings…"**

"Oh, he wouldn't dare…" Sirius growled. He wouldn't read that disgusting thing out loud would he and humiliate them both now?

**The dungeon rang with the Slytherins' laughter, and an unpleasant smile curled Snape's thin mouth. To Harry's fury, he began to read the article aloud.**

"I can't believe him!" Molly shouted furiously.

"Yes," Remus said angrily. He didn't understand. Severus knew what it was like to be publicly ridiculed and bullied. Did he truly hate Harry that much?"

"He's a git, but there's nothing that can be done about it," Sirius growled. "He's the one who won't grow up."

**"'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache… dear, dear. Potter, what's ailing you now? _'A boy like no other, perhaps…'_"**

"I'm gonna kill him for this," Sirius growled. "Forget Dumbledore and the Order… he's dead meat."

**Harry could feel his face burning. Snape was pausing at the end of every sentence to allow the Slytherins a hearty laugh. The article sounded ten times worse when read by Snape. Even Hermione was blushing scarlet now.**

Molly glared harshly at the book, wondering how anyone could be so full of hate to actually get pleasure of seeing children mortified like this.

**"'… Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate.' How very touching," sneered Snape, rolling up the magazine to continued gales of laughter from the Slytherins. **

**"Well, I think I had better separate the three of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson.**

"Ok, that's just cruel," Tonks scowled, but then she brighten and said, "Though, maybe she can see if she can curse her here."

"Why is it that he always moves Harry and Hermione to people who he knows will most certainly cause problems them but leaves Ron where he is?" Remus asked, thinking of the Dueling Club.

"He's a prejudice-" Sirius then cursed out Snape's name, which earned a smirk from Tonks, but a revolted one from Molly for knowing such language.

**Potter - that table in front of my desk. Move. Now."**

**Furious, Harry threw his ingredients and his bag into his cauldron and dragged it up to the front of the dungeon to the empty table. Snape followed, sat down at his desk and watched Harry unload his cauldron. Determined not to look at Snape, Harry resumed the mashing of his scarab beetles, imagining each one to have Snape's face.**

"Oh, good one," Sirius exclaimed. "I'll have to borrow that technique sometime."

**"All this press attention seems to have inflated your already over-large head Potter," said ****Snape quietly, once the rest of the class had settled down again. **

And just like that, his mood was back to angry. Did Snape really feel it was necessary to keep tormenting his godson? It's bad enough that the rest of the Slytherins made it their mission in life to make things as miserable as possible for Harry, why did Snape have to make it worse?

"Harry doesn't have an over-large head," Molly said angrily.

"He just refuses to see that Harry isn't James," Remus sighed.

**Harry didn't answer. He knew Snape was trying to provoke him; he had done this before. No doubt he was hoping for an excuse to take a round fifty points from Gryffindor before the end of the class.**

"Of course he would," Sirius said bitterly. "And why stop at fifty? Make it another hundred while he's at it!"

**"You might be laboring under the delusion that the entire wizarding world is impressed with you,"**

"Well, I'm the Death Eaters sure are," Tonks smirked. "I mean, being able to escape Voldemort multiple times in a row is impressive for a teenager."

**Snape went on, so quietly that no one else could hear him (Harry continued to pound his scarab beetles, even though he had already reduced them to a very fine powder), "but I ****don't care how many times your picture appears in the papers. To me Potter, you are nothing but a nasty little boy who considers rules to be beneath him."**

It was hard to hear that last part because Sirius's tone had turned to a growl. "Yeah?" he snarled like a dog. "Well, if he wants to be that way, to me, he'll never be anything but an Dark Magic-loving, greasy-haired, long-nosed git who is angry with how his life turned out and is taking it all out on kids."

"That sounds about right," Tonks agreed. "I don't see why Dumbledore doesn't work harder to keep him in line. He's dangerously close to going to Azkaban as it is and the only reason he's not there already is because Dumbledore spoke up for him."

"Nothing but a big mistake in my opinion," Sirius growled.

"Enough," Kingsley sighed. "I agree that it's unfair of Severus's treatment and he really should learn to let go, but we aren't behaving much better are we?"

"Course we are," Sirius snapped. "Snape deserves it."

**Harry tipped the powdered beetles into his cauldron and started cutting up his ginger roots. His hands were shaking slightly out of anger, but he kept his eyes down, as though he couldn't hear what Snape was saying to him.**

**"So I give you fair warning, Potter," Snape continued in a softer and more dangerous voice, "pint-sized celebrity or not - if I catch you breaking into my office one more time -"**

"What? He hasn't been anywhere near Snape's office," Sirius yelled out angrily. "Funny that he always jumps to the conclusion that Harry's guilty isn't it?!"

"He thinks that Harry broke into his office?" Molly asked now. "Why would he?"

"Though I think that you might have a point there, Sirius, I also think that is somewhat reasonable here as well," said Kingsley sensibly, thinking it all over. "I mean he knew that Harry was out of bed the night that his office was broken into, and what's more he used gillyweed for that task, which most likely came from his private stores."

"And it wouldn't be the first time he robbed his office," Remus reminded them.

"But if that's the case, then Dobby didn't take the gillyweed until the day of the Second Task," Sirius pointed out. "Not the night that Snape's office was broken into! And he can't blame Harry for that can he? He would've noticed if the gillyweed was taken that night wouldn't he?"

"It doesn't really matter anymore however," Remus said. "Hopefully, Severus knows that it was Crouch who stole from his office that night."

"I doubt it," Sirius grumbled to himself. He knew that Snape would still try to find a way to make it seem as though Harry's guilty, but he didn't say anything else as he continued, now hoping that they can get this book over already.

**"I haven't been anywhere near your office!" said Harry angrily, forgetting his feigned deafness.**

**"Don't lie to me," Snape hissed, his fathomless black eyes boring into Harry's. **

"But he isn't lying," Sirius said slowly and carefully. _'Just because you're a idiot doesn't change anything.'_

**"Boomslang skin. Gillyweed. Both come from my private stores, and I know who stole them."**

"Boomslang skin…?" Arthur repeated slowly. "So this really was where Dobby got the gillyweed. But, how did he get in there? I thought that Severus said only a wizard could break those spells."

"Yeah," Tonks agreed. "Does he have some special house-elf's privilege of even getting into Snape's office, or can he get past Snapes security spells? If Dobby didn't get the gillyweed from Snape's office, then who did? The same thing with the boomslang skin—was that taken by Hermione two years ago and it took this long for Snape to discover the theft…"

"I'm guessing that it was Crouch who took it. I mean, boomslang skin isn't easy to get," Remus sighed.

**Harry stared back at Snape, determined not to blink or to look guilty. In truth, he hadn't stolen either of these things from Snape. Hermione had taken the boomslang skin back in their second year - they had needed it for the Polyjuice Potion - and while Snape had suspected Harry at the time, he had never been able to prove it. Dobby, of course, had stolen the Gillyweed.**

**"I don't know what you're talking about," Harry lied coldly.**

Sirius winced, knowing that Harry was a terrible liar and Snape wasn't going to believe him. But then again, he didn't do anything illegal now did he?

**"You were out of bed on the night my office was broken into!" Snape hissed. "I know it Potter! Now, Mad-Eye Moody might have joined your fan club, but I will not tolerate your ****behavior! One more nighttime stroll into my office, Potter, and you will pay!"**

"Did he just threaten him?" Sirius repeated wrathfully. "Because that sure sounded like it to me!"

"Sirius, relax!" Remus said, though he too looked angry. "He can't do anything but take points away or give him detention! He wouldn't do anything other than that!"

"Or flunk him," Tonks added under her breath.

**"Right," said Harry coolly, turning back to his ginger roots. "I'll bear that in mind if I ever get the urge to go in there."**

"Harry…" Remus sighed exasperated. "The last thing you want to do is provoke him. He's only going to make things even harder on you."

"That boy's got some guts," Sirius smirked proudly.

**Snape's eyes flashed. He plunged a hand into the inside of his black robes. For one wild moment. Harry thought Snape was about to pull out his wand and curse him –**

"If he did it'll be the last thing he ever does!" Sirius threatened menacingly.

"Sirius!" Remus called to him. "It's alright! I'm sure that Severus wouldn't have gone as far as to curse a child."

"Really?" Sirius asked, highly skeptical. "Jeez, why do I doubt that?"

Furiously, he shook the book out so that he could read again.

**then he saw that Snape had drawn out a small crystal bottle of a completely clear potion. Harry stared at it.**

"Oh, he wouldn't do that…" said Arthur, recognizing the potion at once.

"Is that…?" Tonks began, but Kingsley shot her a warning look, before jerking his head at Sirius, who was looking angrier by the second, and Tonks took the hint.

**"Do you know what this is Potter?" Snape said, his eyes glittering dangerously again.**

**"No," said Harry, with complete honestly this time.**

**"It is Veritaserum - **

"That's going way too far," Arthur said at once. "That's it's illegal to use on a minor just for something like this."

"I think that it's just an empty threat," Kingsley said at once. "Just to scare him. Severus wouldn't risk getting into anything illegal with the law again… especially with his history. I think that it will take only one more little thing to get him in real trouble."

"Snape'll find a way to get out of it," Sirius scowled at him. "All he has to do was tell him that Harry was dumb enough to drink it, thinking it was water or something." He thought it over for a second and said, "These days, I'm sure that he'd be able to get away with it. Heck, I'm sure that the Ministry would be happy to provide the potion!"

"Then Harry can tell him the truth," Tonks reminded him.

Sirius snorted. "I doubt that idiot Fudge would ever listen. He won't believe Voldemort's back unless he sees him first-hand."

**a Truth Potion so powerful that three drops would have you spilling your innermost secrets for this entire class to hear," said Snape viciously. "Now, the use of this potion is controlled by very strict Ministry guidelines. But unless you watch your step, you might just find that my hand slips" - he shook the crystal bottle slightly - "right over your evening pumpkin juice. And then Potter… then we'll find out whether you've been in my office or not."**

"Well, he has nothing to hide," Remus said firmly before he then added as an afterthought. "At least about who broke into Snape's office."

"Not that I want him to try it," Molly said, thinking that a teacher should never resort to threats like this.

**Harry said nothing. He turned back to his ginger roots once more, picked up his knife, and started slicing them again. He didn't like the sound of that Truth Potion at all, nor would he put it past Snape to slip him some. He repressed a shudder at the thought of what might come spilling out of his mouth if Snape did it… quite apart from landing a whole lot of people in trouble - Hermione and Dobby for a start - there were all the other things he was concealing… like the fact that he was in contact with Sirius… and - his insides squirmed at ****the thought - how he felt about Cho…**

"That's not quite how veritaserum works though," Kingsley pointed out. "You are forced to remain quiet until someone asks you a question and then you are compelled to answer completely and honestly."

"I rather that he never finds out that way," Sirius muttered darkly.

**he tipped his ginger roots into the cauldron too, and wondered whether he ought to take a leaf out of Moody's book and start drinking only from a private hip flask.**

"With Snape around, that might be the best plan," Sirius said idly.

"Mad-Eye would be so proud," Tonks smiled, pretending to wipe away tears of pride.

**There was a knock on the dungeon door.**

**"Enter," said Snape in his usual voice.**

"In other words, cranky," Tonks added knowingly, causing Sirius to snort.

**The class looked around as the door opened. Professor Karkaroff came in. Everyone ****watched him as he walked up toward Snape's desk. He was twisting his finger around his goatee and looking agitated.**

They all looked interested at that, wondering what was happening this time.

"Wonder what he wants," Arthur said suspiciously.

"Whatever it is," Kingsley said frowning, "He sounds nervous."

"Most likely about the mark," Arthur stated dismally. "Severus did say last summer that the marks had been growing darker all last year—a sign that Voldemort was getting stronger."

**"We need to talk," said Karkaroff abruptly when he had reached Snape. He seemed so determined that nobody should hear what he was saying that he was barely opening his lips; it was as though he were a rather poor ventriloquist. Harry kept his eyes on his ginger ****roots, listening hard.**

**"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered, but Karkaroff interrupted him.**

**"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me."**

"I don't blame you wanting to avoid him," said Sirius. _'Course, any Death Eater isn't the ideal cohort in my book,' _he added in an afterthought.

**"After the lesson," Snape snapped.**

**Under the pretext of holding up a measuring cup to see if he'd poured out enough armadillo bile, Harry sneaked a sidelong glance at the pair of them. Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked angry.**

"Yes," Kingsley stated. "Most definitely it has to do with the mark."

**Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double period.**

"Good, hope it bugs him," Sirius glowered.

"You got to give him points for persistence," Tonks exclaimed.

**He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the end of class. Keen to hear what Karkaroff wanted to say, Harry deliberately knocked over his bottle of armadillo bile with two minutes to go to the bell, which gave him an excuse to duck down behind his cauldron and mop up while the rest of the class moved noisily toward the door.**

"I see that sometimes having Lily's curiosity in him can be good," Remus laughed half-heartedly. "We get a glimpse at what they're so worried about."

Molly shot him an annoyed look. "That's not a good thing," she hissed to him.

**"What's so urgent?" he heard Snape hiss at Karkaroff.**

**"This," said Karkaroff, and Harry, peering around the edge of his cauldron, saw Karkaroff ****pull up the left-hand sleeve of his robe and show Snape something on his inner forearm.**

"The dark mark," Arthur spat and at once, they all got the same angry look. How anyone could be proud to have something so evil etched into their arms was beyond them.

**"Well?" said Karkaroff, still making every effort not to move his lips. "Do you see? It's never been this clear, never since -"**

**"Put it away!" snarled Snape, his black eyes sweeping the classroom.**

"Yeah, he has his own to look at," Sirius muttered darkly.

**"But you must have noticed -" Karkaroff began in an agitated voice.**

**"We can talk later, Karkaroff!" spat Snape. "Potter! What are you doing?"**

**"Clearing up my armadillo bile, Professor," said Harry innocently, straightening up and showing Snape the sodden rag he was holding.**

"Nice excuse," Tonks smirked. "Looks like he's starting to get the hang of getting out of trouble."

**Karkaroff turned on his heel and strode out of the dungeon. He looked both worried and angry. Not wanting to remain alone with an exceptionally angry Snape, Harry threw his books and ingredients back into his bag and left at top speed to tell Ron and Hermione what he had just witnessed.**

"I wouldn't want to remain alone with Snape, anytime," Sirius shrugged. Any time not listening about that big-nosed prat was ok with him.

**They left the castle at noon the next day to find a weak silver sun shining down upon the grounds. The weather was milder than it had been all year, and by the time they arrived in Hogsmeade, all three of them had taken off their cloaks and thrown them over their shoulders. The food Sirius had told them to bring was in Harry's bag; they had sneaked a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice from the lunch table.**

Sirius's mouth began to water at the thought, now wishing he had some of that chicken here with him and another bottle of Firewhisky.

**They went into Gladrags Wizardwear to buy a present for Dobby, where they had fun selecting the most lurid socks they could find, including a pair patterned with flashing gold and silver stars, and another that screamed loudly when they became too smelly. **

"Why are we reading about socks?" Arthur asked, highly amused.

"I think it's sweet," Tonks smiled.

"And I'm sure that Dobby will love them," Molly cooed. "He certainly takes better care of his clothes then my sons."

**Then, at half past one, they made their way up the High Street, past Dervish and Banges, and out toward the edge of the village.**

**Harry had never been in this direction before. The winding lane was leading them out into the wild countryside around Hogsmeade. The cottages were fewer here, and their gardens larger; they were walking toward the foot of the mountain in whose shadow Hogsmeade lay. Then they turned a corner and saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for them, its front paws on the topmost bar, was a very large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth and looking very familiar…**

"Hello, Sirius," Remus said and Sirius laughed at the next line.

**"Hello, Sirius," said Harry when they had reached him.**

Remus smiled broadly. "Well, it's hard not to say hello when someone meets you," he told him happily.

**The black dog sniffed Harry's bag eagerly, wagged its tail once, then turned and began to trot away from them across the scrubby patch of ground that rose to meet the rocky foot of the mountain. Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbed over the stile and followed.**

"Hungry, are we?" Arthur asked him.

"Maybe a little," he answered. Easy for him to say… he had delicious meals made for him every day. He never had to taste a rat.

**Sirius led them to the very foot of the mountain, where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks. It was easy for him, with his four paws, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione were soon out of breath. They followed Sirius higher, up onto the mountain itself. **

"A cave?" Tonks asked him in surprised.

"Not to many five-star hotels up there to be honest," he answered sardonically. "Believe me, I looked."

**For nearly half an hour they climbed a steep, winding, and stony path, following Sirius's wagging tail, sweating in the sun, the shoulder straps of Harry's bag cutting into his shoulders.**

**Then, at last, Sirius slipped out of sight, and when they reached the place where he had vanished, they saw a narrow fissure in the rock. They squeezed into it and found themselves in a cool, dimly lit cave. Tethered at the end of it, one end of his rope around a large rock, was Buckbeak the hippogriff.**

"And he's still there with you constantly?" Arthur smiled at him knowingly.

"He's my friend," Sirius grinned. "We jailbirds have to stick together."

"A man and his hippogriff," Tonks said, fighting back sniggers of laughter. "Isn't that just the sweetest thing you ever heard?"

He went and shoved her shoulder. "Didn't you ever have a pet?" he asked.

**Half grey horse, half giant eagle, Buckbeak's fierce orange eye flashed at the sight of them. All three of them bowed low to him, and after regarding them imperiously for a moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and allowed Hermione to rush forward and stroke his feathery neck. Harry, however, was looking at the black dog, which had just turned into his godfather.**

"That sounds really funny when he puts it like that," Tonks chortled. "Like it happens every day."

"Well, for him, it does," Kingsley reminded her.

**Sirius was wearing ragged grey robes; the same ones he had been wearing when he had ****left Azkaban. **

Molly looked at him, glad to see that he had gotten rid of those clothes for good. She had a feeling that he hadn't worn anything else since he was first put into Azkaban.

"Do they give the inmates in Azkaban new robes?" she asked him. "Because if they don't, Sirius, you know that you've been wearing those has been wearing the same robes for thirteen years?"

"Maybe once every ten years," he answered sourly. "Not sure… can't remember."

**His black hair was longer than it had been when he had appeared in the fire, and it was untidy and matted once more. He looked very thin.**

"You sound terrible," Remus said in worry.

"What else do you expect?" he barked. "Life on the run isn't good for your health you know?"

**"Chicken!" he said hoarsely after removing the old Daily Prophets from his mouth and throwing them down onto the cave floor.**

**Harry pulled open his bag and handed over the bundle of chicken legs and bread.**

**"Thanks," said Sirius, opening it, grabbing a drumstick, sitting down on the cave floor, and tearing off a large chunk with his teeth. "I've been living off rats mostly. **

The two women in the room went green at the thought as Sirius shuddered at the thought. But he didn't regret it… he did what he had to do to survive.

"You poor man," Molly stated, looking at him with amazement. "I hope you at least ate them as a dog…"

"Of course," he muttered. "I might've been desperate for food, but I wasn't going to actually taste them."

"Lily and James certainly didn't make a mistake when they chose you for godfather," Remus said to him quietly. "I don't think I could've done that and live off of rats."

"Thanks, Moony," said Sirius with half a grin, "But you would've been smart enough not to get sent to Azkaban in the first place."

"I don't know about," answered Remus quietly. "I don't know what would've happened if it had been me in your place." But he knew that he would've broken long before… he didn't have the same kind of fighting spirit that Sirius had.

**Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself." He grinned up at Harry, but Harry returned the grin only reluctantly.**

**"What're you doing here, Sirius?" he said.**

"Making sure that you're safe and sound," he added to himself under his breath, knowing that only Remus heard him.

**"Fulfilling my duty as godfather," said Sirius, gnawing on the chicken bone in a very doglike way. **

"Still have the table manners of a dog," Remus muttered, shaking his head warmly.

**"Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray." **

"Well, I don't know if you can pull that act off," Tonks teased him. "You're not what you call the most lovable creature out there…"

"You be surprised," Remus laughed as Sirius pretended to look offended.

"But the point is that you're doing your best to blend in," Kingsley said approvingly. "When you blend in your invisible."

"Hard to miss a big black dog," Molly said softly.

**He was still grinning, but seeing the anxiety in Harry's face, said more seriously, "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter… well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."**

Arthur and Molly both agreed with Sirius, they had become more and more worried about what was going on that year.

**He nodded at the yellowing Daily Prophets on the cave floor, and Ron picked them up and unfolded them. Harry, however, continued to stare at Sirius.**

**"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?"**

**"You three and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," said Sirius, shrugging, and continuing to devour the chicken leg.**

"Fat lot of good that's doing me now," Sirius muttered, still furious that Wormtail continued to betray him even after all this time.

"Yeah," Arthur sighed. "Lucius Malfoy recognized you when we went to King's Cross."

**Ron nudged Harry and passed him the Daily Prophets. There were two: The first bore the headline _Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch_, the second, _Ministry Witch Still Missing-_****_Minister of Magic Now Personally Involved_****.**

"After waiting for almost eight months," Remus sighed, shaking his head angrily. Even if she wasn't the most reliable person at the Ministry didn't mean that they could've put off searching for her for all that time. Just further proof that the Ministry was lacking leadership and didn't have the first clue to what they were doing.

**Harry scanned the story about Crouch. Phrases jumped out at him: _hasn't been seen in public since November… house appears deserted… St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline comment… Ministry refuses to confirm rumors of critical illness…_**

Kingsley frowned at that. Why would St. Mungo's decline comment? The only reason to decline comment is if you are covering up or protecting information. If Crouch was never a patient, then that was all they have to say. So, does that mean they have seen Crouch, or are trying to make others believe that they have seen him? Alastor once said that place cannot be trusted, and he was beginning to think the same thing.

**"They're making it sound like he's dying," said Harry slowly. **

_'Not yet. But he'll be dead soon,'_ Sirius thought to himself. Killed by your own son who's a demented servant of a mad serial killer? What a way to go…

**"But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here…"**

**"My brothers Crouch's personal assistant," Ron informed Sirius. **

Arthur and Molly eyes both filled with sadness at the mention of Percy.

**"He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."**

**"Mind you, he did look ill, last time I saw him up close," said Harry slowly, still reading the story. "The night my name came out of the goblet…"**

**"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" said Hermione, an edge to her voice.** **She was stroking Buckbeak, who was crunching up Sirius's chicken bones. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now - bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him."**

**"Hermione's obsessed with house-elves," Ron muttered to Sirius, casting Hermione a dark look. Sirius, however, looked interested.**

"Why are you interested?" Tonks asked in surprise. "I always thought you hated them."

"Just that miserable toe-rag Kreacher," he corrected at once. "I mean… I loved the elves at school."

"Because they gave you food," Remus reminded him.

"But Kreacher…" Sirius trailed off. "Who could love that thing?"

**"Crouch sacked his house-elf?"**

**"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," said Harry, and he launched into the story of the Dark Mark's appearance, and Winky being found with Harry's wand clutched in her hand, and Mr. Crouch's fury. When Harry had finished, Sirius was on his feet again and had started pacing up and down the cave.**

**"Let me get this straight," he said after a while, brandishing a fresh chicken leg. "You first saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?"**

"That's what we all thought," Arthur said sadly. He hated to admit it, but it was a very clever plan for Crouch to watch the game without anyone getting suspicious.

**"Right," said Harry, Ron, and Hermione together.**

**"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"**

They all glanced quickly at each other; knowing that Crouch did indeed turn up… just not Crouch Sr.

**"No," said Harry. "I think he said he'd been too busy."**

**Sirius paced all around the cave in silence. Then he said, "Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?"**

"Interesting, you already theorized that someone took his wand in the Top Box," Remus said impressed.

"Well, it's true now isn't it?" he asked resentfully.

**"Erm…" Harry thought hard. "No," he said finally. "I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars."**

**He stared at Sirius. "Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"**

"Yes," Arthur sighed.

**"It's possible," said Sirius.**

**"Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione insisted.**

"Of course she didn't," Tonks agreed. "You don't need to worry, Hermione."

**"The elf wasn't the only one in that box," said Sirius, his brow furrowed as he continued to pace. "Who else was sitting behind you?"**

**"Loads of people," said Harry. "Some Bulgarian ministers… Cornelius Fudge… the Malfoys…"**

**"The Malfoys!" said Ron suddenly, so loudly that his voice echoed all around the cave, and Buckbeak tossed his head nervously. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!"**

"Sadly, no," Arthur said darkly. "He was too busy running around in a mask and torturing Muggles."

"What a sick pastime," Sirius said grumpily.

**"Anyone else?" said Sirius.**

**"No one," said Harry.**

"Yeah, you just couldn't see him," Tonks murmured heatedly.

**"Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione reminded him.**

**"Oh yeah…"**

**"I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps," said Sirius, still pacing. "What's he like?"**

"A complete idiot," Tonks stated. "At least that's the guy we've read about, and the one that Mad-Eye complained about."

**"He's okay," said Harry. "He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."**

**"Does he, now?" said Sirius, frowning more deeply. "I wonder why he'd do that?"**

"Because he has some stupid bet with the goblins," Arthur enlightened them, remembering what Bill told him.

"He couldn't have made worse enemies," Kingsley sighed. "The only way that he could've toped that is if they were Dementors."

**"Says he's taken a liking to me," said Harry.**

**"Hmm," said Sirius, looking thoughtful.**

**"We saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared," Hermione told Sirius.**

"That doesn't mean it was him, though," Kingsley pointed out.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "He's dumb, but not that dumb."

**"Remember?" she said to Harry and Ron.**

**"Yeah, but he didn't stay in the forest, did he?" said Ron. "The moment we told him about the riot, he went off to the campsite."**

**"How d'you know?" Hermione shot back. "How d'you know where he Disapparated to?"**

"True," Arthur nodded. "I don't remembering seeing him fighting… then again…" he added thinking it over. "There was so much chaos that it doesn't mean much."

"Remember how he acted when he came back when they found Winky there?" Tonks asked. "He didn't sound like he was helping… I bet he was hiding."

"That's neither here or there now is it?" Remus suggested.

**"Come off it," said Ron incredulously. "Are you saying you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured ****the Dark Mark?"**

Now, it was Molly who shook her head. "Ludo Bagman is a lot of things, but I doubt he would do something like that."

"I doubt that he'd even know how anyway," Tonks said happily.

**"It's more likely he did it than Winky," said Hermione stubbornly.**

**"Told you," said Ron, looking meaningfully at Sirius, "told you she's obsessed with house -"**

**But Sirius held up a hand to silence Ron.**

Arthur smiled slightly.

"Their fighting does get to you after awhile," Sirius said raising his eyebrows. "Don't see how Harry can put up with it all after all this.

**"When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry's ****wand, what did Crouch do?"**

"Looked like he was crazy?" Tonks said, trying to remember what happened in that chapter.

**"Went to look in the bushes," said Harry, "but there wasn't anyone else there."**

"Oh, he's got such a good memory," she said almost enviously.

"We all knew that," Remus smiled.

**"Of course," Sirius muttered, pacing up and down, "of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf… and then he sacked her?"**

**"Yes," said Hermione in a heated voice, "he sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled -"**

"Smart…" Kingsley said softly. "By sacking Winky, he probably pushed the attention away from him at the moment while they all dealt with her."

"That doesn't mean that he had to sack her!" Tonks snapped. "She only did what she thought was best…"

**"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" said Ron.**

**Sirius shook his head and said, "She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."**

"Well you're one to talk," Remus said looking at him.

"I never said otherwise," he sighed. "Now look… I can't deny that I really loath Kreacher, but I've got nothing against house-elves as a whole. Kreacher just brings back so many bad memories of my childhood."

They all looked to him, but Remus was still anxious. Sure, Kreacher wasn't the most loveable things on this earth, but he could still be dangerous… he shook his head, trying hard not to think about it.

**He ran a hand over his unshaven face, evidently thinking hard.**

**"All these absences of Barty Crouch's … he goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that too… it's not like Crouch.**

"It certainly isn't," Arthur agreed.

**If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak."**

**"D'you know Crouch, then?" said Harry.**

**Sirius's face darkened. He suddenly looked as menacing as he had the night when Harry first met him, the night when Harry still believed Sirius to be a murderer.**

It was the same look that Sirius had now—remembering the injustice that Crouch had given him. Everyone else seemed to have been given a trial… everyone but him that is…

**"Oh I know Crouch all right," he said quietly. "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban - without a trial."**

"How could _anyone_ be denied a trial?" Molly demanded in outrage.

"Because madness runs in the Crouch family," Sirius muttered angrily under his breath.

**"What?" said Ron and Hermione together.**

**"You're kidding!" said Harry.**

"I wish I was," Sirius muttered. A trial… that was all he wanted. If they just gave him some of that Veritaserum then he could've told them what happened. But nnnnnnnooooooo… Crouch had to be in charge and consider him no better than the rest of his warped family.

**"No, I'm not," said Sirius, taking another great bite of chicken. "Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?"**

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione shook their heads.**

**"He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic," said Sirius. "He's a great wizard, Barty ****Crouch, powerfully magical - and power-hungry. **

"You know, now I finally get why Percy was so obsessed with him," Sirius muttered darkly to Remus, not daring to say it any louder so that the Weasley's wouldn't hear, "Sure sounds the kid could be a future Crouch. If he's ever elected Minister, then I'll know that we're screwed."

**Oh never a Voldemort supporter," he said, reading the look on Harry's face. "No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side… well, you wouldn't understand… you're too young…"**

**"That's what my dad said at the World Cup," said Ron, with a trace of irritation in his voice. "Try us, why don't you?"**

Molly and Arthur sighed wretchedly at those words.

"They'll find out soon," Kingsley admitted to them softly. "Once Voldemort moves into the opening…"

"We just wanted to protect them," Molly took a deep breath remembering the terror they all felt during those eleven long years. "And now they're the ones who will suffer for it."

Arthur put an arm around Molly who had a look of pain on her face as she thought of everything that was going on. And how much danger they were all in.

**A grin flashed across Sirius's thin face.**

"Why would you be smiling?" Molly asked him harshly.

"Because that sounded just like something I'd say," Sirius sighed. He had grown very fond of Ron—he reminded him so much of himself, it was almost like looking in a mirror.

**"All right, I'll try you…" He walked once up the cave, back again, and then said, "Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. **

"We don't have to imagine it," Arthur murmured without any emotion in his tone.

"At least I'm willing to treat them like adults," Sirius defended himself. "Rather than treat them like stupid little kids who don't know what I'm talking about."

"War isn't something that they need to be involved in!" Molly cried out.

"Whether they want to or not, they can't avoid this!" Sirius snapped back. "Harry especially! It's him that Voldemort wants dead!"

"Enough," Kingsley sighed exasperated. "Please… do we really have to argue about this right now?"

"Yeah," Tonks stated. "We don't need any more arguing… and you two were just starting to get along!"

Sirius and Molly both glared at each other, but thankfully let it drop.

Tonks sighed again before privately thinking to herself, _'I see what Mad-Eye mean sometimes… I think that adults only pretend that they know what they're doing.'_

**You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing …**

Everyone was looking very somber knowing this was exactly the environment they were currently living in.

**the Ministry of Magic's in disarray,**

"They're still in disarray," Sirius grumbled. You think after fourteen years they could've shaped up already!

**they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too.**

Arthur shook his head sadly.

**Terror everywhere… panic… confusion… that's how it used to be.**

"That's how it will be if we don't stop that maniac," Sirius exclaimed. "Look what happened last time. The second he was stopped, the war was over… we take him out again and it's the end of this war once and for all."

"If only it was that simple," Arthur reminded him gloomily.

**"Well, times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning - I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers - powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. **

"He gave them those rights when he took over the Department and got control of the Aurors," Kingsley frowned at the memories.

**And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. **

"So…" Sirius said disdainfully. "The law-abiding Crouch authorized the use of Unforgivable Curses on suspects? Not very nice… not very legal."

Arthur was also looking scornful; he and Barty were able to talk without arguing, but he had never agreed with his methods. So what if you torture someone until you get a confession? Of course they will say anything to stop it! And more often than not, the suspect was innocent.

"That's just horrible," Molly muttered.

"That's war," Remus sighed.

"Do they really have to lower themselves on the same level as the Death Eaters?" Tonks asked angrily, her hair turning red again. "Not I get why Mad-Eye hated him so much."

**He had his supporters, mind you - plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job. But then something rather unfortunate happened …" Sirius smiled grimly.**

"Why do you sound happy?" Tonks asked suspiciously.

"Of course," he snapped. "But come one… would you really want someone like him in charge?"

"Nope," she answered at once. "I guess I see your point."

**"Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban.** **Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."**

**"Crouch's son was caught?" gasped Hermione.**

"Not for long," Sirius's eyes narrowed at how the scum managed to escape out before he did. He then blinked. Maybe he was spending too much time with Mad-Eye… he was starting to sound like him.

**"Yep," said Sirius, throwing his chicken bone to Buckbeak, flinging himself back down on the ground beside the loaf of bread, and tearing it in half. "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? ****Ought to have left the office early once in a while… gotten to know his own son."**

"And Dumbledore says, that's a reason why so many choose to go down that path," Arthur said forlornly. "So many Dark witches and wizards have come from terrible childhoods."

"Well, the old man is just lucky that my godson didn't go down that path thanks to him leaving him with those Muggles!" Sirius hissed.

**He began to wolf down large pieces of bread.**

**"Was his son a Death Eater?" said Harry.**

**"No idea," said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. "I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in.**

"But we know the truth now don't we?" Remus asked grimly.

**This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters – but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf."**

"No," Molly muttered angrily at the thought of what happened to the Longbottoms.

"He should've just stayed in Azkaban and left to rot," Tonks growled before she laughed. "Mad-Eye is a bad influence on us all isn't he?"

"He certainly knows how to make an impression on someone," Kingsley agreed.

**"Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione whispered.**

**Sirius let out a laugh that was much more like a bark.**

"If he showed no mercy to innocent suspects, what makes her think that he would've to his son?" he barked.

**"Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione! Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. **

"Don't see why he would," Sirius said.

"It's people like that that should never be given power," Kingsley muttered.

Tonks looked him up and down and said, "Well, then we should have you for Minister."

"Not that again," he told her smiling. "I'm not planning on becoming the Minister. Not now or ever…"

"Which is why you're great for the job!" Tonks said happily.

**You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again - doesn't that tell you what he's like? Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy…** **then he sent him straight to Azkaban."**

**"He gave his own son to the Dementors?" asked Harry quietly.**

"How can a father do that to his son?" Molly whispered, looking as appalled as Arthur was felt.

"There are just some parents who couldn't care less what happened to their kids," Sirius muttered bitterly, thinking about his own mistakes of parents. "They could be lying dead in a gutter for all they cared."

"How could any father do that?" Arthur asked to no one as he thought it over. He remembered when all of his children were little and just starting to explore the world around them. How each of them had called him 'daddy'. No matter what happens, no man should ever willingly want to give up the title 'daddy.' He couldn't understand how any man could…

Was Crouch's reputation really so important to him that he would sacrifice everything?

**"That's right," said Sirius, and he didn't look remotely amused now. "I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can't have been more than nineteen.**

"Nineteen," Remus muttered in almost an echo. Unbelievable…

**They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though… they all went quiet in the end… except when they shrieked ****in their sleep…"**

"Azkaban must be awful," Tonks shuddered as she looked over at her cousin, who was as pale as a sheet again.

Sirius shut his eyes at the memories of that cold, dark cell… forced to experience the worse experiences of your life over and over… listening to the other inmates screaming words of madness and rage…

"I hope you never find out," he told her, feeling the need to beat his head in for thinking of that place.

**For a moment, the deadened look in Sirius's eyes became more pronounced than ever, as though shutters had closed behind them.**

**"So he's still in Azkaban?" Harry said.**

"No," Remus said angrily. "He escaped…"

**"No," said Sirius dully. "No, he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in."**

**"He died?"**

"I wish," Sirius added in an undertone.

**"He wasn't the only one," said Sirius bitterly. "Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. **

"How did you find the will to keep going?" Remus asked him quietly. "Anyone else would've given up long ago…"

"I can be pretty stubborn when it comes to dying," Sirius shrugged. "And I had something to keep me going."

He might've been ashamed of the fact… but his revenge for Wormtail that kept him going.

**You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief.**

Molly could understand how the poor woman must've felt. She wouldn't know what to do if one of her children had been sent to Azkaban… something that she wasn't going to let happen if she had it her way.

**Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried ****him outside the fortress; I watched them do it."**

Kingsley thought grimly that the signs were all there the whole time. With Crouch's son and wife both dying about the same time. Crouch wasn't known to be very friendly or compassionate either so why go and visit his son like that before his death but never bothering to claim the body? Why didn't they see it before?

**Sirius threw aside the bread he had just lifted to his mouth and instead picked up the flask of pumpkin juice and drained it.**

**"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made," he continued, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic… next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonored, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity. **

"Jeez, I wonder why," Sirius grumbled with heavy sarcasm in his tone.

**Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray.**

**The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Co-operation."**

"How that idiot ever became minister I'll never know," Sirius called out loudly.

**There was a long silence. Harry was thinking of the way Crouch's eyes had bulged as he'd looked down at his disobedient house-elf back in the wood at the Quidditch World Cup. This, then, must have been why Crouch had overreacted to Winky being found beneath the Dark Mark. It had brought back memories of his son, and the old scandal, and his fall from grace at the Ministry.**

"Rather his son was making a bid for freedom," Tonks disagreed idly.

**"Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards," Harry told Sirius.**

**"Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him," said Sirius, nodding. "If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater."**

"I highly doubt that unless he defeated Voldemort," Arthur sighed. "There's no way that it would ever increase his popularity. And especially after discovering he snuck his son out of prison like that."

"Too bad Harry's been doing their job for years," Sirius said in a sinister way.

**"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" said Ron triumphantly, looking at Hermione.**

"Yes, it was Crouch in his office, Ron," Molly sighed. "But not the one you're thinking of…"

**"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all," said Sirius.**

**"Yeah, it does!" said Ron excitedly, but Sirius shook his head.**

**"Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."**

"So you're using your head for logic here," Remus teased. "I guess there's a first time for anything."

"Watch it wolf-boy," Sirius warned him good-naturedly. "I can still take you on."

**"So you think Snape could be up to something, then?" asked Harry, but Hermione broke in.**

**"Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape -"**

"Why would he?" Sirius wondered out loud again.

**"Oh give it a rest, Hermione," said Ron impatiently. "I know Dumbledore's brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him -"**

_'What I really want to know is how Snape ever managed to convince Dumbledore that he had switched sides,'_ Sirius thought to himself for the millionth time.

**"Why did Snape save Harry's life in the first year, then? Why didn't he just let him die?"**

Sirius frowned at that. Yes, why did he? He hated Harry so badly because of his father… why not finish him off and not have to deal with him anymore?

**"I dunno - maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out-"**

**"What d'you think, Sirius?" Harry said loudly, and Ron and Hermione stopped bickering to listen.**

**"I think they've both got a point," said Sirius, looking thoughtfully at Ron and Hermione. "Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. **

**Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, ****greasy-haired kid, he was," **

"Sirius, don't keep adding insults," Molly said as the others laughed.

"It's what I said," he grinned back, "It's written here."

"You never change, Padfoot," Remus said warmly.

**Sirius added, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other. "Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters."**

Just more proof that he was rotten to the core in Sirius's opinion.

**Sirius held up his fingers and began ticking off names.**

**"Rosier and Wilkes - they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges - they're a married couple - they're in Azkaban.**

Everyone grew angry at the mention of the Lestrange.

"Wish they still were," Sirius growled. "Would've done the world a great deal of good."

**Avery – from what I've heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he'd been acting under the Imperius Curse - he's still at large. **

"See… why is it not surprising to know that Snape used to be in with the Lestranges and Avery?" Sirius asked.

"We understand, Sirius," Remus sighed again. "But let's not try to keep bringing it up."

"Sorry," he muttered, though he wasn't very sorry at all. "Force of habit."

**But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater - not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape's certainly clever and cunning ****enough to keep himself out of trouble."**

"It certainly is strange to hear you say anything remotely positive about Severus, Sirius," Kingsley pointed out and Sirius frowned at him.

**"Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet," said Ron.**

"Of course," Tonks said. "Mad-Eye didn't trust that man any more than he trusted a brick wall, because even walls have ears. Once a death eater, always a death eater, that's his motto anyway."

"Can you blame him?" Arthur asked. "He'd been fighting Death Eaters for as long as anyone."

**"Yeah, you should've seen Snape's face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!" said Harry quickly. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape's been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn't see what it was."**

**"He showed Snape something on his arm?" said Sirius, looking frankly bewildered. He ran his fingers distractedly through his filthy hair, then shrugged again. **

"You don't know what it was?" Tonks asked him in surprise.

"Nope," he answered truthfully.

"Most people didn't know that the Dark Mark was on their arms until we found out this summer remember?" Kingsley reminded her.

**"Well, I've no idea what that's about… but if Karkaroff's genuinely worried, and he's going to Snape for answers…"**

**Sirius stared at the cave wall, then made a grimace of frustration.**

**"There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he'd ever worked for Voldemort."**

_'Well he did and still does work for Voldemort and is at Hogwarts,' _Sirius thought to himself firmly.

**"Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snape's office then?" said Ron stubbornly.**

"Don't know why they would into that place anyway," he muttered. "I'd pay money, NOT to go in there."

"Alright, Sirius," Remus said softly.

**"Well," said Sirius slowly, "I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. **

"Moody avoided killing if at all possible?" Tonks said mockingly. "No, really? That's good to hear—I already knew I liked Moody."

"We better be careful that he doesn't try to make the trio into his new protégé," Kingsley laughed.

"Oh, I hope not," Molly groaned, the last thing she wanted was for any of the children to be chasing dark wizards for a living.

**Crouch, though… he's a different matter… is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not… what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the Tournament?"**

"Running for his life," Arthur said grimly. Once the man came to his senses, he tried to warn Dumbledore… he couldn't help but admire him for that much… not just anyone could've done that…

**Sirius lapsed into silence, still staring at the cave wall. Buckbeak was ferreting around on the rocky floor, looking for bones he might have overlooked. Finally, Sirius looked up at Ron.**

**"You say your brother's Crouch's personal assistant? **

The sadness returned to the Weasley's faces. Why was hearing Percy's name always so painful for them?

**Any chance you could ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?"**

**"I can try," said Ron doubtfully. "Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch."**

"I say that it sounded more like," Tonks muttered.

**"And you might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," said Sirius, gesturing to the second copy of the Daily Prophet.**

"Well, sadly they won't have found anything," Arthur said as his wife winced at the reminder of what happened to the poor woman.

**"Bagman told me they hadn't," said Harry.**

**"Yes, he's quoted in the article in there," said Sirius, nodding at the paper. "Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all - quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. **

"At least she did until Crouch was through with her," Sirius remarked.

"We always knew that curiosity was bound to get her into trouble…" Remus said grimly.

**I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic… maybe that's why Bagman ****didn't bother to look for her for so long…"**

"That's just wrong," Tonks said. "Mum always said that the government doesn't solve problems! It causes them! And you know she was right!"

**Sirius heaved an enormous sigh and rubbed his shadowed eyes.**

**"What's the time?"**

"Random question there, Padfoot," Tonks said.

"We were talking for a long time and I knew that if they were gone for too long then they'd get into trouble," he answered plainly.

**Harry checked his watch, then remembered it hadn't been working since it had spent over an hour in the lake.**

**"It's half past three," said Hermione.**

**"You'd better get back to school," Sirius said, getting to his feet. **

"That's a sentence I never thought I'd hear you say," Remus said, looking at him in mock surprise. "You were always the last person to want to go back."

He just grinned as he went on.

**"Now listen…" He looked particularly hard at Harry. "I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd. But you're not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you."**

"You are Sirius, right?" Remus was now looking at Sirius oddly. "Sirius Black? I never thought I'd see the day when you advised someone to _not_ sneak out of the school."

"Because I knew that someone was trying to kill him," he told him. "I wanted him safe."

He suddenly laughed. "You actually sound like a responsible parent here, Padfoot," he informed him. "I think that you might be getting the hang of it after all."

"Watch it!" he laughed back, though a little blossom of hope was rising in his chest at his words.

**"No one's tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple of Grindylows," Harry said, but Sirius scowled at him.**

They all suppressed a laugh, the way Harry had worded it made it sound a lot funnier than it really was.

**"I don't care … I'll breathe freely again when this Tournament's over, and that's not until June. And don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?"**

"Snuffles?" Tonks asked him.

"A very old joke," he answered sharing a look with Remus.

"One that you rather not know," Remus nodded with a beaming smile.

**He handed Harry the empty napkin and flask and went to pat Buckbeak good-bye.**

**"I'll walk to the edge of the village with you," said Sirius, "see if I can scrounge another paper."**

**He transformed into the great black dog before they left the cave, and they walked back down the mountainside with him, across the boulder-strewn ground, and back to the stile. Here he allowed each of them to pat him on the head, before turning and setting off at a run around the outskirts of the village. **

"Awww, why can't you stay a dog all the time?" Tonks laughed. "You sound so sweet here."

"Hey," he told her.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way back into Hogsmeade and up toward Hogwarts.**

**"Wonder if Percy knows all that stuff about Crouch?" Ron said as they walked up the drive to the castle.**

"I doubt that he'd believe it," Tonks muttered to herself. "As far as he's concerned, the Ministry can do no wrong in his eyes."

**"But maybe he doesn't care… it'd probably just make him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves rules. He'd just say Crouch was refusing to break them for his own son."**

"Sounds a lot like Weatherby himself, leaving his family just to get further in the Ministry," Sirius agreed to her softly as Molly sniffed loudly.

**"Percy would never throw any of his family to the Dementors," said Hermione severely.**

"I don't think he would go that far," Remus agreed with Hermione's words. "I'm sure that he'll come around with just a little more time."

Molly gave him a watery smile, but he could tell that she didn't fully believe him.

**"I don't know," said Ron. "If he thought we were standing in the way of his career… Percy's really ambitious, you know…"**

"He is," agreed Kingsley soothingly, "But underneath that he is still a good person who loves his family."

Sirius rolled his eyes. They were all just saying that! But look at what the kid did! Disowned his whole family for what? His job? Molly looked as though she was about to burst into tears as Arthur held her hand comfortingly, but his expression was stony.

**They walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall, where the delicious smells of dinner wafted toward them from the Great Hall.**

**"Poor old Snuffles," said Ron, breathing deeply. "He must really like you. Harry… imagine having to live off rats."**

_'Of course,'_ Sirius thought to himself. _'You're my godson… I wanted to be near in case something happened… not that it did any good.'_

"That's it," he said turning the page to the next chapter and held it out. "I'm done for now… who wants a turn?"

"I guess I will," Kingsley suggested and took it over.

"I'm almost afraid to see what it's about now," Arthur said as Kingsley read out, "**Chapter 28: The Madness of Mr. Crouch."**

**(Cool huh? Sorry for the long wait but my birthday is coming up on the 15th and I'm struggling through finals right now. But I do hope that you enjoy this chapter.)**


	33. The Madness of Mr Crouch

**(I own nothing. Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling)**

**(IMPORTANT! READ THIS! OK. Why is it that yourfanfiction shut down? Right now, I'm trying to repost all my stories here. I'm putting disclaimers on every chapter, and hopefully nothing will happen. If they are deleted again, then I don't know what to do. Though with how bad my computer is, I can only put up a few chapters everyday. But I will put them all back up again. And to those of you who have been sending long reviews, thank you. They are a big help. Oh, and have a happy Thanksgiving!)**

**Chapter 32: The Madness of Mr. Crouch**

"I'm almost afraid to see what it's about now," Arthur said as Kingsley read out, "Chapter 28: The Madness of Mr. Crouch."

A few people scowled at the mention of Crouch's name. All of them still sore about the last chapter.

"I find it hard that he can get any crazier," Tonks said sourly. "Or at the least, even more of a stick in the mud."

"I really don't like the sound of this chapter," Kingsley sighed, pre-reading the first few lines.

"Looks like we finally found out what happens to him," Sirius muttered bitterly. While he could never forgive him for the injustice he gave him, what a way to go… killed by your own son…

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione went up to the Owlery after breakfast on Sunday to send a letter to Percy, asking, as Sirius had suggested, whether he had seen Mr. Crouch lately. They used Hedwig, because it had been so long since she'd had a job. **

"Hopefully this will cheer her up a little," Tonks said, brightening up at the mention of Hedwig. She missed hearing about her, and hopefully, she'll forgive Harry now.

"Yeah, if she's anything like her owner, she'll forgive him," Arthur smiled, thinking of how Harry didn't even need to hear an apology from Ron after the First Task.

**When they had watched her fly out of sight through the Owlery window, they proceeded down to the kitchen to give Dobby his new socks. **

"Oh, this I can't wait to hear about!" Tonks said happily, leaning in. She knew that Dobby would just love it!

**The house-elves gave them a very cheery welcome, bowing and curtsying and bustling around making tea again. Dobby was ecstatic about his present.**

**"****Harry Potter is too good to Dobby!" he squeaked, wiping large tears out of his enormous eyes.**

**"****You saved my life with that gillyweed, Dobby, you really did," said Harry.**

"Not exactly saved his life, but it definitely helped to keep him from getting disqualified from the tournament," Remus corrected.

"I almost wish that he did get disqualified," Sirius muttered under his breath, thinking about what happened in the Third Task.

**"****No chance of more of those eclairs, is there?" said Ron, who was looking around at the beaming and bowing house-elves.**

**"****You've just had breakfast!" said Hermione irritably, but a great silver platter of eclairs was already zooming toward them, supported by four elves.**

**"****We should get some stuff to send up to Snuffles," Harry muttered.**

"Well, that's just sweet of him," Molly cooed. Not many people would think of that would they?

"Which I was grateful for," Sirius said smiling, feeling his heart warming up at the thought. The kid saved his life with all that food…

**"****Good idea," said Ron. "Give Pig something to do.****You couldn't give us a bit of extra food, could you?" he said to the surrounding elves, and they bowed delightedly and hurried off to get some more.**

"You can't ask for better service," Sirius said fondly, wishing that he was there sampling all that food.

**"****Dobby, where's Winky?" said Hermione, who was looking around.**

**"****Winky is over there by the fire, miss," said Dobby quietly, his ears drooping slightly.**

**"****Oh dear," said Hermione as she spotted Winky.**

"Oh, now what?" Tonks asked, her smile fading, not liking where this was going.

**Harry looked over at the fireplace too. Winky was sitting on the same stool as last time, but she had allowed herself to become so filthy that she was not immediately distinguishable from the smoke-blackened brick behind her. Her clothes were ragged and unwashed. She was clutching a bottle of butterbeer and swaying slightly on her stool, staring into the fire.**

"That poor elf," Tonks croaked sadly.

"Don't they have anyone there to look after her?" Molly asked worriedly, her mothering instincts taking over.

"No," Kingsley admitted. "But this is the usual reaction to house-elves who'd been set free. They are so used to being slaves, that they don't know any other way to live."

"What a life," Arthur muttered sadly.

**As they watched her, she gave an enormous hiccup.**

**"****Winky is getting through six bottles a day now," Dobby whispered to Harry.**

"But Butterbeer isn't strong," Sirius stated. "Now if it was Firewhiskey then I'd get it. But…"

"For a house elf it is," Kingsley informed him.

"And you really need to break that habit, Sirius," Remus stated firmly.

"What?" he demanded. "I can't enjoy a little whiskey now and then?"

Remus had to bite back the retort that he enjoyed it _every_ now and then.

**"****Well, it's not strong, that stuff," Harry said.**

**But Dobby shook his head. "'Tis strong for a house-elf, sir," he said.**

Tonks then muttered, "With all of us talking, this book is starting to sound a little like déjà vu."

**Winky hiccuped again. The elves who had brought the eclairs gave her disapproving looks as they returned to work.**

**"****Winky is pining, Harry Potter," Dobby whispered sadly. "Winky wants to go home. Winky still thinks Mr. Crouch is her master, sir, and nothing Dobby says will persuade her that Professor Dumbledore is her master now."**

"He's definitely a better master, in my opinion," Tonks said. "I don't know what her problem is. Who would want to work for Crouch when you can work for Dumbledore?"

"It's usually hard for house-elves to change masters," Arthur told her.

"Just an example of how amazing a house-elf's devotion can be," said Remus, with another sideways glance at Sirius.

"If treated right, house-elves are among the most devoted of creatures," Kingsley intoned, glancing at Sirius as well.

"You attract more flies with honey than vinegar," Molly said softly.

Sirius rolled his eyes. Even if he acted nice to Kreacher, it wouldn't change anything.

**"****Hey, Winky," said Harry, struck by a sudden inspiration, walking over to her, and bending down, "you don't know what Mr. Crouch might be up to, do you? Because he's stopped turning up to judge the Triwizard Tournament."**

"Interesting idea," commented Kingsley, "But seeing Winky's reaction—and how she is right now, I highly doubt that she would give any information about him."

"It's worth a try," Sirius exclaimed.

"I don't think so," Arthur said. "It'll probably just upset her even more than she is right now."

**Winky's eyes flickered. Her enormous pupils focused on Harry. **

"Reminds me of someone else I know," Remus muttered, thinking of the times he'd seen his friend like that just before dropping off at the kitchen table, a half-empty bottle within reaching distance.

"What?" Sirius demanded when they all looked at him.

"Maybe this is a sign that you should start laying off the Firewhiskey?" Tonks said anxiously.

"Who asked you?" Sirius asked grumpily.

"No, I think she's right, Sirius," Remus said softly. "But we can talk about all this once we're done with this book."

Sirius didn't answer, though he had a feeling that they all will need several bottles of the stuff once they finish this book.

**She swayed slightly again and then said, "M - Master is stopped - hic - coming?"**

**"****Yeah," said Harry, "we haven't seen him since the first task. The Daily Prophet's saying he's ill."**

"Really shouldn't have said that," Tonks stated with a wince.

**Winky swayed some more, staring blurrily at Harry.**

**"****Master- hic- ill?"**

**Her bottom lip began to tremble.**

**"****But we're not sure if that's true," said Hermione quickly.**

"I don't think that will help," said Arthur.

**"****Master is needing his - his - Winky!" whimpered the elf. "Master cannot - hic - manage - hic - all by himself…"**

"Seems like Winky does a lot more than just clean for Crouch," Tonks said frowing.

"Well, she was the only one who would keep an eye on Crouch's spawn now wasn't she?" Sirius asked.

**"****Other people manage to do their own housework, you know, Winky," Hermione said severely.**

"It's not housework though," Kingsley muttered to himself. "And even in this state, I doubt that she'll let anything slip."

**"****Winky - hic - is not only - hic - doing housework for Mr. Crouch!" Winky squeaked indignantly, swaying worse than ever and slopping butterbeer down her already heavily stained blouse. "Master is - hic - trusting Winky with - hic – the most important - hic - the most secret…"**

**"****What?" said Harry.**

"Now that is interesting," said Remus leaning in slightly.

"She's like Hagrid," Tonks said impressed. "Once you're drunk, you let things slip."

"Yes," Arthur said, "But even drunk, I doubt that Winky will give information that easily."

**But Winky shook her head very hard, spilling more butterbeer down herself.**

**"****Winky keeps - hic - her master's secrets," she said mutinously, swaying very heavily now, frowning up at Harry with her eyes crossed. "You is - hic - nosing, you is."**

"Well of course he is," Remus laughed. "It's in his nature."

"That certainly describes Harry to a T," Tonks grinned, her nose suddenly growing large as if to prove her point.

**"****Winky must not talk like that to Harry Potter!" said Dobby angrily. "Harry Potter is brave and noble and Harry Potter is not nosy!"**

They all chuckled.

"Sorry, Dobby," Tonks sniggered. "But it's true. Harry's nosy."

"Why do I love this little guy?" Sirius laughed.

**"****He is nosing - hic - into my master's - hic - private and secret - hic - Winky is a good house-elf- hic - Winky keeps her silence - hic - people trying to - hic – pry and poke - hic -"**

**Winky's eyelids drooped and suddenly, without warning, she slid off her stool into the hearth, snoring loudly. **

Kingsley frowned. Winky does know something, but she's not saying a word… with all those elves around Hogwarts, they must know a lot about what goes on. Great source for Dumbledore—glad they're so loyal to him.

**The empty bottle of butterbeer rolled away across the stone-flagged floor. Half a dozen house-elves came hurrying forward, looking disgusted. One of them picked up the bottle; the others covered Winky with a large checked tablecloth and tucked the ends in neatly, hiding her from view.**

Remus nodded very slightly so that the others wouldn't see. But that was often how he felt when he walked into the kitchen to see Sirius—lying drunk and slumped over the table.

**"****We is sorry you had to see that, sirs and miss!" squeaked a nearby elf, shaking his head and looking very ashamed. "We is hoping you will not judge us all by Winky, sirs and miss!"**

**"****She's unhappy!" said Hermione, exasperated. "Why don't you try and cheer her up instead of covering her up?"**

"I'd like to see you cheer up a drunken elf," Sirius stated. "Much less, someone like Winky."

"One could say the same thing about you," Molly muttered softly.

**"****Begging your pardon, miss," said the house-elf, bowing deeply again, "but house-elves has no right to be unhappy when there is work to be done and masters to be served."**

"It's so ridiculous the way that they view themselves," Tonks said sadly; it's hard to help someone when they don't realize that they need the help.

**"****Oh for heaven's sake!" Hermione cried. "Listen to me, all of you! You've got just as much right as wizards to be unhappy! You've got the right to wages and holidays and proper clothes, you don't have to do everything you're told - look at Dobby!"**

"Now she really messed up," Arthur said sharply. "She shouldn't have said that."

"No," said Tonks, sounding angry. "But she's right! They should be allowed to be happy or unhappy!"

"I agree that they need to be treated better by some," said Kingsley, "Actually I completely agree with the underlying message of what you are saying, but you keep forgetting that change is something that no one is happy with. It will take so much more time to get used to it."

"The way I see it is that they are looking out for themselves," said Sirius.

**"****Miss will please keep Dobby out of this," Dobby mumbled, looking scared. The cheery smiles had vanished from the faces of the house-elves around the kitchen. They were suddenly looking at Hermione as though she were mad and dangerous.**

"I never thought it possible," Sirius said, shock in his tone. "But she actually upset Hogwart's house-elves."

"She basically just completely insulted them," Arthur reminded him.

"Right," Tonks said mockingly. "Telling someone that they deserve to be happy, have wages, clothes, and holidays would sure make me upset."

"They don't understand that she's trying to help them," Kingsley explained. "To them, they think that she's trying to stop them working and therefore stopping them doing what they like best. The house-elves at Hogwarts are among the best treated in the world. Helga Hufflepuff herself brought them there. The original elves came from homes like Dobby's and they enjoyed working for Hogwarts and their decedents do as well."

"But still…" Tonks grumbled, folding her arms over her chest.

**"****We has your extra food!" squeaked an elf at Harry's elbow, and he shoved a large ham, a dozen cakes, and some fruit into Harry's arms. "Good-bye!"**

**The house-elves crowded around Harry, Ron, and Hermione and began shunting them out of the kitchen, many little hands pushing in the smalls of their backs.**

**"****Thank you for the socks, Harry Potter!" Dobby called miserably from the hearth, where he was standing next to the lumpy tablecloth that was Winky.**

"I hope we see more of them," Tonks sighed. She had grown really fond of them all after hearing all this. She wished that she could've visited the kitchens while she was at school.

**"****You couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you, Hermione?" said Ron angrily as the kitchen door slammed shut behind them. "They won't want us visiting them now! We could've tried to get more stuff out of Winky about Crouch!"**

"I think he's more upset about not being able to get food," Arthur said knowingly.

**"****Oh as if you care about that!" scoffed Hermione. "You only like coming down here for the food!"**

"She has a point there," Molly smiled as she shook her head. "It's always the food with Ron."

"Boys need a lot of food," Remus smiled, remembering how much that he and his friends would eat. It was often five or six helpings of everything at every meal.

**It was an irritable sort of day after that. Harry got so tired of Ron and Hermione sniping at each other over their homework in the common room that he took Sirius's food up to the Owlery that evening on his own.**

"You've really got to feel sorry for Harry," Arthur said, imagining it all for a moment. "It can't be easy having your two best friends arguing all the time."

"I think that he's the one who holds them together," Sirius laughed. "Ron and Hermione would've given up on each other a long time ago otherwise."

**Pigwidgeon was much too small to carry an entire ham up to the mountain by himself, so Harry enlisted the help of two school screech owls as well. When they had set off into the dusk, looking extremely odd carrying the large package between them Harry leaned on the windowsill, looking out at the grounds, at the dark, rustling treetops of the Forbidden Forest, and the rippling sails of the Durmstrang ship. An eagle owl flew through the coil of smoke rising from Hagrids chimney; it soared toward the castle, around the Owlery, and out of sight.**

Kingsley blinked at that line. That was strange… it's not the Great Hall mail delivery, so whose owl is this? What important message is being sent right now? He suddenly had a bad feeling about this… but nonetheless, he went on reading.

**Looking down, Harry saw Hagrid digging energetically in front of his cabin. Harry wondered what he was doing; it looked as though he were making a new vegetable patch. **

**As he watched, Madame Maxime emerged from the Beauxbatons carriage and walked over to Hagrid. She appeared to be trying to engage him in conversation. Hagrid leaned upon his spade, but did not seem keen to prolong their talk, because Madame Maxime returned to the carriage shortly afterward.**

"I don't blame Hagrid for not wanting to talk to her," Molly said sympathetically. While she did respect the woman, she didn't think she could forgive her for her behavior towards Hagrid before… but then again… she couldn't really blame her for not wanting to get involved when people like that retched Skeeter woman around.

"You tell her Hagrid," said Tonks with a grin. "Show her what she let slip by."

**Unwilling to go back to Gryffindor Tower and listen to Ron and Hermione snarling at each other, Harry watched Hagrid digging until the darkness swallowed him and the owls around Harry began to awake, swooshing past him into the night. **

"Smart," Remus said lightly, the corners of her mouth upturned. He remembered whenever Lily got angry at James, she would glare at anyone who had to do with him. He learned that it was always better to stay out of the way when someone was angry.

**By breakfast the next day Ron's and Hermione's bad moods had burnt out, and to Harry's relief, Ron's dark predictions that the house-elves would send substandard food up to the Gryffindor table because Hermione had insulted them proved false; the bacon, eggs, and kippers were quite as good as usual.**

"Of course they did, the house elves have too much pride in their work to let anything get them down," Sirius smiled, hunger once again settling.

"Trust Ron to exaggerate something so trivial," Tonks said smiling, remembering how he lied about being taken for the Second Task.

"The house-elves would never dream of sending up substandard food, even if the whole house insulted the," Arthur agreed.

**When the post owls arrived, Hermione looked up eagerly; she seemed to be expecting something.**

**"****Percy won't've had time to answer yet," said Ron. "We only sent Hedwig yesterday."**

**"****No, it's not that," said Hermione. "I've taken out a subscription to the Daily Prophet. I'm getting sick of finding everything out from the Slytherins."**

"That's a good idea," Tonks said, also sick of listening to that Parkinson.

**"****Good thinking!" said Harry, also looking up at the owls. "Hey, Hermione, I think you're in luck -"**

They all silently hoped that there wouldn't be anything written about any of them.

**A gray owl was soaring down toward Hermione.**

**"****It hasn't got a newspaper, though," she said, looking disappointed. "It's -"**

**But to her bewilderment, the gray owl landed in front of her plate, closely followed by four barn owls, a brown owl, and a tawny.**

"Wow, she has lots of fans," Tonks said simply, causing Sirius to burst out laughing.

"Sorry," he muttered. "You just made it sound so funny…" He then imitated a young girl's voice, "_'Oh, Hermione… I love your hair!'_" Then he changed to an old woman's voice, "_'Hermione I think you should hurry up and choose a boy already!'_" And finally to a boy, "_'Hermione, I think I love you…'_"

"Alright, Sirius," Remus laughed as they all chuckled. "You're making it sound like she's some character in one of those Muggle movies or something."

"But seriously," Tonks said, calming down, looking over at Kingsley. "What's this about?"

**"****How many subscriptions did you take out?" said Harry, seizing Hermione's goblet before it was knocked over by the cluster of owls, all of whom were jostling close to her, trying to deliver their own letter first.**

**"****What on earth -?" Hermione said, taking the letter from the gray owl, opening it, and starting to read. "Oh really!" she sputtered, going rather red.**

**"****What's up?" said Ron.**

**"****It's - oh how ridiculous -"**

**She thrust the letter at Harry, who saw that it was not handwritten, but composed from pasted letters that seemed to have been cut out of the Daily Prophet.**

_**You are a wicked girl. Harry Potter deserves Better. Go back where you came from Muggle.**_

"It's hate mail," Molly said, now sounding upset. "About that stupid article."

"Harsh," Sirius said. "Looks like middle-aged housewives all over Britain have been reading Witch's Weekly."

"That's horrible!" Tonks yelled out in outrage. "That whole article is nothing but rubbish! And she's a Muggleborn! Oh, wait until I get my hands on that Rita! I'm going to squash her like a bug!"

"Hermione better be careful, sometimes people include jinxes or hexes," Arthur said.

**"****They're all like it!" said Hermione desperately, opening one letter after another. "'Harry Potter can do much better than the likes of you… ' 'You deserve to be boiled in frog spawn… ' Ouch!"**

**She had opened the last envelope, and yellowish-green liquid smelling strongly of petrol gushed over her hands, which began to erupt in large yellow boils.**

"Undiluted bubtouber pus!" cried Kingsley in horror. "She needs to get to Madam Pomfrey quickly."

"Why?" Molly asked at once. "Is that stuff dangerous?"

"It can be," answered Remus, looking angry that anyone would send something like that to a young girl. "Mostly, it's just painful and can melt the skin right off your bones if you don't get it treated right away."

Molly gasped. "Shouldn't there be wards or something to prevent anyone sending anything like that through the mail?" she cried out furiously. "I'll have to send a word to Dumbledore about…" but she stopped, just remembering that Dumbledore was no longer at the castle.

**"****Undiluted bubotuber pus!" said Ron, picking up the envelope gingerly and sniffing it.**

**"****Ow!" said Hermione, tears starting in her eyes as she tried to rub the pus off her hands with a napkin, but her fingers were now so thickly covered in painful sores that it looked as though she were wearing a pair of thick, knobbly gloves.**

"That's horrible!" Tonks cried out frantically. "Don't they have anything better to do then read that piece of rubbish?! Everyone else's love lives are none of their business!"

**"****You'd better get up to the hospital wing," said Harry as the owls around Hermione took flight. "We'll tell Professor Sprout where you've gone…"**

**"****I warned her!" said Ron as Hermione hurried out of the Great Hall, cradling her hands. "I warned her not to annoy Rita Skeeter! Look at this one…" He read out one of the letters Hermione had left behind: "**_**'I read In Witch Weekly about how you are playing Harry Potter false and that boy has had enough hardship and I will be sending you a curse by next post as soon as I can find a big enough envelope.'**_** Blimey, she'd better watch out for herself."**

"She shouldn't open any mail until this all dies out," Tonks said sadly. "I hope that she gets back at Rita for this."

"We all do," Sirius grumbled.

**Hermione didn't turn up for Herbology. As Harry and Ron left the greenhouse for their Care of Magical Creatures class, they saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle descending the stone steps of the castle. Pansy Parkinson was whispering and giggling behind them with her gang of Slytherin girls. **

"Do we have to hear about her?" Tonks demanded, sick to death of this spoiled girl. Why can't someone just turn her into a pug? No one would notice the difference.

**Catching sight of Harry, Pansy called, "Potter, have you split up with your girlfriend? Why was she so upset at breakfast?"**

**Harry ignored her; he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing how much trouble the Witch Weekly article had caused. **

"He seems to be dealing with the press much better than he did before," Remus said.

"He's probably used to it by now," Sirius said angrily.

**Hagrid, who had told them last lesson that they had finished with unicorns, was waiting for them outside his cabin with a fresh supply of open crates at his feet. Harry's heart sank at the sight of the crates - surely not another skrewt hatching? - but when he got near enough to see inside, he found himself looking at a number of flurry black creatures with long snouts. Their front paws were curiously flat, like spades, and they were blinking up at the class, looking politely puzzled at all the attention.**

"Oh, nifflers," Remus said at once with a bright smile, feeling just a little bit better.

"Well," Molly said approvingly. "They're alright. This should be a good lesson, I'm glad that I don't have to worry about anything bad happening here."

"Unless a niffler tries to bite one of your fingers off," Sirius teased and she shot him a dirty look that clearly said, _'Don't spoil it for me.'_

"There's nothing scary about nifflers," Remus told them all. "Only if you're wearing anything shiny…"

**"****These're nifflers," said Hagrid, when the class had gathered around. "Yeh find 'em down mines mostly. They like sparkly stuff… There yeh go, look."**

**One of the nifflers had suddenly leapt up and attempted to bite Pansy Parkinson's watch off her wrist. She shrieked and jumped backward.**

"I already like these things," Tonks smiled. Maybe she should send one to the girl and have it attack her…

**"****Useful little treasure detectors," said Hagrid happily. "Thought we'd have some fun with 'em today. See over there?" He pointed at the large patch of freshly turned earth Harry had watched him digging from the Owlery window. "I've buried some gold coins. I've got a prize fer whoever picks the niffler that digs up most. Jus' take off all yer valuables, an' choose a niffler, an get ready ter set 'em loose."**

Molly, looking happier than she had for a long time, leaned in to hear more about this lesson. She was just so glad that Hagrid was teaching them something other than Skrewts.

**Harry took off his watch, which he was only wearing out of habit, as it didn't work anymore, and stuffed it into his pocket. Then he picked up a niffler. It put its long snout in Harry's ear and sniffed enthusiastically. It was really quite cuddly.**

"Aww," Tonks cooed, suddenly wishing that she could hold one. They sound so cute…

**"****Hang on," said Hagrid, looking down into the crate, "there's a spare niffler here… who's missin? Where's Hermione?"**

"I hate to be the one to explain it," Arthur sighed.

"They should at least wait until everyone else is gone," Remus said, still frowning.

**"****She had to go to the hospital wing," said Ron.**

**"****We'll explain later," Harry muttered; Pansy Parkinson was listening.**

'_Looks like Hermione has found that no news is good news,'_ Kingsley thought. Personally, it sounded like Parkinson may be responsible for the pus.

"Doesn't that stupid girl have anything better to do then bother them?" Sirius gasped, truly annoyed with her.

"Of course not," Tonks said. "Look at Malfoy and his thugs? They seem to only live to bug them."

"Get a life people!" Sirius yelled out.

**It was easily the most fun they had ever had in Care of Magical Creatures. The nifflers dived in and out of the patch of earth as though it were water, each scurrying back to the student who had released it and spitting gold into their hands. Ron's was particularly efficient; it had soon filled his lap with coins.**

"I think that these nifflers are growing on Ron," Arthur said smiling.

"If I had a pet that gave me money," Sirius said, "I'd love them to."

**"****Can you buy these as pets, Hagrid?" he asked excitedly as his niffler dived back into the soil, splattering his robes.**

"He _is not_ getting a pet niffler," Molly said firmly; she'd heard they were known to destroy houses.

**"****Yer mum wouldn' be happy, Ron," said Hagrid, grinning. **

"Looks like Hagrid knows you well," Arthur chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

**"They wreck houses, nifflers. I reckon they've nearly got the lot, now," he added, pacing around the patch of earth while the nifflers continued to dive. "I on'y buried a hundred coins. Oh there y'are, Hermione!"**

"Oh, good," Molly sighed in relief, she had been worried when it was taking so long.

**Hermione was walking toward them across the lawn. Her hands were very heavily bandaged and she looked miserable. **

"Oh," Tonks winced. "I guess that even Madam Pomfrey couldn't heal it all at once."

"No," Kingsley told her as he flipped the page. "Burns from the pus take time to heal. Maybe if she had gone straight to her seconds after it happened, but it still takes a few minutes to get to the hospital wing. The pus had plenty of time to stick. But with the right medicine, it should only last a day or so…"

**Pansy Parkinson was watching her beadily.**

"That does it," Tonks threatened, "I'm going to send her some pus in the mail and see how she likes it."

**"****Well, let's check how yeh've done!" said Hagrid. "Count yer coins! An' there's no point tryin' ter steal any, Goyle," he added, his beetle-black eyes narrowed. "It's leprechaun gold. Vanishes after a few hours."**

"Blarney, that leprechaun gold sure is tricky stuff," Sirius said, but Remus suddenly froze. He had forgotten about that… the money from the world cup… oh, he really hoped that Ron wouldn't remember that…

**Goyle emptied his pockets, looking extremely sulky. It turned out that Ron's niffler had been most successful, so Hagrid gave him an enormous slab of Honeydukes chocolate for a prize. **

Remus looked up at the book interested and Tonks giggled at the eager look on his face. Remus realized that he was looking at her again, and suddenly the kiss they shared came back to him. His face felt that it was burning and he quickly turned his head away from her. She said that she would wait… well… he would just have to wait her out. He wasn't going to let her get any closer to him…

But he could suddenly feel his lips tingling, and he was fighting the urge to lean across Sirius and kiss her again.

He gulped loudly, forcing his ears to listen, trying to rid his mind of her fingers running through his hair as she planted her lips on his again…

He wished he could scream.

**The bell rang across the grounds for lunch; the rest of the class set off back to the castle, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed behind to help Hagrid put the nifflers back in their boxes. Harry noticed Madame Maxime watching them out other carriage window.**

"What does she want?" Sirius asked suspiciously. Why was she suddenly so keen on getting to know what Hagrid was doing?

"Who cares?" Tonks asked, slightly put out when Remus continued to ignore her. Well, she can be very patient… though if he kept this up, she would have to do something.

**"****What yeh done ter your hands, Hermione?" said Hagrid, looking concerned.**

**Hermione told him about the hate mail she had received that morning, and the envelope full of bubotuber pus.**

"Poor thing," Molly sighed, feeling worse and worse about sending her that little egg. Though, she made sure that her egg was particular large when she sent them to her. She wondered if they were sitting down and enjoying them right now…?

**"****Aaah, don worry," said Hagrid gently, looking down at her. "I got some o' those letters an all, after Rita Skeeter wrote abou me mum. 'Yeh're a monster an yeh should be put down.' 'Yer mother killed innocent people an if you had any decency you d jump in a lake.'"**

"That's ridiculous!" Tonks stormed, her hair slowly going red. "The things his mother did shouldn't reflect on Hagrid himself! You can't find a nicer guy than Hagrid! Those who send those letters are either Slytherins who hate him, or people who never met him…"

"I say Slytherins," Sirius muttered, knowing that Lucius had to have sent one of them.

Tonks would have gone on what she was going to do to Rita if she ever met her had Kingsley not intervened. As soon as his deep, calm voice started reading, she calmed down slightly—though still sore.

**"****No!" said Hermione, looking shocked.**

**"****Yeah," said Hagrid, heaving the niffler crates over by his cabin wall. "They're jus' nutters, Hermione. Don' open 'em if yeh get any more. Chuck 'em straigh' in the fire."**

"Only good use for them," Sirius stated. "She can use them for the fire."

**"****You missed a really good lesson," Harry told Hermione as they headed back toward the castle. "They're good, nifflers, aren't they, Ron?"**

**Ron, however, was frowning at the chocolate Hagrid had given him. He looked thoroughly put out about something.**

"Oh, no," Remus said worriedly.

"What?" Arthur asked.

When Remus didn't say anything, obviously worried about say it out loud, Kingsley spoke up and said, "Most likely, he just remembered about the money he gave him at the world cup."

They all looked confused for a moment before they remembered that Ron gave Harry the gold he caught from the leprechaun mascots for the Omnioculars…

Arthur groaned, a terrible guilt in him once again as he thought about how he was never able to buy them things like that.

**"****What's the matter?" said Harry. "Wrong flavor?"**

"There is no such thing as wrong flavor chocolate," Remus couldn't help but mutter under his breath.

"It's not the chocolate flavor," Arthur said grimly, putting his hand up to hide his eyes. Molly reached over to hold his hand, a similar look of sadness in her eyes.

**"****No," said Ron shortly. "Why didn't you tell me about the gold?"**

**"****What gold?" said Harry.**

"Oh, Harry doesn't remember," Molly said, biting her lower lip, knowing that Ron wouldn't be happy about that. It would only make it seem more like he was rubbing it in.

**"****The gold I gave you at the Quidditch World Cup," said Ron. "The leprechaun gold I gave you for my Omnioculars. In the Top Box. Why didn't you tell me it disappeared?"**

**Harry had to think for a moment before he realized what Ron was talking about.**

**"****Oh…" he said, the memory coming back to him at last. "I dunno… I never noticed it had gone. I was more worried about my wand, wasn't I?"**

"I agree," Remus sat at once. "I'll take my wand over a pocket of coins."

"Not to mention some maniac Death Eaters were running around torturing Muggles and everyone was panicking," Sirius added.

**They climbed the steps into the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall for lunch.**

**"****Must be nice," Ron said abruptly, when they had sat down and started serving themselves roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. "To have so much money you don't notice if a pocketful of Galleons goes missing."**

The Weasleys looked ashamed.

"He's just upset that he wasn't able to pay him back right away," Kingsley said at once. "He didn't know that the gold disappeared. He just felt that maybe he was taking advantage of that."

"But…" Arthur said slowly, but Tonks gave him a playful nudge with her foot.

"It's ok," she said. "We all wish we had more. It's in our nature…" she looked over at Remus again, who quickly looked away as if he thought he would get in trouble for looking at her.

**"****Listen, I had other stuff on my mind that night!" said Harry impatiently. "We all did, remember?"**

**"****I didn't know leprechaun gold vanishes," Ron muttered. "I thought I was paying you back. You shouldn't've given me that Chudley Cannon hat for Christmas."**

"It doesn't matter anymore," Remus said, still wishing that he didn't feel this way about the young woman sitting just within arm's reach. "That's all ancient history."

**"****Forget it, all right?" said Harry.**

**Ron speared a roast potato on the end of his fork, glaring at it. Then he said, "I hate being poor."**

Arthur sighed, his ears turning red. He knew that his children didn't like having to buy second-hand things… and he hated the fact that second-hand was the best he could give them. It was understandable why Ron would be affected the most by this as he was the youngest boy.

Molly winced slightly, remembering the argument that Percy had with her husband. Just before he walked out on them…

"He's just upset," Kingsley reminded them. "He's a teenager… at the end of the day, I know that he would rather have his family than money or status."

"Thanks," said Arthur, feeling slightly better, though he did wish that he could afford more for his family… and the sore spot of just thinking of Percy…

**Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Neither of them really knew what to say.**

'_There is nothing you can say to something like that,'_ Remus thought to himself, remembering how hard it was for him to be friends with Sirius and James—both of which were rich. His poverty got harder and harder over the years. At least the Weasleys had a family—something that he always wished for, but knew that he could never have. I man, really… who would want to have a child with someone like him?

**"****It's rubbish," said Ron, still glaring down at his potato. "I don't blame Fred and George for trying to make some extra money. Wish I could. Wish I had a niffler."**

Molly sighed. Well, so long as he didn't bright the thing in the house…

**"****Well, we know what to get you next Christmas," said Hermione brightly. Then, when Ron continued to look gloomy, she said, "Come on, Ron, it could be worse. At least your fingers aren't full of pus." Hermione was having a lot of difficulty managing her knife and fork, her fingers were so stiff and swollen. "I hate that Skeeter woman!" she burst out savagely. "I'll get her back for this if it's the last thing I do!"**

"Excellent," Tonks said eagerly—"Come on, Hermione!" she cheered. "If there's anyone out there who can make her pay, it's you!"

"Why do I suddenly feel sorry for Rita Skeeter?" asked Remus with a smile.

"Don't," Tonks grinned. She deserves anything she has coming at her.

**Hate mail continued to arrive for Hermione over the following week, and although she followed Hagrid's advice and stopped opening it, several of her ill-wishers sent Howlers, which exploded at the Gryffindor table and shrieked insults at her for the whole Hall to hear. Even those people who didn't read Witch Weekly knew all about the supposed Harry-Krum-Hermione triangle now. Harry was getting sick of telling people that Hermione wasn't his girlfriend.**

"I wonder how Krum took to all this," Kingsley couldn't help but ask.

"He's famous," Sirius said waving his hand away. "He must be used to scandals like this all the time."

**"****It'll die down, though," he told Hermione, "if we just ignore it… People got bored with that stuff she wrote about me last time."**

**"****I want to know how she's listening into private conversations when she's supposed to be banned from the grounds!" said Hermione angrily.**

"I think we all want to know that," commented Kingsley, really, how was she doing all this?

"I'm sure that Hermione will figure it out for us, and I can't what for that!" commented Tonks looking somewhat intrigued and excited.

**Hermione hung back in their next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson to ask Professor Moody something. The rest of the class was very eager to leave; Moody had given them such a rigorous test of hex-deflection that many of them were nursing small injuries. **

"For an imposter, he sure does sound a great deal like Alastor Moody," Kingsley said while Tonks frowned.

**Harry had such a bad case of Twitchy Ears, he had to hold his hands clamped over them as he walked away from the class.**

"Well that proves it," Tonks said at once. "The real Mad-Eye would've done a lot worse than Twitchy ears!"

"Sure," Sirius said rolling his eyes. Yeah, anyone could've seen through that.

**"****Well, Rita's definitely not using an Invisibility Cloak!" Hermione panted five minutes later, catching up with Harry and Ron in the entrance hall and pulling Harry's hand away from one of his wiggling ears so that he could hear her. "Moody says he didn't see her anywhere near the judges' table at the second task, or anywhere near the lake!"**

"So she has to somehow be disguised," muttered Remus to himself. Maybe a simple case of Polyjuice Potion? Nah… he honestly couldn't see how that would be the case.

**"****Hermione, is there any point in telling you to drop this?" said Ron.**

**"****No!" said Hermione stubbornly. "I want to know how she heard me talking to Viktor! And how she found out about Hagrid's mum!"**

"She doesn't give up easily does she?" Arthur questioned.

"You're forgetting who you're talking about, Arthur," Remus reminded him with a small smile.

**"****Maybe she had you bugged," said Harry.**

"But those can't work in Hogwarts," said Kingsley said at once, now completely baffled to how Rita was pulling this off.

"What do you mean by bugged?" asked Arthur, sounding just as confused as he did, but for different reasons. "Why would putting bugs on her do anything?"

"Arthur, not everything is literal," Kingsley sighed tiredly, but fondly at the same time. "They're small mechanical deceives that Muggles use to hear people from great distance without them knowing they're being overheard. But they're electronics. And they don't work inside of Hogwarts, too much magical interference."

"Fascinating," Arthur stated, his eyes wide. He would have to get his hands on a few of those and see how they work!

**"****Bugged?" said Ron blankly. "What… put fleas on her or something?"**

**Harry started explaining about hidden microphones and recording equipment. Ron was fascinated, but Hermione interrupted them.**

Molly smiled as she shook her head. "He's without a doubt your son," she told him softly and Arthur smiled back proudly.

**"****Aren't you two ever going to read Hogwarts, A History?"**

**"****What's the point?" said Ron. "You know it by heart, we can just ask you."**

Everyone laughed at that.

"The scary thing is," said Tonks sniggering, "He's got a good point. Just ask Hermione on a book she's read and she'll be able to tell you word for word… boy, wish I had that kind of memory…"

**"****All those substitutes for magic Muggles use - electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things - they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air. No, Rita's using magic to eavesdrop, she must be… If I could just find out what it is… ooh, if it's illegal, I'll have her…"**

Kingsley fought back a smile at this. Alastor was right… Hermione's usually right, and when Ron jokes, he's usually right. So is it possible that they can both be right here?

"If it is illegal then you may be able to use it to you advantage," Sirius said grinning, and rubbing his hands together. "That's what I'd do…"

"You'd blackmail her," asked Kingsley. It was a statement… not a question. "Well, if you did do that, you can manipulate her into writing what you wanted or needed—as well as keeping her from printing lies about you."

"Sounds like you got a dark side to you to, eh Kingsley?" Tonks teased and he grinned back at her innocently.

**"****Haven't we got enough to worry about?" Ron asked her. "Do we have to start a vendetta against Rita Skeeter as well?"**

**"****I'm not asking you to help!" Hermione snapped. "I'll do it on my own!"**

"I'm sure that she'll be able to get it done much faster without them there complaining about it anyway," Remus shrugged.

**She marched back up the marble staircase without a backward glance. Harry was quite sure she was going to the library.**

**"****What's the betting she comes back with a box of I Hate Rita Skeeter badges?" said Ron.**

"I'd get one in a heartbeat," Tonks spoke up at once.

**Hermione, however, did not ask Harry and Ron to help her pursue vengeance against Rita Skeeter, for which they were both grateful, because their workload was mounting ever higher in the days before the Easter holidays. Harry frankly marveled at the fact that Hermione could research magical methods of eavesdropping as well as everything else they had to do.**

**He was working flat-out just to get through all their homework, though he made a point of sending regular food packages up to the cave in the mountain for Sirius; **

"Good lad," said Sirius, having a dreamy expression on his face at the thought of all the food he had there… funny enough, Harry never once sent him Firewhisky… shame…

**after last summer, Harry had not forgotten what it felt like to be continually hungry. **

Molly's face grew furious at the mention of those horrid Dursleys. Even after reading all this, she couldn't understand how they could treat their own family like an animal?

**He enclosed notes to Sirius, telling him that nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and that they were still waiting for an answer from Percy.**

'_Knowing that prat, he'll probably write to tell them that it's none of their business,' _Sirius thought bitterly. He couldn't stand people who lived with their noses so grinded into the rulebook they can't see anything around them.

**Hedwig didn't return until the end of the Easter holidays. Percy's letter was enclosed in a package of Easter eggs that Mrs. Weasley had sent. Both Harrys and Ron's were the size of dragon eggs and full of homemade toffee. Hermione's, however, was smaller than a chicken egg. Her face fell when she saw it.**

"Oh," Molly said wretchedly. "I sent her a smaller one because I thought she was playing around with those boys…"

"Better than sending her a cursed letter," Remus shrugged.

"Why were you so upset about their love life?" asked Tonks looking slightly confused. "It's no one else's business but their own… and you know her…"

"I know," Molly said upset. "And I'm truly sorry for ever having read that stupid article. That's the reason why I stopped subscribing to it. But to be honest, the egg was more in defense of Ron than anything else."

"What does that mean, dear?" Arthur asked, clearly not understanding.

Molly sighed before she confessed, "I thought that she was being too careless with Ron's feelings since she was going out his Viktor. And then throw in Harry on top of that… I thought that she was breaking three boys hearts without even noticing…"

"You mean you knew that Ron liked her back then?" Arthur asked startled. "I knew that he liked her, but I didn't know that his feelings were so strong until I started with these books."

"I'm his mother," she sighed. "How could I not notice how my son's feeling?"

"So, what? Are you hoping that Ron and Hermione will start going out?" asked Sirius her, before then asking shrewdly. "Or did you hope that she leave my godson free for Ginny?"

"Sirius!" said Tonks looking up at him in surprise. "You don't have to be suspicious like that…!"

"I call it being realistic," replied Sirius firmly, "I mean come on, no offence Molly, but hey… what witch wouldn't want him for a son-in-law?"

He looked over at her, and knew that she was also thinking about their conversation a while back during the third book.

"Maybe…" she admitted after a moment and they all stared at her. "Oh, I've always thought of Harry as one of my own… but the fact is, I can see how well that Hermione and Ron went together… and I always thought about how wonderful if Ginny and Harry would be as a couple. Thinking about giving any of my babies up is hard—but if I ever have to give up my children to another, I want them to be someone I trust as well as love. And you can't admit that Harry wouldn't take good care of her."

"After the events of second year…" Remus said nodding, remembering how far he went to save the girl. Now that is a special connection… not to many girls can say that their boyfriend fought a Basilisk and fought Voldemort to save her.

"Which is another reason," Molly sighed, still shivering at the idea of how close she was to losing her baby girl for good. "She doesn't say it, but I can that Ginny still has nightmares about that. And who else could possibly understand her but someone who knows what it's like to be used by Voldemort? I honestly think that Harry's the only person who could understand what's that like…"

They all looked at her sadly before she sniffled slightly. "Not that I'm forcing anyone to do anything!" she added. "But Harry and Hermione are like family, and it would be so nice just to make it official."

Sirius smirked as he thought it over. He had missed so much with his godson, but he couldn't help but think that she was right. If Harry was the only person who could really understand Ginny… then maybe it was the same the other way round?

**"****Your mum doesn't read Witch Weekly, by any chance, does she, Ron?" she asked quietly.**

**"****Yeah," said Ron, whose mouth was full of toffee. "Gets it for the recipes."**

**Hermione looked sadly at her tiny egg.**

Molly was flinching as though she was being struck. How could she have ever believed that piece of rubbish in the paper?

**"****Don't you want to see what Percy's written?" Harry asked her hastily.**

**Percy's letter was short and irritated.**

'_That doesn't surprise me,' _Arthur thought grimly.

_**As I am constantly telling the Daily Prophet, Mr. Crouch is taking a well-deserved break. He is sending in regular owls with instructions. No, I haven't actually seen him, but I think I can be trusted to know my own superior's handwriting. I have quite enough to do at the moment without trying to quash these ridiculous rumors. Please don't bother me again unless it's something important. **_

_**Happy Easter.**_

Kingsley frowned. That sounds exactly like Percy. But why would it take so long for him to answer? Course, if it was anyone else but Percy, he might've been worried.

"You don't have to make it sound like they don't know what they're talking about you idiot," Sirius scowled to himself, wishing that he could say it louder. "And it WAS important! Otherwise they wouldn't have sent it."

"Well that was cheerful," commented Tonks dryly.

"But you think that he would try to make sure that they actually came from Crouch though," Remus whispered slightly.

"And let someone take power away from him, I don't think so," Sirius scoffed back in a whisper. "Think about it for a sec. If Percy's in charge, then he couldn't care less what happens. Remind me never to vote for him for Minister."

**The start of the summer term would normally have meant that Harry was training hard for the last Quidditch match of the season. This year, however, it was the third and final task in the Triwizard Tournament for which he needed to prepare, but he still didn't know what he would have to do. Finally, in the last week of May, Professor McGonagall held him back in Transfiguration.**

**"****You are to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at nine o'clock. Potter," she told him. "Mr. Bagman will be there to tell the champions about the third task."**

"She's gonna regret that," Sirius grunted, just thinking about what happened at the Third Task made him feel sick.

**So at half past eight that night. Harry left Ron and Hermione in Gryffindor Tower and went downstairs. As he crossed the entrance hall, Cedric came up from the Hufflepuff common room.**

**"****What d'you reckon it's going to be?" he asked Harry as they went together down the stone steps, out into the cloudy night. "Fleur keeps going on about underground tunnels; she reckons we've got to find treasure."**

**"****That wouldn't be too bad," said Harry, thinking that he would simply ask Hagrid for a niffler to do the job for him.**

"I wish it had been that easy," Sirius muttered.

Kingsley smiled slightly, having a sneaking suspicion that the reason Fleur would think that was because Madame Maxime saw Hagrid with the nifflers. But he didn't voice this as he flipped the page and continued reading.

**They walked down the dark lawn to the Quidditch stadium, turned through a gap in the stands, and walked out onto the field.**

**"****What've they done to it?" Cedric said indignantly, stopping dead.**

**The Quidditch field was no longer smooth and flat. It looked as though somebody had been building long, low walls all over it that twisted and crisscrossed in every direction.**

"Good thing that Oliver never saw it like that," Tonks muttered, privately thinking that the old Gryffindor captain would've have a heart attack if he saw that. Sirius was shaking his head—remembering how horrified when he saw those hedges there when he waited in the pumpkin patch that night.

**"****They're hedges!" said Harry, bending to examine the nearest one.**

"A maze," Remus corrected grimly.

**"****Hello there!" called a cheery voice.**

**Ludo Bagman was standing in the middle of the field with Krum and Fleur. Harry and Cedric made their way toward them, climbing over the hedges. Fleur beamed at Harry as he came nearer. Her attitude toward him had changed completely since he had saved her sister from the lake.**

"No longer calling him a little boy I noticed," Arthur chuckled.

"Can't say I'm surprised," said Tonks, "She saw how he gave up the chance to come back first to save little Gabrielle. I'm sure that earned her respect."

"A new fan," Sirius sniggered, obviously very amused by it all.

**"****Well, what d'you think?" said Bagman happily as Harry and Cedric climbed over the last hedge. "Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month and Hagrid'll have them twenty feet high. Don't worry," he added, grinning, spotting the less than- happy expressions on Harrys and Cedric's faces, "you'll have your Quidditch field back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we're making here?"**

**No one spoke for a moment. Then -**

**"****Maze," grunted Krum.**

"Well, he sounds a little more conversational," Tonks giggled. "Before he wouldn't say a word."

"He only said one word," Sirius told her.

"One more than he'd done for the first two tasks," she reminded.

**"****That's right!" said Bagman. "A maze. The third task's really very straightforward. **

"Funny," Sirius snapped bitterly. Bet he wouldn't feel the same way if he had been stuck running through that thing.

**The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the center of the maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks."**

**"****We simply 'ave to get through the maze?" said Fleur.**

"If only it was that easy," Remus sighed.

**"****There will be obstacles," said Bagman happily, bouncing on the balls of his feet. **

"Oh, it's alright for him," Molly muttered angrily. She remember how happy he had been when he told them that they had to face a dragon! "He's not the one who has to go through it."

"Wish we could make him do it," Sirius agreed, this guy had been bugging him the whole book. He hoped that they wouldn't have to deal with him much longer.

**"Hagrid is providing a number of creatures… **

"Oh, now we know that it's not going to be easy," Remus winced at the idea of what Hagrid would put in there.

Molly looked close to whimpering. If Hagrid had thought that skrewts were easy to deal with, she didn't want to think of what he considered dangerous.

"Poor guys," Tonks said, almost in awe, they had to run through a maze filled with Hagrid's pets? How in the hell did they survive at all?

**then there will be spells that must be broken… all that sort of thing, you know. Now, the champions who are leading on points will get a head start into the maze." Bagman grinned at Harry and Cedric. "Then Mr. Krum will enter… then Miss Delacour. But you'll all be in with a fighting chance, depending how well you get past the obstacles. Should be fun, eh?"**

"Depends what you define fun as," commented Molly, sounding more like an angry mother bear than herself.

**Harry, who knew only too well the kind of creatures that Hagrid was likely to provide for an event like this, thought it was unlikely to be any fun at all. However, he nodded politely like the other champions.**

**"****Very well… if you haven't got any questions, we'll go back up to the castle, shall we, it's a bit chilly…"**

**Bagman hurried alongside Harry as they began to wend their way out of the growing maze. Harry had the feeling that Bagman was going to start offering to help him again, but just then, Krum tapped Harry on the shoulder.**

**"****Could I haff a vord?"**

"Thank goodness," said Sirius in relief, he hadn't been looking forward to hearing that idiot anymore tonight.

**"****Yeah, all right," said Harry, slightly surprised.**

**"****Vill you valk vith me?"**

**"****Okay," said Harry curiously.**

"I wonder what he wants?" Remus asked.

"Hey, I think I have a pretty good idea," Tonks smirked. He wanted to see if Harry was trying to make a move on his girl.

**Bagman looked slightly perturbed.**

**"****I'll wait for you. Harry, shall I?"**

**"****No, it's okay, Mr. Bagman," said Harry, suppressing a smile, "I think I can find the castle on my own, thanks."**

Sirius let out his bark-like laugh at that line. He liked it when his godson made jokes—it made things seems a little more light-hearted.

**Harry and Krum left the stadium together, but Krum did not set a course for the Durmstrang ship. Instead, he walked toward the forest.**

"Couldn't they have talked inside though?" Molly muttered, not liking to hear anyone go near that forest after learning about those spiders that tried to kill them in the second book.

**"****What're we going this way for?" said Harry as they passed Hagrid s cabin and the illuminated Beauxbatons carriage.**

**"****Don't vont to be overheard," said Krum shortly.**

"What's so important that he needs all this secrecy?" Remus was feeling that they were just being pulled back down into questions. While he didn't think that there was anything dangerous about Viktor, he didn't like the idea of Harry walking off alone with him.

**When at last they had reached a quiet stretch of ground a short way from the Beauxbatons horses' paddock, Krum stopped in the shade of the trees and turned to face Harry.**

**"****I vant to know," he said, glowering, "vot there is between you and Hermy-own-ninny."**

"Oh, he wants to know about Hermy-own-ninny," Sirius laughed at the name.

"I guess so," Arthur shook his head.

"Why does he need so much secrecy for that though?" Sirius asked.

"He didn't want anyone hear him accuse Harry of making a move on his woman and risk being wrong about it," Tonks giggled.

"Shh," Molly said gently. "Be nice…"

**Harry, who from Krum's secretive manner had expected something much more serious than this, stared up at Krum in amazement.**

**"****Nothing," he said. But Krum glowered at him, and Harry, somehow struck anew by how tall Krum was, elaborated. "We're friends. She's not my girlfriend and she never has been. It's just that Skeeter woman making things up."**

"Yes, they're like a brother and sister," Arthur corrected, smiling.

Molly smiled with him, though didn't completely agree with that. After reading these books, she had a feeling that there was a good chance that Harry and Hermione could've gotten together quite easily… but if there was… then they didn't take it. Which was just a sign to her that maybe they really weren't meant to be together—or perhaps she was just trying to look to far into this.

**"****Hermy-own-ninny talks about you very often," said Krum, looking suspiciously at Harry.**

"That's because they're friends," Tonks slowly and carefully as if she was talking to a five-year-old.

**"****Yeah," said Harry, "because we're friends."**

**He couldn't quite believe he was having this conversation with Viktor Krum, the famous International Quidditch player. It was as though the eighteen-year-old Krum thought he Harry, was an equal - a real rival –**

"Well he is the Boy-Who-Lived," Tonk pointed out. "A lot of people would see him as a rival for anything."

"I think any guy who really liked a girl and found out someone who was also famous like her as well, then they wouldn't be happy now would they?" Sirius stated.

"Harry keeps putting himself down," Arthur said slowly. "He honestly has no idea how much people look up to him."

"Part of Harry's charm is his humility," Remus said simply. "However I agree with what you say, Arthur. He doesn't really understands how much people truly respect him for what he does. I think the Dursley's actually have a lot to do with that because they pretty much kill his self-esteem."

"That's another reason to show them the business end of my wand," Sirius growled evilly.

**"****You haff never… you haff not…"**

**"****No," said Harry very firmly.**

**Krum looked slightly happier. He stared at Harry for a few seconds, then said, "You fly very vell. I vos votching at the first task."**

Tonks let out a low whistle, "One of the best Quidditch players in the world telling you that you're talented on a broom is a complement if I've ever heard one."

"Well Harry is an amazing flier," Sirius said grinning proudly. "Krum better watch out. Once Harry leaves school, he could play for England and they'll be going off against each other."

"Who's to say that he'll join a Quidditch team once he leaves?" Kingsley asked.

"Why wouldn't he?" Sirius demanded.

"We'll find out in two more years," Remus said at once before Sirius got carried away.

**"****Thanks," said Harry, grinning broadly and suddenly feeling much taller himself. "I saw you at the Quidditch World Cup. The Wronski Feint, you really -"**

**But something moved behind Krum in the trees, and Harry, who had some experience of the sort of thing that lurked in the forest, instinctively grabbed Krum's arm and pulled him around.**

**"****Vot is it?"**

"Oh, I hope it's nothing dangerous…" Molly whimpered, her mind running a million miles a second with what else Hagrid could be keeping in there.

**Harry shook his head, staring at the place where he'd seen movement. He slipped his hand inside his robes, reaching for his wand.**

**Suddenly a man staggered out from behind a tall oak. For a moment, Harry didn't recognize him… then he realized it was Mr. Crouch.**

"What the…?" asked the room in almost perfect timing.

"That's right," Sirius said, smacking his forehead. "I forgot! How could I forget that Crouch had been there? He had tried to escape from Voldemort and get to Dumbledore to tell him what happened!"

"That was before…" Kingsley said slowly, before he closed his eyes, remembering what Dumbledore told him about how Crouch died. This wasn't going to be easy to hear…

**He looked as though he had been traveling for days. The knees of his robes were ripped and bloody, his face scratched; he was unshaven and gray with exhaustion. His neat hair and mustache were both in need of a wash and a trim. His strange appearance, however, was nothing to the way he was behaving. Muttering and gesticulating, Mr. Crouch appeared to be talking to someone that he alone could see.**

"Ok…" Tonks said slowly and uncomfortably. "That's not a good sign."

**He reminded Harry vividly of an old tramp he had seen once when out shopping with the Dursleys. That man too had been conversing wildly with thin air; Aunt Petunia had seized Dudley's hand and pulled him across the road to avoid him; Uncle Vernon had then treated the family to a long rant about what he would like to do with beggars and vagrants.**

"I'd like to talk about what I would like to do with you," Sirius muttered threateningly as he thought of Vernon.

"What's that about?" Remus asked, though he had strong dislike Crouch for putting Sirius in prison without a trial, he was a little disturbed this.

"Either he has been cursed into insanity somehow," Kingsley said slowly.

**"****Vosn't he a judge?" said Krum, staring at Mr. Crouch. "Isn't he vith your Ministry?"**

**Harry nodded, hesitated for a moment, then walked slowly toward Mr. Crouch, who did not look at him, but continued to talk to a nearby tree.**

**"… ****and when you've done that, Weatherby, send an owl to Dumbledore confirming the number of Durmstrang students who will be attending the tournament, Karkaroff has just sent word there will be twelve…"**

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Sirius whispered softly.

**"****Mr. Crouch?" said Harry cautiously.**

**"… ****and then send another owl to Madame Maxime, because she might want to up the number of students she's bringing, now Karkaroff's made it a round dozen… do that, Weatherby, will you? Will you? Will…"**

**Mr. Crouch's eyes were bulging. He stood staring at the tree, muttering soundlessly at it. Then he staggered sideways and fell to his knees.**

"Now what?" Arthur asked, not liking how that was trailing off. What was happening to him…?

**"****Mr. Crouch?" Harry said loudly. "Are you all right?"**

**Crouch's eyes were rolling in his head. Harry looked around at Krum, who had followed him into the trees, and was looking down at Crouch in alarm.**

**"****Vot is wrong with him?"**

"The effects of fighting the Imperius Curse," Kingsley said at once, now understanding what was happening. "He is fighting long term exposure to the Imperious curse—though it's still has a great deal of power over him."

"How can you tell?" Molly asked fearfully.

"By the way his is described," Kingsley responded dourly. "I remember all the cases from people in the first war. It happens when a particular powerful Imperious Curse is in effect, but the victim is trying their best to fight it. It's painful for them to fight it for too long and takes a toll on your sanity if you fight it for so long without a break."

Molly frowned, her sympathy for Barty growing. While he hadn't been her favorite person, he didn't deserve to suffer like this.

**"****No idea," Harry muttered. "Listen, you'd better go and get someone -"**

**"****Dumbledore!" gasped Mr. Crouch. He reached out and seized a handful of Harrys robes, dragging him closer, though his eyes were staring over Harry's head. "I need… see… Dumbledore…"**

"You see?" Kingsley asked grimly. "He knows what's happening and wants to stop his son before anyone else gets hurt. But it's like having a constant voice in your head telling you not to. If this keeps up for any longer, it could've destroyed his mind completely."

"What a way to go," Tonks shivered.

**"****Okay," said Harry, "if you get up, Mr. Crouch, we can go up to the-"**

**"****I've done… stupid… thing…" Mr. Crouch breathed. He looked utterly mad. His eyes were rolling and bulging, and a trickle of spittle was sliding down his chin. Every word he spoke seemed to cost him a terrible effort. "Must… tell… Dumbledore…"**

"That he let his son escape," Sirius grumbled. Well… at least the man tried to make up for his mistake… though that didn't erase the hatred he felt for him.

**"****Get up, Mr. Crouch," said Harry loudly and clearly. "Get up, I'll take you to Dumbledore!"**

**Mr. Crouch's eyes rolled forward onto Harry.**

**"****Who… you?" he whispered.**

"There's a first," Tonks whispered. "Someone not knowing who he is." Man, Crouch's mind must be in bad shape for this.

**"****I'm a student at the school," said Harry, looking around at Krum for some help, but Krum was hanging back, looking extremely nervous.**

"I can't say that I blame him," said Remus, he to would've wanted to have run as far as he could away from that situation.

**"****You're not… his?" whispered Crouch, his mouth sagging.**

"Voldemort's servant?" Kingsley suggested when he saw that they all looked confused. "That's the best that I can figure out."

"I guess," Tonks muttered.

"Even if he was, that might not have been the best thing to say," Remus said frowning.

**"****No," said Harry, without the faintest idea what Crouch was talking about.**

**"****Dumbledore's?"**

**"****That's right," said Harry.**

Sirius frowned at that, for some reason, feeling greatly annoyed at that line. His godson was always on Dumbledore's side… and for what? For the old man to put him in that god-awful house in the first place?! It's his fault for all his godson's suffering…

And though, deep down, he knew that he was also to blame, it made him feel better about that terrible guilt inside to blame the old man.

**Crouch was pulling him closer; Harry tried to loosen Crouch's grip on his robes, but it was too powerful.**

**"****Warn… Dumbledore…"**

**"****I'll get Dumbledore if you let go of me," said Harry. "Just let go, Mr. Crouch, and I'll get him…"**

"I think that it would've been better to take him with you," Kingsley said worriedly, the better the chances that they could've gotten him to Dumbledore.

**"****Thank you, Weatherby, and when you have done that, I would like a cup of tea. My wife and son will be arriving shortly, we are attending a concert tonight with Mr. and Mrs. Fudge."**

"Typical," Sirius barked. "We get some information, and then Crouch cuts himself off!"

**Crouch was now talking fluently to a tree again, and seemed completely unaware that Harry was there, which surprised Harry so much he didn't notice that Crouch had released him.**

**"****Yes, my son has recently gained twelve O.W.L.S, most satisfactory, yes, thank you, yes, very proud indeed. Now, if you could bring me that memo from the Andorran Minister of Magic, I think I will have time to draft a response…"**

"Why would you call your son getting twelve O.W.L.S _most satisfactory_?" Arthur asked in mild disgust. No matter what his sons had received, so long as they did their best, he would've been proud of whatever they got.

"Because that's what Crouch was like," Sirius answered grimly. "It's all about image! You have to be perfect otherwise you aren't worth anything!"

**"****You stay here with him!" Harry said to Krum. "I'll get Dumbledore, I'll be quicker, I know where his office is -"**

**"****He is mad," said Krum doubtfully, staring down at Crouch, who was still gabbling to the tree, apparently convinced it was Percy.**

'Well, he's as thick as a tree,' Sirius thought to himself privately.

**"****Just stay with him," said Harry, starting to get up, but his movement seemed to trigger another abrupt change in Mr. Crouch, who seized him hard around the knees and pulled Harry back to the ground.**

**"****Don't… leave… me!" he whispered, his eyes bulging again. "I… escaped… must warn… must tell… see Dumbledore… my fault… all my fault… Bertha… dead… all my fault… **

"He knows Bertha's dead," Tonks said sadly. "He's trying to put a stop to this before anyone else was killed because of him."

"Now that you think of it, it's all his fault this war started," Sirius muttered. Now, he knew that wasn't completely true… but he couldn't help but feel that way.

**my son… my fault… tell Dumbledore… Harry Potter… the Dark Lord… stronger… Harry Potter…"**

"I don't like this one bit," Molly said anxiously. "He knows what's going on and what's about to happen, but he can't come out and tell them!"

"But he's trying," explained Kingsley. "This is the effects of fighting a long term imperious, the moments of lucidity, the fact he wants to talk to Dumbledore. Then coupled with his 'insanity' which is a symptom. Judging from what he's saying, I would say that he was placed under it while he was still preparing for the tournament."

"How can you tell?" Tonks asked.

"The last point he is talking somewhat lucidly, was when he was talking about the numbers for the tournament, so that was probably one of the last times he was thinking freely," Kingsley explained.

**"****I'll get Dumbledore if you let me go, Mr. Crouch!" said Harry. He looked furiously around at Krum. "Help me, will you?"**

**Looking extremely apprehensive, Krum moved forward and squatted down next to Mr. Crouch.**

**"****Just keep him here," said Harry, pulling himself free of Mr. Crouch. "I'll be back with Dumbledore."**

"No…" Remus moaned. "That's just what that Death Eater wants…"

"But if he tried to take him up with him, then Crouch might've done something serious to them," Arthur pointed out grimly.

**"****Hurry, von't you?" Krum called after him as Harry sprinted away from the forest and up through the dark grounds. They were deserted; Bagman, Cedric, and Fleur had disappeared. Harry tore up the stone steps, through the oak front doors, and off up the marble staircase, toward the second floor.**

**Five minutes later he was hurtling toward a stone gargoyle standing halfway along an empty corridor.**

**"****Sher - sherbet lemon!" he panted at it.**

"Harry," Sirius groaned. "Passwords never stay the same! You should've known that…" More than anything, he was amazed that his godson was only ever sent to Dumbledore's office once! When he and James were there, they were daily visitors!

**This was the password to the hidden staircase to Dumbledore's office - or at least, it had been two years ago. **

"And has changed," Sirius finished bitterly.

**The password had evidently changed, however, for the stone gargoyle did not spring to life and jump aside, but stood frozen, glaring at Harry malevolently.**

**"****Move!" Harry shouted at it. "C'mon!"**

**But nothing at Hogwarts had ever moved just because he shouted at it; he knew it was no good. **

"Doesn't mean we don't try," Arthur muttered with half a smile.

**He looked up and down the dark corridor. Perhaps Dumbledore was in the staff room? He started running as fast as he could toward the staircase –**

**"****POTTER!"**

"Oh, no," Sirius groaned. There was only one person it could be—why did that greasy-haired git always show up when you didn't need him?!

**Harry skidded to a halt and looked around. Snape had just emerged from the hidden staircase behind the stone gargoyle. The wall was sliding shut behind him even as he beckoned Harry back toward him.**

"Oh, I hope that he'll let him into Dumbledore's office," Molly whimpered, keep forgetting that by the time they get back, it would be too late.

"Now why would he do that?" Sirius demanded. "That would be a kind and helpful thing to do."

**"****What are you doing here, Potter?"**

**"****I need to see Professor Dumbledore!" said Harry, running back up the corridor and skidding to a standstill in front of Snape instead. "It's Mr. Crouch… he's just turned up… he's in the forest… he's asking -"**

**"****What is this rubbish?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering. "What are you talking about?"**

"Oh, why doesn't he listen for once?" Tonks yelled in frustration. "Just because he has issues doesn't mean that he has to be a total jerk about all of it!"

"It's Snape," Sirius remarked. "Holding a grudge is what he does best."

**"****Mr. Crouch!" Harry shouted. "From the Ministry! He's ill or something - he's in the forest, he wants to see Dumbledore! Just give me the password up to -"**

**"****The headmaster is busy. Potter," said Snape, his thin mouth curling into an unpleasant smile.**

"Oh just get over yourself!" Sirius almost yelled at the book; he'd forgotten just how irritating Snape was, it had been years since he had been at school.

"You doesn't he believe him?" asked Molly panicky. "Why can't he see Harry as his own person, rather than his father?"

"Because he doesn't want to," Sirius snarled. "He can't torment James, so he figures that Harry's the next best thing."

"Well, that's just rubbish!" she snapped back, "Blaming a child for what his father did! Harry doesn't even remember him!"

"None of that matters to Snape," he told her bitterly. "I said it before. If Snape wants to take it out on someone, then be a man to take it out on me! But no…" he went on grumbling to himself as Kingsley decided to get this chapter over with already.

**"****I've got to tell Dumbledore!" Harry yelled.**

**"****Didn't you hear me. Potter?"**

**Harry could tell Snape was thoroughly enjoying himself, denying Harry the thing he wanted when he was so panicky.**

They all looked furious.

"He's just a horrible person," Tonks hissed. "How could he be enjoying himself when Harry's like this?"

"He has no soul that's how," Sirius muttered.

**"****Look," said Harry angrily, "Crouch isn't right - he's - he's out of his mind – he says he wants to warn -"**

**The stone wall behind Snape slid open. Dumbledore was standing there, wearing long green robes and a mildly curious expression. "Is there a problem?" he said, looking between Harry and Snape.**

"What timing," Tonks muttered, remembering how he always turned up right where there was trouble when she was at school. "How does he do that?"

**"****Professor!" Harry said, sidestepping Snape before Snape could speak, "Mr. Crouch is here - he's down in the forest, he wants to speak to you!"**

**Harry expected Dumbledore to ask questions, but to his relief, Dumbledore did nothing of the sort.**

"Actions first, questions later," said Kingsley with a brief smile. He can't remember how many times he heard Alastor said that.

**"****Lead the way," he said promptly, and he swept off along the corridor behind Harry, leaving Snape standing next to the gargoyle and looking twice as ugly.**

Sirius smirked; Harry 1, Snape 0. Which, of course, Snape would always be a 0 to him.

**"****What did Mr. Crouch say. Harry?" said Dumbledore as they walked swiftly down the marble staircase.**

**"****Said he wants to warn you… said he's done something terrible… he mentioned his son… and Bertha Jorkins… and - and Voldemort… something about Voldemort getting stronger…"**

"If that doesn't get him moving, I don't know what will," Remus whispered dourly.

"If only Crouch had been able to tell him more," Arthur said miserably. So much pain could've been avoided…

**"****Indeed," said Dumbledore, and he quickened his pace as they hurried out into the pitch-darkness.**

**"****He's not acting normally," Harry said, hurrying along beside Dumbledore. **

"That's putting it lightly," Sirius said under his breath. Not acting normally is to kind in his opinion.

**"He doesn't seem to know where he is. He keeps talking like he thinks Percy Weasley's there, and then he changes, and says he needs to see you… I left him with Viktor Krum."**

**"****You did?" said Dumbledore sharply, and he began to take longer strides still, so that Harry was running to keep up. "Do you know if anybody else saw Mr. Crouch?"**

"He doesn't trust Krum?" asked Molly startled.

"I think it more likely that he's worried something would happen with Viktor if left there alone," Remus disagreed.

**"****No," said Harry. "Krum and I were talking, Mr. Bagman had just finished telling us about the third task, we stayed behind, and then we saw Mr. Crouch coming out of the forest -"**

**"****Where are they?" said Dumbledore as the Beauxbatons carriage emerged from the darkness.**

**"****Over here," said Harry, moving in front of Dumbledore, leading the way through the trees. He couldn't hear Crouch's voice anymore, but he knew where he was going; it hadn't been much past the Beauxbatons carriage… somewhere around here…**

**"****Viktor?" Harry shouted.**

**No one answered.**

"Well, we all saw that coming!" Sirius called out sarcastically. "As soon as Harry left the scene, we knew that at least one of the two would have ended up dead or missing."

"Oh dear," said Molly worriedly, "I hope nothing happened to Viktor. He had nothing to do with this."

Kingsley frowned at that line. Why did he feel that this whole event happened because of something with that eagle owl?

**"****They were here," Harry said to Dumbledore. "They were definitely somewhere around here…"**

**"****Lumos," Dumbledore said, lighting his wand and holding it up.**

**Its narrow beam traveled from black trunk to black trunk, illuminating the ground. And then it fell upon a pair of feet.**

"You know that it can never end well if it starts off with _'it fell upon a pair of feet,'_ now don't you?" Tonks asked.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Dora," Remus sighed before he realized what he said. He looked back at her to see her face slightly red when he called her Dora. He looked away, feeling the need to beat his head in with the poker. Why did he keep doing that? Why was he drawn to her like this…?

He grinded his teeth together, fighting the images that came back to him. Seeing her there like she was that night when she kissed him…

He had to bite back the groan of longing from that image.

**Harry and Dumbledore hurried forward. Krum was sprawled on the forest floor. He seemed to be unconscious. There was no sign at all of Mr. Crouch. Dumbledore bent over Krum and gently lifted one of his eyelids.**

"Oh great," Sirius called out loudly. "Just one more innocent person being attacked for a madman."

"Jr. stunned him didn't he?" Tonks asked Sirius who nodded.

"He used the map to see him coming," he growled, hating the fact that something he helped create for harmless mischief had been used to murder someone. Oh, he hoped that Harry didn't blame himself for this…

**"****Stunned," he said softly. His half-moon glasses glittered in the wand light as he peered around at the surrounding trees.**

**"****Should I go and get someone?" said Harry. "Madam Pomfrey?"**

"No!" Remus cried out, startling them. "He could've easily been attacked!"

**"****No," said Dumbledore swiftly. "Stay here."**

"Thank heavens for that," Molly sighed in relief.

**He raised his wand into the air and pointed it in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Harry saw something silvery dart out of it and streak away through the trees like a ghostly bird.**

"A messenger Patronus," Arthur said. "He must've called Hagrid."

"Thank you for pointing that out," Tonks said teasingly.

**Then Dumbledore bent over Krum again, pointed his wand at him, and muttered, "Ennervate."**

**Krum opened his eyes. He looked dazed. When he saw Dumbledore, he tried to sit up, but Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder and made him lie still.**

**"****He attacked me!" Krum muttered, putting a hand up to his head. "The old madman attacked me! I vos looking around to see vare Potter had gone and he attacked from behind!"**

"No, but not a bad guess," Kingsley whispered. It had been Crouch, but it had been the wrong one.

**"****Lie still for a moment," Dumbledore said.**

**The sound of thunderous footfalls reached them, and Hagrid came panting into sight with Fang at his heels. He was carrying his crossbow.**

**"****Professor Dumbledore!" he said, his eyes widening. "Harry - what the -?"**

**"****Hagrid, I need you to fetch Professor Karkaroff," said Dumbledore. **

"Why do you need him?" Sirius asked.

"Viktor is his student," Molly told him obviously. "I'm sure that he'll want to know that his student was attacked!"

"Right," Sirius said thinking it over. "Without Krum, he doesn't have anyone in the tournament for him to win."

**"His student has been attacked. When you've done that, kindly alert Professor Moody -"**

**"****No need, Dumbledore," said a wheezy growl. "I'm here."**

"So he really was there," Kingsley said in disgust.

**Moody was limping toward them, leaning on his staff, his wand lit.**

**"****Damn leg," he said furiously. "Would've been here quicker… what's happened? Snape said something about Crouch -"**

"I just bet that he did," Sirius snapped.

**"****Crouch?" said Hagrid blankly.**

**"****Karkaroff, please, Hagrid!" said Dumbledore sharply.**

**"****Oh yeah… right y'are, Professor…" said Hagrid, and he turned and disappeared into the dark trees, Fang trotting after him.**

**"****I don't know where Barty Crouch is," Dumbledore told Moody, "but it is essential that we find him."**

**"****I'm onto it," growled Moody, and he pulled out his wand and limped off into the forest.**

"Oh, he found him alright," Sirius growled. "Killed him right then and there before he came back."

"Sirius," Molly moaned, putting her hands up to her ears. "Please don't talk like that."

**Neither Dumbledore nor Harry spoke again until they heard the unmistakable sounds of Hagrid and Fang returning. Karkaroff was hurrying along behind them. He was wearing his sleek silver furs, and he looked pale and agitated.**

**"****What is this?" he cried when he saw Krum on the ground and Dumbledore and Harry beside him. "What's going on?"**

"What's it look like?" Tonks asked as if he was dim. "Krum's lying on the ground after being attacked by fangirls."

**"****I vos attacked!" said Krum, sitting up now and rubbing his head. "Mr. Crouch or votever his name -"**

**"****Crouch attacked you? Crouch attacked you? The Triwizard judge?"**

**"****Igor," Dumbledore began, but Karkaroff had drawn himself up, clutching his furs around him, looking livid.**

"This won't end well," Kingsley said, knowing that Karkaroff would make a scene…

**"****Treachery!" he bellowed, pointing at Dumbledore. "It is a plot! You and your Ministry of Magic have lured me here under false pretenses, Dumbledore! This is not an equal competition! First you sneak Potter into the tournament, though he is underage! Now one of your Ministry friends attempts to put my champion out of action! I smell double-dealing and corruption in this whole affair, and you, Dumbledore, you, with your talk of closer international wizarding links, of rebuilding old ties, of forgetting old differences - here's what I think of you!"**

**Karkaroff spat onto the ground at Dumbledore's feet. **

"He didn't just do that in front of Hagrid did he?" Sirius asked, looking up at the book with new interest.

"Yeah, so?" Molly asked, though she sounded angry.

"Oh, nothing," Sirius said with a tiny amount of anticipation. "It's just that whenever someone insults Dumbledore in front of Hagrid, he flies off his handle. This is going to be good…"

Kingsley personally thought that Sirius might have some Seer blood in him… because…

**In one swift movement, Hagrid seized the front of Karkaroff's furs, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against a nearby tree.**

"You show 'em Hagrid," said Sirius cheered gleefully, "I don't know how many times I've wanted to do that to him all book!"

"Good heavens, that temper of his," Molly muttered.

"But a more loyal friend you can never ask for," Tonks grinned fondly. She loved that lovable giant.

**"****Apologize!" Hagrid snarled as Karkaroff gasped for breath, Hagrid's massive fist at his throat, his feet dangling in midair.**

**"****Hagrid, no!" Dumbledore shouted, his eyes flashing.**

"Oh, YES!" Sirius cheered. "Keep going Hagrid! Take him out!"

**Hagrid removed the hand pinning Karkaroff to the tree, and Karkaroff slid all the way down the trunk and slumped in a huddle at its roots; a few twigs and leaves showered down upon his head.**

**"****Kindly escort Harry back up to the castle, Hagrid," said Dumbledore sharply.**

**Breathing heavily, Hagrid gave Karkaroff a glowering look.**

**"****Maybe I'd better stay here. Headmaster…"**

**"****You will take Harry back to school, Hagrid," Dumbledore repeated firmly. **

'_And to keep him from killing Karkaroff,'_ Arthur thought.

**"Take him right up to Gryffindor Tower. And Harry - I want you to stay there. Anything you might want to do - any owls you might want to send - they can wait until morning, do you understand me?"**

"He must know that Harry wanted to write to you, Sirius," Molly said.

"He doesn't want him out of the common room after all this," Remus said at once. "Because he knows that someone, more than likely, took Crouch."

"He knows him well," Kingsley said slowly while Sirius continued to glare at them all. This was driving him crazy! Why did hearing about Dumbledore like this only make him angrier?

**"****Er - yes," said Harry, staring at him. How had Dumbledore known that, at that very moment, he had been thinking about sending Pigwidgeon straight to Sirius, to tell him what had happened?**

**"****I'll leave Fang with yeh Headmaster," Hagrid said, staring menacingly at Karkaroff, who was still sprawled at the foot of the tree, tangled in furs and tree roots. "Stay, Fang. C'mon, Harry."**

"Don't know why he would leave that dog with them," Sirius said, remembering the first book. "He's a coward."

"It would make him feel better that someone was there to defend him," Arthur suggested.

**They marched in silence past the Beauxbatons carriage and up toward the castle. **

**"****How dare he," Hagrid growled as they strode past the lake. "How dare he accuse Dumbledore. Like Dumbledore'd do anythin' like that. Like Dumbledore wanted you in the tournament in the firs' place. Worried! I dunno when I seen Dumbledore more worried than he's bin lately. **

"I don't see how he couldn't be with all this going on," Remus sighed knowingly.

"Then why host the tournament in the first place?" Sirius growled to himself.

**An' you!" Hagrid suddenly said angrily to Harry, who looked up at him, taken aback. **

"What's Harry done now?" Tonks asked indignantly. "He didn't say anything!"

**"What were yeh doin', wanderin' off with ruddy Krum? He's from Durmstrang, Harry! Coulda jinxed yeh right there, couldn he? Hasn' Moody taught yeh nothin'? 'Magine lettin him lure yeh off on yer own -"**

"Come on, Krum wasn't about to do anything to Harry," Tonks stated. "He was the one who was attacked!"

"Yeah!" said Tonks, agreeing with her cousin. "He's a nice guy! Just because he's angry at Karakroff doesn't mean that he has to take it out on Viktor!"

**"****Krum's all right!" said Harry as they climbed the steps into the entrance hall. "He wasn't trying to jinx me, he just wanted to talk about Hermione -"**

**"****I'll be havin' a few words with her, an' all," said Hagrid grimly, stomping up the stairs. "The less you lot 'ave ter do with these foreigners, the happier yeh'll be. Yeh can trust any of 'em."**

"He's one to talk," muttered Sirius, his eyebrows raised. "Who was the one who did his hair and wear cologne when he saw her?"

**"****You were getting on all right with Madame Maxime," Harry said, annoyed.**

**"****Don' you talk ter me abou' her!" said Hagrid, and he looked quite frightening for a moment. **

"I think that we just hit a sore spot," Tonks stated. That's right—a broken heart can make people say and think the craziest things.

**"I've got her number now! Tryin' ter get back in me good books, tryin' ter get me ter tell her what's comin in the third task. Ha! You can' trust any of'em!"**

"Oh, just because she walked out on you doesn't mean that they're all liars," Sirius said rolling his eyes.

"Besides," Remus said quietly, "WE are all foreigners to them."

**Hagrid was in such a bad mood, Harry was quite glad to say good-bye to him in front of the Fat Lady. He clambered through the portrait hole into the common room and hurried straight for the corner where Ron and Hermione were sitting, to tell them what had happened.**

"Of course he did," Arthur smiled. "He always does…"

"That is the end of the chapter," said Kingsley, looking at how much more was left. "And there's still so much left…"

"Perhaps we should read a few more chapters before we break for lunch," suggested Molly, though it was clear that she was greatly worn out.

"That is a good idea," agreed Remus, "But I don't see why we can't have some tea don't any of you?"

Everyone nodded and Molly got up to go and prepare some.

"When she comes back," Arthur said, "Who will read next?"

"I guess I will," Tonks offered. "What's the next chapter called?"

Kingsley, who was already skimming through the chapters answered, "**Chapter 29: The Dream**."


	34. The Dream

**Chapter 33: The Dream**

Kingsley, who was already skimming through the chapters answered, "Chapter 29: The Dream."

"What on earth is that about?" asked Sirius at once. "What's so special about a dream?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I have a pretty good idea," said Arthur frowning. "And I really hope that I'm wrong here."

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"It's probably another vision," Remus reminded him, looking slightly paler. "I had no idea that these visions started even this far back."

"They started the summer before last, remember?" Tonks said sadly, as they heard Molly downstairs preparing some tea. "And I think they'll only get more frequent… especially with Snake-face back."

They all had their tea quietly, no one really in the mood to talk after hearing about the chapter title, knowing that they were getting closer and closer to the end… knowing that this could only get worse. Tonks took the book, hardly looking at the strange picture of Harry riding on the back of the owl and read out:

**"****It comes down to this," said Hermione, rubbing her forehead. "Either Mr. Crouch attacked Viktor, **

"Which is unlikely because he talking to a tree thinking it was a person," Tonks interrupted herself, glad for a moment that Mad-Eye wasn't here so that she didn't have to hear him complain. Come to think of it, where was Mad-Eye? She shrugged and just went on.

**or somebody else attacked both of them when Viktor wasn't looking."**

"I would go with option number two," Sirius said at once gloomily.

**"****It must've been Crouch," said Ron at once. "That's why he was gone when Harry and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."**

"Impossible in his condition," Kingsley answered at once, with a slight shake of his head. "He could hardly stand up on his own."

Sirius shrugged, but he knew better than anyone never to underestimate the powers of the desperate… and Crouch was about as desperate as they got.

**"****I don't think so," said Harry, shaking his head. "He seemed really weak - I don't reckon he was up to Disapparating or anything."**

"You think that they would listen to her for once," Tonks stated fondly. "They're starting to sound like a broken record."

"Some people never learn," Arthur chuckled softly.

**"****You can't Disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?" said Hermione.**

Kingsley frowned. But what about phoenixes and house-elves? Somehow, there are exceptions… perhaps this only worked with wizards…? That might be a problem if someone ever thought to use house-elves against you… or…

He reached up to touch a spot on his head where Dumbledore had sent him flying the last time he had been at Hogwarts; when they caught Harry and his friends with their Defense group…

He had to hand it to him, that was one way to escape…

**"****Okay… how's this for a theory," said Ron excitedly. "Krum attacked Crouch - no, wait for it - and then Stunned himself!"**

"Yes, I'm sure that happened," Tonks said scathingly. "And then Crouch just turned into air or something and was gone forever!"

"Don't listen to him, he just hates Krum," Arthur reminded her.

**"****And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?" said Hermione coldly.**

**"****Oh yeah…"**

"That got his story straight," Tonks smirked. She loved it when Hermione put Ron down, showed him a thing or two.

**It was daybreak. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had crept out of their dormitories very early and hurried up to the Owlery together to send a note to Sirius. Now they were standing looking out at the misty grounds. All three of them were puffy-eyed and pale because they had been talking late into the night about Mr. Crouch.**

"Are they ever going to get a good-night's sleep?" Molly asked sadly.

"Doubt it," Sirius said smiling a little.

**"****Just go through it again, Harry," said Hermione. "What did Mr. Crouch actually say?"**

**"****I've told you, he wasn't making much sense," said Harry. "He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins, and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault… He mentioned his son."**

"Yeah," said Arthur frowning, still thinking that it was Crouch's fault. If he only took the time to get to know his son, spend time with him, then maybe he wouldn't have joined the Death Eaters at all.

**"****Well, that was his fault," said Hermione testily.**

**"****He was out of his mind," said Harry. "Half the time he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving him instructions."**

"Rather, he was fighting the Imperious Curse," said Remus jerkily. "I have to give him credit for fighting it off as best he could and making it to Hogwarts… if only they could've gotten him to Dumbledore…"

"Then this whole nightmare might never have happened," Sirius agreed through gritted teeth.

**"****And… remind me what he said about You-Know-Who?" said Ron tentatively.**

**"****I've told you," Harry repeated dully. "He said he's getting stronger."**

"And he wasn't kidding either," Sirius growled.

**There was a pause. Then Ron said in a falsely confident voice, "But he was out of his mind, like you said, so half of it was probably just raving…"**

"Wishful thinking, Ron," Remus muttered.

"If only he was at that point," Molly groaned.

"At least he's being optimistic about the upcoming end of the world," Tonks offered helpfully.

**"****He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," said Harry, and Ron winced at the sound of the name. "He was having real trouble stringing two words together, but that was when he seemed to know where he was, and know what he wanted to do. He just kept saying he had to see Dumbledore."**

"To tell him the truth," Arthur sighed, "Dumbledore was probably the only one who could've helped him."

"I think that's the reason he took a chance and escaped," Kingsley agreed quietly, "Because he knew what was going on and he wanted to try and put a stop before it got worse."

"To bad he didn't think about that before he saved his son from the Dementors," Sirius grumbled to himself.

**Harry turned away from the window and stared up into the rafters. The many perches were half-empty; every now and then, another owl would swoop in through one of the windows, returning from its night's hunting with a mouse in its beak.**

**"****If Snape hadn't held me up," Harry said bitterly, "we might've got there in time. **

"I doubt it," Sirius said. "He'd have to go even faster than Harry and Dumbledore because they left him behind… but it's always fun blaming him anyway."

"If Crouch Jr. was in the trees watching them," Tonks said slowly, "Then there's no way that they could've gotten there in time." She knew that he must've been dead as soon as Harry left.

_**'**__**The headmaster is busy. Potter… what's this rubbish, Potter?' **_**Why couldn't he have just got out of the way?"**

"Because a student needs a valid reason to enter the headmaster's office," answered Remus with a knowing smile at Sirius, "After what happened, Sirius?"

Sirius smirked widely.

"Do we even want to know what you did?" Molly asked wearily.

"What makes you think I had anything to do with it?" he asked in a offended voice.

"You mean didn't?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

"No, but I could've been innocent there," he said with a grin.

"What did you do?" Tonks asked interested.

"Trust me on this one," Remus said, shivering at the memory. "You don't want to know."

**"****Maybe he didn't want you to get there!" said Ron quickly. "Maybe - hang on - how fast d'you reckon he could've gotten down to the forest? D'you reckon he could've beaten you and Dumbledore there?"**

**"****Not unless he can turn himself into a bat or something," said Harry.**

"He doesn't need to, he already is one," Sirius smirked.

**"****Wouldn't put it past him," Ron muttered.**

Kingsley didn't say anything as he politely listened, but he couldn't help but feel a little foreboding… Ron was joking again.

**"****We need to see Professor Moody," said Hermione. "We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch."**

**"****If he had the Marauder's Map on him, it would've been easy," said Harry.**

Sirius winced, hoping that Harry didn't blame himself for giving the fake the map in the first place. How could he possibly have known what the fake was going to do?

**"****Unless Crouch was already outside the grounds," said Ron, "because it only shows up to the boundaries, doesn't -"**

**"****Shh!" said Hermione suddenly.**

"Good, Hermione," Arthur said, knowing that with people like Rita buzzing around for a scoop, it's best to keep quiet.

**Somebody was climbing the steps up to the Owlery. Harry could hear two voices arguing, coming closer and closer.**

"Now who?" Tonks asked worriedly. If it was Malfoy again…

**"****- that's blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that-"**

**"****- we've tried being polite; it's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did -"**

'_Sure sounds like a Malfoy…'_ Tonks thought. He always showed up when you didn't want him around.

**"****I'm telling you, if you put that in writing, it's blackmail!"**

**"****Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?"**

**The Owlery door banged open. Fred and George came over the threshold, **

Tonks blinked… sure didn't see that coming.

"My boys?" Molly said loudly, feeling panicky on what she was hearing. "They were blackmailing someone? Who were they blackmailing? That's illegal! Did they have any idea how much trouble they could've gotten into?" She looked up at Arthur's startled face. "And you work at the Ministry… the last thing we need is for them to get you into trouble."

"Now, let's hear them out," Arthur said, though he too looked upset and startled at the news. The twins that he knew would never have resorted to blackmail… well, maybe to their brothers, but that's sibling rivalry… completely different…

**then froze at the sight of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.**

**"****What're you doing here?" Ron and Fred said at the same time.**

**"****Sending a letter," said Harry and George in unison.**

**"****What, at this time?" said Hermione and Fred.**

Everyone laughed rather shakily at that.

"Which means that they know what they're doing could get them in trouble," Sirius whispered to Remus, who nodded, remembering all the times that Sirius and James had done that when they knew they had been caught.

**Fred grinned.**

**"****Fine - we won't ask you what you're doing, if you don't ask us," he said. He was holding a sealed envelope in his hands. Harry glanced at it, but Fred, whether accidentally or on ****purpose, shifted his hand so that the name on it was covered.**

"Probably on purpose, he's a master prankster, he knows how to cover his tracks and make it look innocent," said Sirius, a hint of pride in his tone as Molly shot him an annoyed look.

"And because he knows that Harry sees things that no one else does," Tonks smiled.

"I couldn't agree with you more on that," Remus said, smiling at her, before remembering that he was supposed to stay away from her and looked away.

**"****Well, don't let us hold you up," Fred said, making a mock bow and pointing at the door.**

**Ron didn't move. "Who're you blackmailing?" he said.**

"That's what I want to know," Molly said darkly, now listening extra hard.

**The grin vanished from Fred's face. Harry saw George half glance at Fred, before smiling at ****Ron.**

**"****Don't be stupid, I was only joking," he said easily.**

"I doubt that even you can pass something as serious as that as a joke, George," Tonks scoffed. "Though I would like to see you try."

**"****Didn't sound like that," said Ron.**

**Fred and George looked at each other. Then Fred said abruptly, "I've told you before, Ron, keep your nose out if you like it the shape it is. Can't see why you would, but -"**

"Fred!" Molly snapped irritably, glaring over the book as if it was her son, "Would you stop treating your brother like that?!"

"I might need to have a few words with them on this," Arthur agreed, not liking how the twins were treating Ron. Even if they felt that he was annoying them, he was still their only little brother.

**"****It's my business if you're blackmailing someone," said Ron. "George's right, you could end up in serious trouble for that."**

"Yes," Arthur agreed again. He didn't mind the fact that they liked to pull pranks, but this was far more than a harmless joke.

**"****Told you, I was joking," said George. He walked over to Fred, pulled the letter out of his hands, and began attaching it to the leg of the nearest barn owl. "You're starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, Ron. Carry on like this and you'll be made a prefect."**

**"****No, I won't!" said Ron hotly.**

"Looks like he didn't take his warning all that seriously because he got the badge over the summer," Sirius shook his head sadly.

"Because being a prefect is the worst thing that can happen," Molly snapped at him in annoyance.

"There's nothing wrong with being a prefect," Arthur, Kingsley, and Remus all said at once.

"But you have to start acting…" Sirius then twisted his face as he said the last word, as if it was physically hurting him, "_Responsible_."

Tonks laughed as the others rolled their eyes at his childish behavior, temporary, forgetting that something bad was sure to happen in this chapter.

**George carried the barn owl over to the window and it took off. George turned around and grinned at Ron.**

"Why do they have to treat him like this?" Molly asked.

"They're brothers?" Sirius suggested, remembering with a pang of Regulus. "And it's their job to make things as difficult as possible for their brothers?"

**"****Well, stop telling people what to do then. See you later."**

"They really need to see that he was just looking out for them," Arthur said, "Because, whether they liked it or not, he was right."

**He and Fred left the Owlery. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at one another.**

**"****You don't think they know something about all this, do you?" Hermione whispered. "About Crouch and everything?"**

**"****No," said Harry. "If it was something that serious, they'd tell someone. They'd tell Dumbledore."**

"Yes," Arthur said in some relief, "They would…"

"How do you know?" Molly asked in concern.

"Because I know they may push boundaries sometime but in the end they know where to draw the line," Arthur said.

"I hope your right," Molly sighed. She hated thinking that her sons were up to something like this, but if they were blackmailing someone…? She was regretting ever coming in to read these books.

**Ron, however, was looking uncomfortable.**

**"****What's the matter?" Hermione asked him.**

**"****Well…" said Ron slowly, "I dunno if they would. They're… they're obsessed with making money lately, I noticed it when I was hanging around with them - when - you know -"**

"You walked out on him," Sirius muttered, feeling a little anger coming back at that.

**"****We weren't talking." Harry finished the sentence for him. "Yeah, but blackmail…"**

**"****It's this joke shop idea they've got," said Ron. "I thought they were only saying it to annoy Mum, but they really mean it, they want to start one. They've only got a year left at Hogwarts, they keep going on about how it's time to think about their future, and Dad can't ****help them, and they need gold to get started."**

Kingsley nodded solemnly. Fred and George were up to something, as usual, and it comes as no surprise to him that they truly are serious about selling their inventions. While he was still wondering what they did with their winnings from the World Cup—but he knew better than to ask.

"That is a good deduction," said Remus, "and it probably highlights how valuable that money was to them."

Molly was shaking her head. "I understand that," she said. "But to do something illegal like that…?"

"That doesn't mean that they would break the law," Sirius said frowning. "Even if they really needed the gold, I don't think that they would risk getting into that kind of trouble for jus some money alone."

**Hermione was looking uncomfortable now.**

**"****Yes, but… they wouldn't do anything against the law to get gold."**

"Of course not," Arthur said firmly, looking a little more sure of himself.

**"****Wouldn't they?" said Ron, looking skeptical. "I dunno… they don't exactly mind breaking rules, do they?"**

"Yeah," Sirius said easily, "But those are just stupid school rules that no one cares about. They're smart enough to know that they'll get into a lot more trouble with the law."

"Unlike someone I could mention," Remus whispered to him and Sirius raised his eyebrows at him as if to say, _'Who me?'_

**"****Yes, but this is the law" said Hermione, looking scared. **

"Hark! Says the only one there who has broken the law," Tonks said grinning. "After all, she broke it when she used the Time Turner."

"A very good point," Sirius grinned. "But it was to save an innocent man's life. So I can forgive her for that."

"Besides, what the ministry doesn't know won't hurt them," Remus added and Tonks looked at him in mild surprise. "My, who would've thought Mr. prefect would think like that."

"You're forgetting that he's also a true Marauder," Sirius laughed, throwing an arm around Remus's shoulders.

**"****This isn't some silly school rule… They'll get a lot more than detention for blackmail! Ron… maybe you'd better tell Percy…"**

Sirius raised his eyebrows. He couldn't believe that she said that… they know what kind of person Percy is.

"He should," said Molly.

"But we don't know what this is all about, Molly," Arthur told her. "It might not be anything at all."

"Yes, and Percy, is a prat who would turn them in if you let him," whispered Sirius bluntly, and silently thought that blackmail was fairly tame.

**"****Are you mad?" said Ron. "Tell Percy? He'd probably do a Crouch and turn them in."**

Sirius nodded sagely.

**He stared at the window through which Fred and George's owl had departed, then said, "Come on, let's get some breakfast."**

**"****D'you think it's too early to go and see Professor Moody?" Hermione said as they went down the spiral staircase.**

**"****Yes," said Harry. "He'd probably blast us through the door if we wake him at the crack of dawn; he'll think we're trying to attack him while he's asleep. Let's give it till break."**

"It seems he has a good measure of Alastor Moody," said Tonks, "I would not envy anyone dumb enough to wake him up in the morning…"

"Now he's anything but a morning person that I can think of," asked Sirius jokingly.

**History of Magic had rarely gone so slowly. Harry kept checking Ron's watch, having finally discarded his own, but Ron's was moving so slowly he could have sworn it had stopped working too. All three of them were so tired they could happily have put their heads down on the desks and slept; even Hermione wasn't taking her usual notes, but was sitting with her head on her hand, gazing at Professor Binns with her eyes out of focus.**

"Wow, he must be reaching a whole new level of boring!" Sirius said impressed. Hermione had been able to resist it until now… but Binns always gets you in the end.

**When the bell finally rang, they hurried out into the corridors toward the Dark Arts classroom and found Professor Moody leaving it. He looked as tired as they felt. The eyelid of his normal eye was drooping, giving his face an even more lopsided appearance than usual.**

"He must be running short on potion," Remus stated darkly.

**"****Professor Moody?" Harry called as they made their way toward him through the crowd.**

**"****Hello, Potter," growled Moody. His magical eye followed a couple of passing first years, who sped up, looking nervous; it rolled into the back of Moody's head and watched them around the corner before he spoke again.**

"He sure did a good job acting like him," Tonks muttered. "I can't stand that."

**"****Come in here."**

**He stood back to let them into his empty classroom, limped in after them, and closed the door.**

**"****Did you find him?" Harry asked without preamble. "Mr. Crouch?"**

**"****No," said Moody. **

"Actually you killed him and hid the body," Tonks said angrily, hating how her favorite teacher had been used like this.

**He moved over to his desk, sat down, stretched out his wooden leg with a slight groan, and pulled out his hip flask.**

**"****Did you use the map?" Harry said.**

"How else?" Sirius muttered, wondering if Harry got the map back after that. He never would be able to deal with it if they lost the map because of that scum Crouch.

**"****Of course," said Moody, taking a swig from his flask. "Took a leaf out of your book, Potter. Summoned it from my office into the forest. He wasn't anywhere on there."**

**"****So he did Disapparate?" said Ron.**

"And Hermione only told him earlier that morning," Kingsley added with a chuckle.

"Maybe he does it just to annoy her," Tonks smirked, "Thinks that sooner or later he's got to be right eventually."

'_Maybe he could try making more jokes?' _Kingsley thought in amusement. _'He seems to hit the nail on the head more often than any of them when he jokes.'_

**"****You can't Disapparate on the grounds, Ron!" said Hermione. "There are other ways he ****could have disappeared, aren't there, Professor?"**

"Well yes," said Tonks as though it was obvious, "You should hear the ways that Auror's have discovered over the years."

"How would you get rid of a body though?" asked Arthur.

"Transfiguration would be the best way," said Sirius logically, "I mean, if you transfigure a corpse something that no one would notice then…"

"Can we keep reading, please?" asked Molly pointedly, starting to feel sick.

**Moody's magical eye quivered as it rested on Hermione. "You're another one who might ****think about a career as an Auror," he told her. "Mind works the right way Granger."**

**Hermione flushed pink with pleasure.**

"Although I can see that she would be a good Auror, I don't think that's a career path that Hermione would follow," Remus said thoughtfully. "I think that she would be happier doing something else…"

"She'll probably try and get house-elves rights," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Nothing wrong with that," Molly said firmly.

**"****Well, he wasn't invisible," said Harry. "The map shows invisible people. He must've left the grounds, then."**

**"****But under his own steam?" said Hermione eagerly, "or because someone made him?"**

"Made him," Tonks coughed before she flicked the page over as if nothing happened.

**"****Yeah, someone could've - could've pulled him onto a broom and flown off with him, couldn't they?" said Ron quickly, looking hopefully at Moody as if he too wanted to be told he had the makings of an Auror.**

"Well, he does," Sirius said proudly, "But he's going to be playing Quidditch for a profession."

"Would you be upset if he didn't?" Arthur asked him lightly.

"Well, if he really wanted to be an Auror, then I suppose I could get used to the idea," Sirius said thinking it over. "He can be an Auror on the weekend or something and play Quidditch for the rest of the week."

Remus laughed. "Maybe you should talk to Harry and work it out with him.

**"****We can't rule out kidnap," growled Moody.**

"Though we can here," Tonks added in an undertone.

**"****So," said Ron, "d'you reckon he's somewhere in Hogsmeade?"**

**"****Could be anywhere," said Moody, shaking his head. "Only thing we know for sure is that he's not here."**

"Hey, he's right about that," Sirius snapped. "He's gone to that great Quidditch pitch in the sky."

**He yawned widely, so that his scars stretched, and his lopsided mouth revealed a number of missing teeth. Then he said, "Now, Dumbledore's told me you three fancy yourselves as investigators, but there's nothing you can do for Crouch. The Ministry'll be looking for him now, Dumbledore's notified them. Potter, you just keep your mind on the third task."**

"Yeah," Tonks said grudgingly. "The last thing that he wants is for Harry to get killed by a Blast-Ended Skrewt."

"I almost forgot about the Third Task," Arthur said.

"Lucky you," Sirius growled.

**"****What?" said Harry. "Oh yeah…"**

**He hadn't given the maze a single thought since he'd left it with Krum the previous night.**

**"****Should be right up your street, this one," said Moody, looking up at Harry and scratching his scarred and stubbly chin. "From what Dumbledore's said, you've managed to get through stuff like this plenty of times. Broke your way through a series of obstacles guarding the Sorcerer's Stone in your first year, didn't you?"**

"Bloody brilliant, that was," Sirius grinned. "Especially when McGonagall swore that the Stone was so well guarded that no one would ever steal it. And later that night, a bunch of first-years break in and get it as well as showing Voldemort up."

"Now that should look on an Auror application," Kingsley offered and Sirius burst out laughing.

**"****We helped," Ron said quickly. "Me and Hermione helped."**

**Moody grinned.**

**"****Well, help him practice for this one, and I'll be very surprised if he doesn't win," said**** Moody. "In the meantime… constant vigilance, Potter. Constant vigilance."**

"He's really bugging me acting like Mad-Eye," Tonks grumbled.

**He took another long draw from his hip flask, and his magical eye swiveled onto the window. The topmost sail of the Durmstrang ship was visible through it.**

**"****You two," counseled Moody, his normal eye on Ron and Hermione, "you stick close to Potter, all right? I'm keeping an eye on things, but all the same… you can never have too many eyes out."**

"I hate this," Tonks said, growing more and more annoyed at how he was talking here. She wished she could go back in time and punched his lights out.

**Sirius sent their owl back the very next morning. It fluttered down beside Harry at the same moment that a tawny owl landed in front of Hermione, clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet in its beak. She took the newspaper, scanned the first few pages, said, "Ha! She hasn't got wind of Crouch!" **

"Good," Kingsley said in relief, the last thing they needed was to hear her version of what happened. She would probably make it out to say that Harry or Viktor attacked him and left him as a raving lunatic.

**then joined Ron and Harry in reading what Sirius had to say on the mysterious events of the night before last.**

_**Harry - what do you think you are playing at, walking off into the forest with Viktor Krum? **_

"Why do you care about Krum all of a sudden?" Tonks asked him in surprise.

"Maybe because I know that someone's trying to kill my godson?" Sirius suggested darkly. "I didn't trust anyone."

"Here we go with you sounding responsible," Remus sighed, "Maybe you could've been a prefect after all."

"Oh, shut up!" he snapped back.

_**I want you to swear, by return owl, that you are not going to go walking with anyone else at night. There is somebody highly dangerous at Hogwarts. It is clear to me that they wanted to stop Crouch from seeing Dumbledore and you were probably feet away from them in the dark. You could have been killed.**_

"Good point, Sirius," Arthur nodded in agreement.

"Oh, yes," Tonks rolled her green eyes, "So now famous Quidditch players want him dead."

"Well, in a few years, he might," Sirius grinned. "When he has to play against him in a real-life match."

_**Your name didn't get into the Goblet of Fire by accident. If someone's trying to attack you, **__**they're on their last chance. **_

"Actually, they're only getting started; the Death Eater needed Harry there all along. He just needs to make sure Harry gets to the cup first," Molly answered tearfully.

_**Stay close to Ron and Hermione, do not leave Gryffindor Tower after hours, and arm yourself for the third task. Practice Stunning and Disarming. A few hexes wouldn't go amiss either. There's nothing you can do about Crouch. Keep your head down and look after yourself. I'm waiting for your letter giving me your word you won't stray out-of-bounds again.**_

_**Sirius**_

"Again with the good advice, Sirius," Remus told him.

"What? I can give good advice if I want to," said Sirius indignantly, "I just happen to take my role as godfather seriously… and if I'm aware of the fact that someone wants to kill him inside Hogwarts, of course I'll want him not to take chances."

"What a surprise," said Remus looking amused, "I never thought I would see the day when the great Padfoot would tell someone to follow the rules." He looked as his friend long and hard before he asked, "You think that you might be acting a bit hypocritical? After all the things we've done at school?"

"Not really," he answered. "I mean we put toes out of line once in awhile, but really all we did was become an illegal Animagus and wander the grounds and Hogsmeade every month with a werewolf, so nothing big," Sirius shrugged.

**"****Who's he, to lecture me about being out-of-bounds?" said Harry in mild indignation as he folded up Sirius's letter and put it inside his robes. "After all the stuff he did at school!"**

"He makes a fair point," Arthur chuckled. "I think that you're the last person to be talking about lecturing…"

"That was then, this is now," Sirius answered stubbornly.

**"****He's worried about you!" said Hermione sharply. "Just like Moody and Hagrid! So listen to them!"**

**"****No one's tried to attack me all year," said Harry. "No one's done anything to me at all-"**

"Except a dragon and almost drowning in the lake," Tonks corrected cheerfully. "Other than that, nothing at all."

"Tonks," Molly said wearily. "We don't need to be reminded."

**"****Except put your name in the Goblet of Fire," said Hermione. "And they must've done that for a reason Harry. Snuffles is right. Maybe they've been biding their time. Maybe this is the task they're going to get you."**

"Oh, this was what they'd been waiting for all along," Sirius muttered, thinking of the last task as if it was something disgusting he once ate.

**"****Look," said Harry impatiently, "let's say Sirius is right, and someone Stunned Krum to kidnap Crouch. Well, they would've been in the trees near us, wouldn't they? But they waited till I was out of the way until they acted, didn't they? So it doesn't look like I'm their target, does it?"**

"Yes…" Arthur whispered. "But that's only because they needed you alive, Harry."

**"****They couldn't have made it look like an accident if they'd murdered you in the forest!" said Hermione. "But if you die during a task-"**

"You can make any death look like an accident if you plan it right though," Tonks spoke up. "You should hear some of the things that the real Mad-Eye talks about. They could've made it look like some animal in the forest attacked them—come on, who knows what else is in the forest. But could the people in the stands see what was going on?"

Molly shook her head. "It was so dark," she answered. "But once in awhile, we would see flashes of light, sometimes even fire… but that's about it."

"So that makes it the ideal place for something to happen then doesn't it?" Kingsley asked. "Because there will be no witnesses to be able to say what happened. It could've easily have been made to look like Harry just disappeared in the maze. And by the time anyone knew what was happening, Voldemort would led a surprise attack from out of nowhere."

**"****They didn't care about attacking Krum, did they?" said Harry. "Why didn't they just polish me off at the same time? They could've made it look like Krum and I had a duel or ****something."**

"Over Hermione," Tonks suggested. "I mean, the ones who actually read that tacky article about Hermione playing with their hearts might've bought it."

**"****Harry, I don't understand it either," said Hermione desperately. "I just know there are a**** lot of odd things going on, and I don't like it… Moody's right - Sirius is right - you've got to get in training for the third task, straight away. And you make sure you write back to Sirius and promise him you're not going to go sneaking off alone again."**

"Man, she sounds more like a mother every chapter," Sirius said rolling his eyes.

"One could say the same about you," Remus teased and Sirius responded by punching his shoulder.

**The Hogwarts grounds never looked more inviting than when Harry had to stay indoors. For the next few days he spent all of his free time either in the library with Hermione and Ron, looking up hexes, or else in empty classrooms, which they sneaked into to practice. Harry was concentrating on the Stunning Spell, which he had never used before. The trouble was that practicing it involved certain sacrifices on Ron's and Hermione's part.**

"What kind of sacrifices?" Molly asked in surprise.

**"****Can't we kidnap Mrs. Norris?" Ron suggested on Monday lunchtime as he lay flat on his back in the middle of their Charms classroom, having just been Stunned and reawoken by Harry for the fifth time in a row. **

**"****Let's Stun her for a bit. **

"That sounds great," Sirius said happily. "Reminds me of the good old days when we used to do that…"

"And every time you did, you got a week's worth of detentions," Remus added.

"Must you spoil my good mood, Moony?" Sirius asked annoyed.

"Someone had to keep you in line, and regret your actions," Remus answered him happily.

**Or you could use Dobby, Harry, I bet he'd do anything to help you. I'm not complaining or anything" - he got gingerly to his feet, rubbing his backside - "but I'm aching all over…"**

"That's complaining, Ron," Arthur said smiling.

"Can you blame him?" Kingsley laughed. "If I had to get stunned over and over, then I'd hate it to."

**"****Well, you keep missing the cushions, don't you!" said Hermione impatiently, rearranging the pile of cushions they had used for the Banishing Spell, which Flitwick had left in a cabinet. "Just try and fall backward!"**

"I'm afraid that once your Stunned, you lose any control," Remus chuckled in amusement. "You can't help how you fall then."

**"****Once you're Stunned, you can't aim too well, Hermione!" said Ron angrily. "Why don't you**** take a turn?"**

**"****Well, I think Harry's got it now, anyway," said Hermione hastily. **

A few people snorted, which helped to lighten the tense atmosphere which had descended on the room.

"I think it's more like she doesn't want to be stunned," Kingsley laughed.

"Nice excuse, Hermione," Tonks chuckled.

**"****And we don't have to worry about Disarming, because he's been able to do that for ages… **

"Yeah," Sirius grinned, thinking of when Harry used it on Lockhart and Snape with pride.

**I think we ought to start on some of these hexes this evening."**

**She looked down the list they had made in the library.**

**"****I like the look of this one," she said, "this Impediment Curse. Should slow down anything that's trying to attack you Harry. We'll start with that one."**

"That's a good one," Tonks agreed. "It's helped me out a few times, and it's not that hard either!"

"If he can learn the Patronus so quickly, then I have no doubt that he'll master it quickly," said Remus proudly. "He's got such a rare gift with Defense."

**The bell rang. They hastily shoved the cushions back into Flitwick's cupboard and slipped out of the classroom.**

**"****See you at dinner!" said Hermione, and she set off for Arithmancy, while Harry and Ron headed toward North Tower, and Divination. Broad strips of dazzling gold sunlight tell across the corridor from the high windows. The sky outside was so brightly blue it looked as though it had been enameled.**

Sirius moaned in longing, wishing that he could take Buckbeak out for just a few minutes and see the sky again…

**"****It's going to be boiling in Trelawney's room, she never puts out that fire," said Ron as they started up the staircase toward the silver ladder and the trapdoor.**

"Yet another lesson of her predicting death and other catastrophes," Tonks sighed scornful. "What fun that should be."

**He was quite right. The dimly lit room was swelteringly hot. The fumes from the perfumed fire were heavier than ever. Harry's head swam as he made his way over to one of the curtained windows. While Professor Trelawney was looking the other way, disentangling her shawl from a lamp, he opened it an inch or so and settled back in his chintz armchair, so that a soft breeze played across his face. It was extremely comfortable.**

"He'll be falling asleep at this rate," Molly said before she blinked.

They all looked at each other in worry. Were they going to be hearing about this dream earlier than they thought?

**"****My dears," said Professor Trelawney, sitting down in her winged armchair in front of the class and peering around at them all with her strangely enlarged eyes, "we have almost finished our work on planetary divination. Today, however, will be an excellent opportunity to examine the effects of Mars, for he is placed most interestingly at the present time. If you will all look this way, I will dim the lights…"**

"She's only going to make it harder and harder to stay awake," Sirius said, suddenly wishing he could find something he really needed to do… he didn't think he could stand hearing about his godson having another vision…

**She waved her wand and the lamps went out. The fire was the only source of light now. Professor Trelawney bent down and lifted, from under her chair, a miniature model of the solar system, contained within a glass dome. It was a beautiful thing; each of the moons glimmered in place around the nine planets and the fiery sun, all of them hanging in thin air beneath the glass. **

"Sounds like he's dozing off already," Kingsley said, not liking where this was going.

"I'm falling asleep just reading this," Tonks yawned.

**Harry watched lazily as Professor Trelawney began to point out the fascinating angle Mars was making to Neptune.**

Remus frowned at that. Astrology was always one of his favorite classes… and he had to be good at it so that he could always keep track of the moon—but what he could remember from it, Neptune represents the underworld, secrets, and questionable activity. Mars is drive and momentum. Mars would cause the activities of Neptune to surface quickly. This would indicate that something very dark and foreboding is about to emerge very soon… he groaned, wishing that he didn't know that.

**The heavily perfumed fumes washed over him, and the breeze from the window played across his face. He could hear an insect humming gently somewhere behind the curtain. His eyelids began to droop…**

"Now he'll be falling asleep and having another vision," Sirius whispered.

"Oh dear," Molly fretted, looking around for an escape route, she hated hearing about this.

"And Trelawney will make a big thing out of it as well," Sirius said annoyed.

**He was riding on the back of an eagle owl, soaring through the clear blue sky toward an old, ivy-covered house set high on a hillside. Lower and lower they flew, the wind blowing**** pleasantly in Harry's face, until they reached a dark and broken window in the upper story of the house and entered. Now they were flying along a gloomy passageway, to a room at the very end… through the door they went, into a dark room whose windows were boarded ****up…**

"Huh?" asked Tonks in confusion, "What is this?"

"I think that it's the same place where he dreamed about in the first chapter," Remus answered, feeling as if that had been a lifetime.

"Which means that Voldemort was hiding back at the Riddle House, after Crouch escaped," Arthur said slowly.

**Harry had left the owl's back… he was watching, now, as it fluttered across the room, into a chair with its back to him… There were two dark shapes on the floor beside the chair… both ****of them were stirring…One was a huge snake… **

"Nagini," Arthur whispered, the familiar shiver that went up his spin at the thought of the snake that almost killed him… the places in his arm and side seemed to tingle slightly where the snake fangs bite into him…

Molly could feel him shivering, and took his hand.

**the other was a man… a short, balding man, a man with watery eyes and a pointed nose… he was wheezing and sobbing on the hearth rug…**

"Wormtail!" Sirius and Remus snarled hatefully, sounding like the canines they transformed into for a moment.

**"****You are in luck, Wormtail," said a cold, high-pitched voice from the depths of the chair in which the owl had landed. "You are very fortunate indeed. Your blunder has not ruined everything. He is dead."**

"Crouch?" questioned Remus.

"That would be my guess," said Tonks, "Unless there has been another death that we don't know about."

**"****My Lord!" gasped the man on the floor. "My Lord, I am… I am so pleased… and so sorry…"**

**"****Nagini," said the cold voice, "you are out of luck. I will not be feeding Wormtail to you, after all… but never mind, never mind… there is still Harry Potter…"**

Sirius's fists curled tightly on his knees, once again feeling his nails digging deep into his skin—threatening to bleed. But he didn't say a word, biting down hard, knowing that he would be yelling soon.

"Not on our watch," Molly said forcefully and Sirius cheered her on in his head.

"There is no way he'll ever get that chance of feeding him to that pet of his," Arthur nodded firmly by her side.

**The snake hissed. Harry could see its tongue fluttering.**

**"****Now, Wormtail," said the cold voice, "perhaps one more little reminder why I will not tolerate another blunder from you…"**

**"****My Lord… no… I beg you…"**

"He deserves it," Sirius whispered to himself, hoping that Wormtail really regrets this. He got himself into this mess, and no one was going to get him out of it.

**The tip of a wand emerged from around the back of the chair. It was pointing at Wormtail.**

**"****Crucio!" said the cold voice.**

There were mixed reactions from everyone. While they agreed that Wormtail deserved it, the idea of using the curse was just terrible.

**Wormtail screamed, screamed as though every nerve in his body were on fire, the screaming filled Harry's ears as the scar on his forehead seared with pain; he was yelling too… Voldemort would hear him, would know he was there…**

**"****Harry! Harry!"**

"He's awake again," breathed out Remus.

"Thank goodness," Molly sighed, she didn't want to hear anymore.

**Harry opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor of Professor Trelawney's room with his hands over his face. His scar was still burning so badly that his eyes were watering. The pain had been real. The whole class was standing around him, and Ron was kneeling next to him, looking terrified.**

**"****You all right?" he said.**

**"****Of course he isn't!" said Professor Trelawney, looking thoroughly excited. **

"She's excited?" asked Kingsley with his eyebrows rising. "For what?"

"Probably thinking that someone actually learned something and saw the future," Tonks muttered.

"He's not entertainment for her and her class," Molly snapped angrily.

**Her great eyes loomed over Harry, gazing at him. "What was it Potter? A premonition? An ****apparition? What did you see?"**

"Oh, shut up," muttered Sirius. If that woman thought she could talk to his godson like that after he had seen Voldemort torturing someone then she had another thing coming.

**"****Nothing," Harry lied. He sat up. He could feel himself shaking. He couldn't stop himself from looking around, into the shadows behind him; Voldemorts voice had sounded so close…**

**"****You were clutching your scar!" said Professor Trelawney. "You were rolling on the floor, clutching your scar! Come now Potter, I have experience in these matters!"**

"Could have fooled me," muttered Molly darkly.

"When it comes to Voldemort, Harry really knows how to use his head," Tonks offered.

They all groaned at her as Arthur stated, "But this is further proof that Harry is linked to Voldemort through his scar."

"Don't remind me," Sirius said grimly.

**Harry looked up at her.**

**"****I need to go to the hospital wing, I think," he said. "Bad headache."**

"Here's a first," Sirius said, his eyebrows raised, "He actually wants to go to the hospital wing?"

"He's only saying that to get away from her," Kingsley said. "I know I would if they were all looking at me like that."

**"****My dear, you were undoubtedly stimulated by the extraordinary clairvoyant vibrations of my room!" said Professor Trelawney. "If you leave now, you may lose the opportunity to****see further than you have ever -"**

"Harry doesn't want to see further into it though," Remus said getting fed up with this woman. "I think that he would rather forget it."

"Any sane person would," Sirius nodded. He was glad that Harry could give up this class after he took his O.W.L's. At least they didn't have the fifth book to torture them. At least he hoped so…

**"****I don't want to see anything except a headache cure," said Harry.**

**He stood up. The class backed away. They all looked unnerved.**

**"****See you later," Harry muttered to Ron, and he picked up his bag and headed for the trapdoor, ignoring Professor Trelawney, who was wearing an expression of great frustration, as though she had just been denied a real treat.**

"Oh, I hope so," Molly said firmly. "She should've sent him to the hospital wing right away instead of making him sit there as she prattled on about fake visions."

**When Harry reached the bottom of her stepladder, however, he did not set off for the hospital wing. He had no intention whatsoever of going there. Sirius had told him what to do if his scar hurt him again, and Harry was going to follow his advice: He was going straight to Dumbledore's office. **

"Good idea," said Remus approvingly. If nothing else, Dumbledore should make him feel better.

**He marched down the corridors, thinking about what he had seen in the dream… it had been as vivid as the one that had awoken him on Privet Drive… He ran over the details in his mind, trying to make sure he could remember them… **

"Oh, please don't try, dear," Molly said fretfully. That kind of stuff was enough to give anyone nightmares, and that was the last thing that Harry needed.

**He had heard Voldemort accusing Wormtail of making a blunder… but the owl had brought good news, the blunder had been repaired, somebody was dead… so Wormtail was not going to be fed to the snake… he, Harry, was going to be fed to it instead…**

"Lovely thought," said Tonks dryly.

"Over my dead body," Sirius growled, sounding like a dog again. If he had to die to keep that snake away from Harry, he'll be more than happy to do so. And even if he died, he'll just use his body for the snake while Harry escaped… yeah, he could live with that… so to speak…

**Harry had walked right past the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office without noticing. He blinked, looked around, realized what he had done, and retraced his steps, stopping in front of it. Then he remembered that he didn't know the password.**

"It's usually some sort of sweet," said Remus, remembering his time at school. Both as a student and as a teacher, the password for the gargoyle was almost always a sweet. You had to love Dumbledore's fondness of anything sweet.

**"****Sherbet lemon?" he tried tentatively.**

"And it seems that Harry knows that as well," said Kingsley chuckling.

**The gargoyle did not move.**

**"****Okay," said Harry, staring at it, "Pear Drop. Er - Licorice Wand. Fizzing Whizbee. Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans… oh no, he doesn't like them, does he?… oh just open, can't you?" he said angrily. "I really need to see him, its urgent!"**

Arthur chortled, "Unfortunately nothing in Hogwarts responds to begging, but he's doing an admirable job guessing."

"So what…?" Tonks asked. "Just keep naming sweets until you get it? That could take awhile. Dumbledore has such liking for strange tastes…"

**The gargoyle remained immovable.**

**Harry kicked it, achieving nothing but an excruciating pain in his big toe.**

"That'll only work in hurting yourself," Remus said as the other laughed slightly.

**"****Chocolate Frog!" he yelled angrily, standing on one leg. "Sugar Quill! Cockroach Cluster!"**

**The gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside. Harry blinked.**

So did the rest of them.

"Cockroach Cluster? Seriously?" Tonks demanded. "What did I tell you? Dumbledore has the strangest tastes."

"I can't believe that that worked," Remus said in astonishment.

"To think it was that easy…" Sirius said shaking his head.

"Not that you needed to guess," Remus reminded him, "You and James were daily visitors!"

"But you have to admit that it is a rather clever password," Kingsley said smiling. "Not too many people would be talking about Cockroach Clusters in the hallway."

**"****Cockroach Cluster?" he said, amazed. "I was only joking…"**

"Hey, at least you got in," said Tonks happily. "Be happy for once."

"Am I the only one who's noticing all the bug references?" Arthur said. "It's really starting to bug me."

"Who cares?" Sirius barked, wanting to get to the good stuff.

**He hurried through the gap in the walls and stepped onto the foot of a spiral stone staircase, which moved slowly upward as the doors closed behind him, taking him up to a polished oak door with a brass door knocker. He could hear voices from inside the office. He stepped off the moving staircase and hesitated, listening.**

"He really shouldn't eavesdrop," said Molly half-heartedly. "That's a bad habit of his…"

"But it sure is helpful," Sirius said brightly. "And if it were any of us, then come one, we'd all do the same thing."

**"****Dumbledore, I'm afraid I don't see the connection, don't see it at all!" It was the voice of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. **

"You don't see a connection?" Sirius said in mock surprise. "Really? Wow, that's just unheard of! Fudge, not being able to put two and two together…"

They all laughed at his tone as Tonks added, "He's too busy being an idiot and purposely ignoring it to figure anything out."

"Well said," he applauded her.

**"****Ludo says Bertha's perfectly capable of getting herself lost. **

"I'm guessing they're discussing Bertha and what happened on the grounds that night," Arthur said frowning.

"Yeah, and I don't know if you can trust Bagman's judgment on anything, I mean he was a brilliant Quidditch player, but that's got less than nothing to do with his job at that Ministry," said Remus.

**I agree we would have expected to have found her by now, but all the same, we've no evidence of foul play, Dumbledore, none at all. As for her disappearance being linked with ****Barty Crouch's!"**

"And they both just vanished into thin air did they?" Arthur asked sarcastically.

"He's an idiot," Sirius offered, "Why not?"

**"****And what do you thinks happened to Barty Crouch, Minister?" said Moody's growling voice.**

**"****I see two possibilities, Alastor," said Fudge. "Either Crouch has finally cracked - more than**** likely, I'm sure you'll agree, given his personal history - lost his mind, and gone wandering off somewhere -"**

Sirius snorted, "Yeah, that's what happened."

"He really is a self-deluding idiot," Tonks said, picking up on Mad-Eye's favorite thing to call the sorry excuse for a minister.

**"****He wandered extremely quickly, if that is the case, Cornelius," said Dumbledore calmly.**

**"****Or else - well…" Fudge sounded embarrassed. "Well, I'll reserve judgment until after I've seen the place where he was found, but you say it was just past the Beauxbatons carriage? Dumbledore, you know what that woman is?"**

"Prejudiced as always," Remus hissed under his breath. Thinking of those werewolf laws sill continued to sting painfully in his side.

**"****I consider her to be a very able headmistress - and an excellent dancer," said Dumbledore quietly.**

"Thank you, Dumbledore," Tonks smiled. Anything else that Dumbledore might be, prejudice isn't one of them.

**"****Dumbledore, come!" said Fudge angrily. "Don't you think you might be prejudiced in her ****favor because of Hagrid? They don't all turn out harmless - if, indeed, you can call Hagrid harmless, with that monster fixation he's got -"**

"Hagrid's not dangerous," Tonks almost yelled.

"Yeah, it's his pets you have to watch out for," Sirius agreed, thinking of Fluffy and those spiders.

"And Fudge who's the dangerous one," Arthur sighed.

**"****I no more suspect Madame Maxime than Hagrid," said Dumbledore, just as calmly. "I think it possible that it is you who are prejudiced, Cornelius."**

"Well said Albus," said Kingsley with a smile.

**"****Can we wrap up this discussion?" growled Moody.**

**"****Yes, yes, let's go down to the grounds, then," said Fudge impatiently.**

**"****No, it's not that," said Moody, "it's just that Potter wants a word with you, Dumbledore. He's just outside the door."**

Sirius chuckled slightly, trying to bring back humor, "He got caught right in the act."

"It was bound to happen sometime," Tonks managed to crack a grin. "I doubt it is for the first or last time either."

"Oh, I don't think that Dumbledore'll be too hard on him," Kingsley said confidently.

"Yeah," Tonks said putting the book down on the coffee table. "He likes Harry too much, and he'll want to hear what this is about."

"The chapter's over already?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"Yep," Tonks said.

"Well, since it was such a short chapter, how about we read one more before lunch?" Arthur suggested.

"Why not?" Kingsley said, checking his watch, "I have some more time before I have to head back to the office, but we should be able to finish the book today."

"Well," Molly sighed, reaching for the book. "I guess I'll read now…"

'_So that I don't have to read any of the terrible chapters that are sure to follow,' _she added in an afterthought, looking slightly paler herself still. Nonetheless, she took a deep breath and seized the book before she could change her mind, "**Chapter 30: The Pensieve**."


	35. The Pensieve

**(Copyright belongs to J.K. Rowling! I own nothing)**

**Chapter 34: The Pensieve**

'_So that I don't have to read any of the terrible chapters that are sure to follow,' _she added in an afterthought, looking slightly paler herself still. Nonetheless, she took a deep breath and seized the book before she could change her mind, "Chapter 30: **The Pensieve**."

"The Pensieve?" Remus asked in surprise. "If he's in Dumbledore's office, then it has to be his. Not that too many other people own one of those but…"

"Which means he's visiting memories?" Arthur asked.

"What do you mean?" Molly asked after looking at the picture of Harry leaning over a basin that looked like it was filled with light.

"A Pensieve is an object that is used to store or view memories in," Kingsley explained to her. "They are generally very rare and only a few people have them. It is most commonly used to help relive memories from a more objective perspective and is useful for trying to find connections."

"That sounds cool," Tonks said thinking it over. "You can revisit any of your favorite memories over and over again. That would be nice."

**The door of the office opened.**

**"****Hello, Potter," said Moody. "Come in, then."**

**Harry walked inside. He had been inside Dumbledore's office once before; **

"Only once…." Sirius repeated in disappointment, as though those words were something shameful. "Just once in almost four years!"

"We've been over this, Padfoot," Remus reminded him smiling. "Harry doesn't go looking for trouble like you always went out of your way to."

"But it's still so shocking," Sirius went on sadly. "By the time I was fourteen, I was in that office getting told off almost every other day! Oh, well… with James as his father, I'm hoping that he'll end up there a few more times."

"Sirius!" Molly snapped at him.

**it was a very beautiful, circular room, lined with pictures of previous headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts, all of whom were fast asleep, their chests rising and falling**** gently.**

"Or faking it," Remus said softly, knowing that they were really eavesdropping on them.

**Cornelius Fudge was standing beside Dumbledore's desk, wearing his usual pinstriped cloak and holding his lime-green bowler hat.**

**"****Harry!" said Fudge jovially, moving forward. "How are you?"**

'_Most likely the last time he's ever going to be glad to see Harry,' _Sirius thought bitterly.This guy had been bugging him since he first heard his name. How he treated Harry like they were old friends had really made his blood boil… and now? He treats him like he's a dangerous, insane criminal!

Well, now that Fudge's got some power, he supposed that he would be getting tired of kissing arse all his life.

**"****Fine," Harry lied.**

"Good, just keep telling him a lie," Sirius said with a satisfied smirk. As far as he was concerned, lying to the Minister that was all right in his book.

**"****We were just talking about the night when Mr. Crouch turned up on the grounds," said**** Fudge. "It was you who found him, was it not?"**

**"****Yes," said Harry. Then, feeling it was pointless to pretend that he hadn't overheard what they had been saying, he added, "I didn't see Madame Maxime anywhere, though, and she'd have a job hiding, wouldn't she?"**

"And there's Lily's sarcasm," Remus chuckled, thinking that sounded like something Lily would've said. He wished that he could see more of that sarcastic side of Harry.

"Well, that answered that question," Molly said with half a smile. "He just helped Dumbledore prove his point."

**Dumbledore smiled at Harry behind Fudge's back, his eyes twinkling.**

**"****Yes, well," said Fudge, looking embarrassed, **

"He should be," Tonks said coldly. You think this should show him that he shouldn't judge others over something they can't help. She sneaked a glance at Remus and was pleased to see that he was smiling a little.

**"we're about to go for a short walk on the grounds, Harry, if you'll excuse us… perhaps if you just go back to your class -"**

"Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of leaving class and going to go see Dumbledore?" Kingsley asked in his deep and calm tones.

"Oh no," Sirius said, his tone filled with sarcasm now. "Harry knew that you were there and decided to cut class so that he could go see you, Fudge. Come on, you could practically feel the sucking up he's doing. God what an…"

"Ok, Sirius," Molly warned him.

"Funny that he's working so hard to suck up to him and now he thinks anyone associated with him is a liar," Remus said, his tone dark.

**"****I wanted to talk to you. Professor," Harry said quickly, looking at Dumbledore, who gave him a swift, searching look.**

**"****Wait here for me, Harry," he said. "Our examination of the grounds will not take long."**

Sirius looked deeply impressed. "He left him alone in his office?"

"Yes," Molly said, now wondering why he was asking. "It says so right here. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, he's just impressed," Remus said smiling. "Dumbledore must really trust Harry to leave him alone in his office. The last time that he did that with Sirius, he came back to find the room covered in… what was it, Sirius?" he asked turning back to Sirius who was laughing.

"Slime," he grinned and the others roared with laughter as Molly shook her head, an amused smile gracing her mouth. "And the curtains were smoldering if I recall…"

They all burst out laughing at that.

"Ah, but really," Sirius said calming down. "It was more of an accident really. Not that it matters. The fact is that he must really trust Harry is he leaves him alone in his office."

"Well, he isn't likely to destroy his office now is he?" Molly asked him.

**They trooped out in silence past him and closed the door. After a minute or so, Harry heard the clunks of Moody's wooden leg growing fainter in the corridor below. He looked around.**

**"****Hello, Fawkes," he said.**

"Oh, it's good to hear about him again," Tonks cooed. "We haven't heard about him since the second book."

Sirius nodded, once again, feeling a rush of gratitude when he remembered the last time they read about the bird.

**Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore's phoenix, was standing on his golden perch beside the****door. The size of a swan, with magnificent scarlet-and-gold plumage, he swished his long tail and blinked benignly at Harry.**

"He really is magnificent," Remus said fondly, knowing that he would never see a creature as beautiful. Well maybe not… his eyes flickered up to Tonks's face and for a moment he was dismayed that he was thinking along those lines again.

**Harry sat down in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. For several minutes, he sat and watched the old headmasters and headmistresses snoozing in their frames, **

"They aren't really sleeping, Harry," Sirius said knowingly. "It's fake so they can eavesdrop without being caught. How else could word of all the trouble that we got into get around the castle so quickly even before we left the office?"

Remus chuckled. "Yes," he agreed. "I can't deny that."

**thinking about what he had just heard, and running his fingers over his scar. It had stopped****hurting now.**

"That's good," Molly sighed, glad that at least one thing was going right.

**He felt much calmer, somehow, now that he was in Dumbledore's office, knowing he would shortly be telling him about the dream. Harry looked up at the walls behind the desk. The patched and ragged Sorting Hat was standing on a shelf. **

**A glass case next to it held a magnificent silver sword with large rubies set into the hilt, which Harry recognized as the one he himself had pulled out of the Sorting Hat in his second year.**

"Well it was probably more useful than a rabbit," commented Kingsley with a slight smile and they all looked up at him in surprise.

"A rabbit?" Sirius asked, completely baffled to what he just said.

"Nothing," Kingsley said, waving his hand. "Just a Muggle reference. It's nothing. It's just that for Muggle card tricks, being able to pull a white rabbit out of your hat is a classic."

"Really?" Arthur asked interested.

"Arthur," Molly warned. "Not now."

"Sorry," he muttered, his ears turning red. Though, at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder why seeing a rabbit come out of a hat be so interesting…

**The sword had once belonged to Godric Gryffindor, founder of Harry's House. He was gazing at it, remembering how it had come to his aid when he had thought all hope was lost, **

"You know, I've been wondering where the sword was for all those years," mused Remus curiously. "It has been missing since Gryffindor died."

"Probably somehow hidden in the hat?" Arthur asked with a shrug. "And maybe when it was greatly needed, it could be pulled out. I mean, if you're in danger, the last thing that you would think about using would be the Sorting Hat wouldn't it? So I guess that it's not surprising that no one's found it until now."

"Good suggestion," Tonks said, looking at the cover of the large book. She wondered if something that belonged to Hufflepuff could do something that cool. Maybe if she went to Hogwarts and tried it on again, it could give her some answers.

**when he noticed a patch of silvery light, dancing and shimmering on the glass case. He looked around for the source of the light and saw a sliver of silver-white shining brightly**** from within a black cabinet behind him, whose door had not been closed properly. Harry hesitated, glanced at Fawkes, then got up, walked across the office, and pulled open the ****cabinet door.**

"Can't he learn to control that curiosity of his?" Molly asked exasperated. "It's going to get him into some serious trouble if he doesn't learn to be careful."

"As Mad-Eye loves to say," Tonks said as she folded her legs up underneath her so that she was sitting cross-legged, "Remember what killed the cat."

"That's cheerful," Sirius said morbidly.

**A shallow stone basin lay there, with odd carvings around the edge: runes and symbols that ****Harry did not recognize. The silvery light was coming from the basin's contents, which were like nothing Harry had ever seen before. **

"That's strange," Kingsley said frowning. "I would think that Albus would keep that locked. Who knows who would try to get a look at it…?"

"It could be that he just forgot…" Molly said shrugging. "Or an accident… or even…"

"Or maybe he wants Harry to see something," Sirius frowned. "Why not? It sounds exactly like something the old man would do."

"Oh, I don't know about that, Sirius," Arthur said to him. "He couldn't have known that Harry would come…"

"But you still think that he would remember to lock it before he left," Kingsley interrupted him thoughtfully. He suddenly had a strange feeling about that.

**He could not tell whether the substance was liquid or gas. It was a bright, whitish silver, and it was moving ceaselessly; the surface of it became ruffled like water beneath wind, and then, like clouds, separated and swirled smoothly. It looked like light made liquid - or like wind made solid - Harry couldn't make up his mind.**

"Memories," Tonks said eagerly, she wondered if Harry would get to see anything good.

**He wanted to touch it, to find out what it felt like, but nearly four years' experience of the magical world told him that sticking his hand into a bowl full of some unknown substance ****was a very stupid thing to do. **

"At least he's learnt something from the magical world," Tonks laughed. "And it only took him four years to get that far."

"If only Sirius had cotton on that quickly," Remus said in a long suffering voice, glancing at Sirius as he said that. "You think that you would have mastered that before you left school."

Sirius shoved him hard, his eyebrows rose. "Watch it, Moony! I know a few skeletons in your closet to you know! Like the hamster incident?"

Remus's eyes widened and he looked away, his face now burning red.

"What's the hamster incident?" Tonks asked eagerly.

"Don't you dare…" Remus threatened Sirius, who had opened his mouth and was about to tell her happily tell her what it was.

At his dangerous tone, Sirius raised his hands up in surrender. "Ok, I get it!" he said, close to laughing again. "But it had been your idea!"

The others stared at the two of them, now wondering if they would ever understand what was going on inside their heads.

**He therefore pulled his wand out of the inside of his robes, cast a nervous look around the office, looked back at the contents of the basin, and prodded them.**

"That however is not a smart idea either, because you might end up doing something to your wand," pointed out Arthur.

"Yes," Kingsley said slowly, but he also knew that using your wand was the way to access the memories… it's almost as if… as if Albus had expected it to happen.

**The surface of the silvery stuff inside the basin began to swirl very fast. Harry bent closer, his head right inside the cabinet. The silvery substance had become transparent; it looked like glass. He looked down into it expecting to see the stone bottom of the basin - and saw instead an enormous room below the surface of the mysterious substance, a room into which he seemed to be looking through a circular window in the ceiling.**

"That would be so cool," Tonks said, making a mental note to get a closer look at one of those things if she had the chance.

**The room was dimly lit; he thought it might even be underground, for there were no windows, merely torches in brackets such as the ones that illuminated the walls of Hogwarts. Lowering his face so that his nose was a mere inch away from the glassy ****substance, Harry saw that rows and rows of witches and wizards were seated around every wall on what seemed to be benches rising in levels. **

"Sounds like a trial," Remus said frowning.

Arthur recognized the description and answered, "It's a court room at the Ministry alright. In fact, it sounds like the room where they had Harry this last summer."

At those words, the others grew angry—indeed, most of them looked murderous.

"Holding a criminal trial for a kid trying to save his soul…" he muttered furiously, "What the hell is wrong with the world today?"

"Dumbledore must be looking at previous trials, maybe he was already suspecting that there's a connection with what was going on," Kingsley said.

"How could he?" Molly asked as they all looked up at him, surprised.

"When Harry told him about Crouch mentioning his son, he might've just wanted to look at the trial and see if there any clues," he suggested with a shrug. "I can't say for sure. If he were here, we'd ask."

"I wonder where he is," Tonks said thinking it over for a minute. "Where would Dumbledore go to hide out? I mean, it's not like he blends in with the crowd now is he?"

"Again," Kingsley said, "We'd have to ask him."

"If he ever shows his face around here again," Sirius answered coolly.

**An empty chair stood in the very center of the room. There was something about the chair that gave Harry an ominous feeling. Chains encircled the arms of it, as though its occupants were usually tied to it.**

"Yes," Kingsley said softly. "This is most likely the Wizengamot trials after the last war."

"Oh, why does he have to look at something like that?" Molly moaned. "Why not a happy memory?"

"Just his luck?" Tonks asked.

**Where was this place? It surely wasn't Hogwarts; he had never seen a room like that here in the castle. Moreover, the crowd in the mysterious room at the bottom of the basin was comprised of adults, and Harry knew there were not nearly that many teachers at Hogwarts. They seemed, he thought, to be waiting for something; even though he could only see the tops of their hats, all of their faces seemed to be pointing in one direction, and none of them were talking to one another.**

**The basin being circular, and the room he was observing square, Harry could not make out what was going on in the corners of it. He leaned even closer, tilting his head, trying to see…**

**The tip of his nose touched the strange substance into which he was staring. **

"He's gonna regret that," Remus said, knowing that he was now in for a quick trip to the past.

**Dumbledore's office gave an almighty lurch - Harry was thrown forward and pitched headfirst into the substance inside the basin –But his head did not hit the stone bottom. He was falling through something icycold and black; it was like being sucked into a dark whirlpool –**

"It is quite the sensation the first time," said Kingsley with a smile.

"Have you tried it?" Molly asked him.

"Oh, a few times," Kingsley answered. "When you are working on a difficult case, then it's helpful to look into your memories and see if you can find any extra clues. The way he's describing it sounds pretty accurate."

**And suddenly, Harry found himself sitting on a bench at the end of the room inside the basin, a bench raised high above the others. He looked up at the high stone ceiling, expecting to see the circular window through which he had just been staring, but there was nothing there but dark, solid stone.**

**Breathing hard and fast Harry looked around him. Not one of the witches and wizards in the room (and there were at least two hundred of them) was looking at him. Not one of them seemed to have noticed that a fourteen-year-old boy had just dropped from the ceiling into their midst. **

"Well, if he's in a memory, then I don't think they're going to notice him," Tonks said blinking. "It's in the past."

"It's not like he expected getting sucked into a memory like that," Arthur reminded her. His own memory going back to the second book when he was taken into the … he felt anger boil at the thought of it—Riddle's diary… "Of all the things that could've happened, getting sucked into the past was most likely not one of them."

"Fair enough," she said in a chipper voice.

**Harry turned to the wizard next to him on the bench and uttered a loud cry of surprise that reverberated around the silent room. He was sitting right next to Albus Dumbledore.**

**"****Professor!" Harry said in a kind of strangled whisper. "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to - I was just looking at that basin in your cabinet - I - where are we?"**

"Wonder how long it will take for him to catch on," Sirius asked interested.

**But Dumbledore didn't move or speak. He ignored Harry completely. Like every other wizard on the benches, he was staring into the far corner of the room, where there was a door. Harry gazed, nonplussed, at Dumbledore, then around at the silently watchful crowd, then back at Dumbledore. And then it dawned on him…**

**Once before Harry had found himself somewhere that nobody could see or hear him. That time, he had fallen through a page in an enchanted diary, right into somebody else's memory… and unless he was very much mistaken, something of the sort had happened again…**

"That didn't take too long," he said brightly. "Now, which trials are here?"

"Be patient, Padfoot," Remus told him gently. "I'm sure that we will get there soon."

**Harry raised his right hand, hesitated, and then waved it energetically in from of Dumbledore's face. Dumbledore did not blink, look around at Harry, or indeed move at all. And that, in Harry's opinion, settled the matter. Dumbledore wouldn't ignore him like that. **

"Oh, I don't know about that," Sirius said, now scowling. Ever since the start of this year, Dumbledore had been doing his best to avoid and ignore Harry. Albus couldn't even bring himself to even bring himself to look at him anymore. And while he knew it was all for Harry's protection, it must've been hard for his godson. To feel as if he's just been abandoned after all this…

How did the old man look himself in the mirror?

**He was inside a memory, and this was not the present-day Dumbledore. Yet it couldn't be ****that long ago… **

"Most likely right after the first war," Kingsley repeated, "Just after Voldemort was defeated, it was only a matter of rounding up the Death Eaters. After those few months, everything seemed to have gone into a normal routine…"

"Not for everyone," Molly sighed, thinking about her brothers with a pang in the heart. Remus, Sirius, and Arthur all nodded with her at those words. After the war ended, nothing had been the same for any of them.

**the Dumbledore sitting next to him now was silver-haired, just like the present-day Dumbledore. But what was this place? What were all these wizards waiting for? **

"Jr.'s trial most likely," Sirius growled.

**Harry looked around more carefully. The room, as he had suspected when observing it from above, was almost certainly underground - more of a dungeon than a room, he thought. There was a bleak and forbidding air about the place; there were no pictures on the walls, no decorations at all; just these serried rows of benches, rising in levels all around the room, all positioned so that they had a clear view of that chair with the chains on its arms.**

Arthur frowned, now wondering if those same chains had done something like that to Harry when he was forced into that room. For Fudge's sake, he hoped not.

**Before Harry could reach any conclusions about the place in which they were, he heard ****footsteps. The door in the corner of the dungeon opened and three people entered - or at least one man, flanked by two Dementors. Harry's insides went cold. **

"Can he feel them?" Molly asked shocked. "Can dementors affect you in a memory?"

"He shouldn't," Arthur said at once. "I mean… if it's just a memory then there's no way that they should be able to touch him.

"No," Sirius said darkly. "It's just the thought that counts. Believe me, the memories that he has of them will fill in the blanks."

His face looked so skull-like at that moment that no one dared to comment on that. Molly just cleared her throat and went on a little more hurriedly than normal.

**The Dementors - tall, hooded creatures whose faces were concealed - were gliding slowly toward the chair in the center of the room, each grasping one of the man's arms with their dead and rotten-looking hands. The man between them looked as though he was about to**** faint, and Harry couldn't blame him… he knew the Dementors could not touch him inside a memory, but he remembered their power only too well. **

Sirius shivered violently, and was actually grateful when Remus reached over to grip his shoulder in a comforting way. Sirius gave him a nod of appreciation, but didn't say a word.

**The watching crowd recoiled slightly as the Dementors placed the man in the chained chair and glided back out of the room. The door swung shut behind them.**

**Harry looked down at the man now sitting in the chair and saw that it was Karkaroff.**

"So Dumbledore did suspect him!" Arthur cried out.

"Maybe," Remus said. "But he was never the threat. He wasn't willing to risk get sent back to Azkaban."

"So now we're stuck hearing how the idiot managed to wheedle his way out of prison," said Tonks said with some vindictive pleasure.

"Why can't it be my trial that we get to hear about?" Sirius asked. "Oh wait a second…" he added sarcastically before he muttered feverishly under his breath, "I didn't get one now didn't I?"

Remus looked at him miserably—Sirius must've realized how guilty that it made Remus feel because he stopped talking and looked at him long and hard. _'It's not your fault,'_ he thought to him, wondering if he was looking into his head._ 'You're always telling me that it's that pathetic rat's fault aren't you?'_

Apparently, Remus did understand because he smiled half-heartedly, but still looked sad.

**Unlike Dumbledore, Karkaroff looked much younger; his hair and goatee were black. He was not dressed in sleek furs, but in thin and ragged robes. **

"He must have come straight from Azkaban," Arthur said.

"Yep," Sirius agreed, remember seeing Karkaroff being taken from his cell as he watched through the bars of his cell door.

**He was shaking. Even as Harry watched, the chains on the arms of the chair glowed suddenly gold and snaked their way up Karkaroff's arms, binding him there.**

**"****Igor Karkaroff," said a curt voice to Harry's left. Harry looked around and saw Mr. Crouch standing up in the middle of the bench beside him. Crouch's hair was dark, his face was much less lined, he looked fit and alert. "You have been brought from Azkaban to present evidence to the Ministry of Magic. You have given us to understand that you have important information for us."**

Sirius glared at the book, and was going over every single curse he knew in his head to throw at the Ministry. It was quickly becoming his new favorite pastime—that or plotting curses for the Dursleys of course…

**Karkaroff straightened himself as best he could, tightly bound to the chair.**

**"****I have, sir," he said, and although his voice was very scared, Harry could still hear the familiar unctuous note in it. "I wish to be of use to the Ministry. I wish to help. I - I know that the Ministry is trying to - to round up the last of the Dark Lords supporters. I am eager to assist in any way I can…"**

"To save your own hide and escape hell more like it. You couldn't give a damn about the ministry or the good of humanity," Sirius said bitterly. He had to spend twelve damn years in Azkaban but this piece of filth got to for free. Why didn't they ever think to question them? If he ever got his name cleared, he was going to make them pay dearly for this.

"So he's going to turn in others just to get free," Tonks asked as she raised her bushy eyebrows.

"Well, it's only a problem if he mentions innocent people," Arthur whispered darkly.

**There was a murmur around the benches. Some of the wizards and witches were surveying**** Karkaroff with interest, others with pronounced mistrust. Then Harry heard, quite ****distinctly, from Dumbledore's other side, a familiar, growling voice saying, "Filth."**

"I know that growling voice anywhere," Tonks said, cheering up a little bit. "Mad-Eye's there!"

"Well if he caught Karkaroff, then I doubt he would want to miss his trial," said Remus evenly.

**Harry leaned forward so that he could see past Dumbledore. Mad-Eye Moody was sitting there - except that there was a very noticeable difference in his appearance. He did not**** have his magical eye, but two normal ones. **

"So it's Normal-Eye Moody then," Sirius asked like this information was a bolt from the blue. It was hard to imagine Alastor Moody without his magical eye. "You know, I always wondered how he got that eye."

"Don't know," Tonks said with a shrug. "Believe me, I've asked. But every time I did he always said, _'None of your damn business,'_" and she said this last part in such a perfect imitation of Mad-Eye they all laughed.

"Ok, when did he lose his eye?" Sirius asked once he calmed down.

"Some time ago," Kingsley explained. "About… wow, I'd say almost eight years ago. Apparently there were some dark wizards who didn't want to go to Azkaban without a fight and he lost it in the struggle."

"Wow," Tonks said in awe. She would have to talk to him about that next time he showed his face here.

**Both were looking down upon Karkaroff, and both were narrowed in intense dislike.**

**"****Crouch is going to let him out," Moody breathed quietly to Dumbledore. "He's done a deal with him. Took me six months to track him down, and Crouch is going to let him go if he's got enough new names. Let's hear his information, I say, and throw him straight back to the Dementors."**

"Now that's cold," Remus said.

"Really," Tonks announced, shaking her head at him. "This is Mad-Eye on a good day. You should see him when he's really cranky, then you'll get an idea on what giving someone the 'cold shoulder' really means."

"He deserves it anyway," Sirius said darkly. He was innocent… if he _had_ done all those things he was convicted for, he would've been man enough to take the consequences of his actions. But Karkaroff did these type of things and worse on a regular basis, and he knew that he could've gotten sent to Azkaban for life if he was caught. But still, he made the choice to do it he should also take the punishment he deserves!

**Dumbledore made a small noise of dissent through his long, crooked nose. "Ah, I was forgetting… you don't like the Dementors, do you, Albus?" said Moody with a sardonic smile.**

"Nobody likes them, Alastor," Molly said, shuddering slightly, only wishing that she could tell Alastor that in person.

**"****No," said Dumbledore calmly, "I'm afraid I don't. I have long felt the Ministry is wrong to ally itself with such creatures."**

**"****But for filth like this…" Moody said softly.**

Sirius shivered at the memory of those monsters. If he never saw another one again, it would be too soon.

**"****You say you have names for us, Karkaroff," said Mr. Crouch. "Let us hear them, please."**

**"****You must understand," said Karkaroff hurriedly, "that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named operated always in the greatest secrecy… He preferred that we - I mean to say, his supporters - and I regret now, very deeply, that I ever counted myself among them -"**

**"****Get on with it," sneered Moody.**

"As patient as always, Mad-Eye," Tonks said brightly.

"You know, sometimes I wonder why he puts up with you," Kingsley told her.

"I keep his, otherwise bored and dreary life, filled with excitement," she said happily. "I mean, with me—the walking disaster—you never know what will happen."

Sirius snorted loud at that, and Remus was beaming at her teasing tone, temporary forgetting that he was trying to ignore her.

**"****- we never knew the names of every one of our fellows - He alone knew exactly who we all were -"**

"That's convenient," Molly muttered frowning at this.

"Which is actually a smart move if you think about it," Kingsley said darkly. "It was for security to prevent someone like Karkaroff didn't turn them all in."

**"****Which was a wise move, wasn't it, as it prevented someone like you, Karkaroff, from turning all of them in," muttered Moody.**

They all looked up at Kingsley who blinked in surprise. "I guess great minds do think alike," Arthur chuckled at him.

**"****Yet you say you have some names for us?" said Mr. Crouch.**

**"****I - I do," said Karkaroff breathlessly. "And these were important supporters, mark you. People I saw with my own eyes doing his bidding. I give this information as a sign that I fully and totally renounce him, and am filled with a remorse so deep I can barely -"**

"Shut up and get to the good stuff already," Sirius barked at the book. "No one wants to hear you beat around the bush with your lies."

"And you think Mad-Eye's cold," Tonks whispered to herself.

**"****These names are?" said Mr. Crouch sharply.**

**Karkaroff drew a deep breath.**

**"****There was Antonin Dolohov," he said. "I - I saw him torture countless Muggles and - and non-supporters of the Dark Lord."**

Molly had a look between pain and anger on her face and her fingers curled into angry fists. Arthur looked at her sadly, as did everyone else. Even if some of them didn't know them, but Molly's brothers, Fabian and Gideon were brave men who gave their lives taking down Death Eaters. They died like heroes, though that did little to comfort Molly for all these years.

When the twins were born, she couldn't help but give them names with their same initials. And when she saw them grow up and pull pranks and jokes on others, she could almost swear that her beloved brothers were reincarnated in her sons. She laced her fingers with her husband and gave him a watery smile—grateful for his presence next to her.

**"****And helped him do it," murmured Moody.**

**"****We have already apprehended Dolohov," said Crouch. "He was caught shortly after yourself."**

**"****Indeed?" said Karkaroff, his eyes widening. "I - I am delighted to hear it!"**

"I'm sure you are," said Tonks in a sardonic voice. "Because you are just thrilled that your information is utterly worthless."

**But he didn't look it. Harry could tell that this news had come as a real blow to him. One of his names was worthless.**

**"****Any others?" said Crouch coldly.**

**"****Why, yes… there was Rosier," said Karkaroff hurriedly. "Evan Rosier."**

"He was killed though," Arthur said, remembering reading about that in the paper about his death.

"Yeah," Tonks agreed. "Taking Rosier down was always something that Mad-Eye was proud of."

**"****Rosier is dead," said Crouch. "He was caught shortly after you were too. He preferred to**** fight rather than come quietly and was killed in the struggle."**

**"****Took a bit of me with him, though," whispered Moody to Harry's right. Harry looked around at him once more, and saw him indicating the large chunk out of his nose to Dumbledore.**

Molly moved uncomfortably. How could he talk about getting pieces of himself cursed off and talk about it like nothing?

"Being an Auror is certainly a dangerous job, you just have to look at Moody to see that," Tonks said proudly. Her favorite teacher always said to wear your scars with pride. She hadn't done anything _that_ dangerous yet, but she intended to do just as he said.

**"****No - no more than Rosier deserved!" said Karkaroff, a real note of panic in his voice now.**

"To bad you don't hear much news on what's happening with the world when you're stuck in jail," Sirius said darkly.

**Harry could see that he was starting to worry that none of his information would be of any use to the Ministry. Karkaroff's eyes darted toward the door in the corner, behind which the Dementors undoubtedly still stood, waiting.**

**"****Any more?" said Crouch.**

**"****Yes!" said Karkaroff. "There was Travers - he helped murder the McKinnons! **

"The Mckinnons," Molly moaned, having been very good friends with them.

"They were true Order members," Remus sighed, remembering how Lily took the news when he told her. Marlene was a very dear friend of hers, and she must've cried all night when he had to tell her what happened.

**Mulciber - he specialized in the Imperius Curse, forced countless people to do horrific things! **

"Why's that a surprise?" Sirius asked, remembering that greedy idiot from school.

**Rookwood, who was a spy, and passed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named useful information from inside the Ministry itself!"**

**Harry could tell that, this time, Karkaroff had struck gold. The watching crowd was all murmuring together.**

"Yes, that was a shock to everyone," Kingsley nodded.

**"****Rookwood?" said Mr. Crouch, nodding to a witch sitting in front of him, who began scribbling upon her piece of parchment. "Augustus Rookwood of the Department of Mysteries?"**

**"****The very same," said Karkaroff eagerly. "I believe he used a network of well placed wizards, both inside the Ministry and out, to collect information -"**

"Of course he did," Kingsley said.

"How else could he get information for Voldemort?" Tonks asked, rolling her eyes.

**"****But Travers and Mulciber we have," said Mr. Crouch. "Very well, Karkaroff, if that is all, you will be returned to Azkaban while we decide -"**

**"****Not yet!" cried Karkaroff, looking quite desperate. "Wait, I have more!"**

"Wonder who he's going to condemn next," Sirius asked interested.

**Harry could see him sweating in the torchlight, his white skin contrasting strongly with the black of his hair and beard.**

**"****Snape!" he shouted. "Severus Snape!"**

"Oh, well we all know he is a Death Eater," Sirius shrugged. "That's not news to anyone; apart from Dumbledore that is."

"Sirius," Remus interrupted him before he got on a rant. "He's on our side now."

"Yeah, sure," Sirius said mockingly. "If he's on our side, then trolls will start doing ballet."

**"****Snape has been cleared by this council," said Crouch disdainfully. "He has been vouched for by Albus Dumbledore."**

**"****No!" shouted Karkaroff, straining at the chains that bound him to the chair. "I assure you! Severus Snape is a Death Eater!"**

"For once, Karkaroff is telling the truth," Sirius whispered again.

"This explains something," Arthur said looking up.

"What?" Molly asked.

"Oh, just the fact that he tried to put Severus in Azkaban in his place, and now he wonders why he won't help him here," he answered.

"Good point," Tonks nodded. "I mean, if a former scumbag tried to put me in prison and then came to me for help, I'd ignore him to."

**Dumbledore had gotten to his feet.**

While nothing could change his mind about Snape, Sirius looked up, wondering if they were finally going to get some kind of reason why Dumbledore trusted that snake in the grass.

**"****I have given evidence already on this matter," he said calmly. "Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he rejoined our side before Lord Voldemort's downfall and turned ****spy for us, at great personal risk. He is now no more a Death Eater than I am."**

Sirius sighed, wondering why he was surprised. But that was where Dumbledore was wrong. Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater.

"I sincerely hope we find out what Snape told him to convince him that he'd swapped sides," Tonks said. "You think these books will tell us?"

"I doubt it," Arthur said. "But Dumbledore must have his reasons. Whatever Severus said must've been convincing. Dumbledore does give second chances to people who deserve it. He's not a fool."

'_I wouldn't bet on that,'_ Sirius thought. But instead of saying that he said, "I also want to know what he said to Voldemort to get him to take him back. I mean, he doesn't trust anyone does he?"

"Maybe, but he does think that his followers are loyal and can just look inside their heads if they aren't telling the truth," Tonks said. "I can't see anyone lasting that long against that."

"Both Dumbledore and Voldemort know Legilimency…" Remus said thoughtfully.

"So basically what we are saying is that Severus had the two most powerful wizards believing that he was working for them," Sirius said. "So… who's the one who needs to be worried about being betrayed?"

"Sirius," Remus said gently.

Sirius let it drop, but he wasn't going to forget it this easily. Maybe if Snape didn't treat everyone who wasn't in Gryffindor like dirt, then maybe. But he could see that he hadn't changed.

**Harry turned to look at Mad-Eye Moody. He was wearing a look of deep skepticism behind Dumbledore's back.**

**"****Very well, Karkaroff," Crouch said coldly, "you have been of assistance. I shall review your case. You will return to Azkaban in the meantime…"**

**Mr. Crouch's voice faded. Harry looked around; the dungeon was dissolving as though it were made of smoke; everything was fading; he could see only his own body - all else was swirling darkness…**

"The memory's changing now," Kingsley said. "Looks like we might be listening about more trials."

**And then, the dungeon returned. Harry was sitting in a different seat, still on the highest bench, but now to the left side of Mr. Crouch. The atmosphere seemed quite different: relaxed, even cheerful. The witches and wizards all around the walls were talking to one another, almost as though they were at some sort of sporting event. Harry noticed a witch halfway up the rows of benches opposite.**

**She had short blonde hair, was wearing magenta robes, and was sucking the end of an acid-green quill. It was, unmistakably, a younger Rita Skeeter.**

"What's she doing there?" moaned Tonks despairingly.

"My bet is so that she could get a scoop on the next Death Eater," Sirius predicted.

"Which means it must be someone famous," Remus said softly. "Otherwise she wouldn't bother coming. She seems to have a thing with going after those with a big reputation…"

"So that she can destroy it," Arthur nodded solemnly.

**Harry looked around; Dumbledore was sitting beside him again, wearing different robes.**** Mr. Crouch looked more tired and somehow fiercer, gaunter… Harry understood. It was a different memory, a different day… a different trial. The door in the corner opened, and Ludo Bagman walked into the room.**

"What's that idiot doing there?" Tonks asked.

"You know you sound more like Mad-Eye all the time," Kingsley laughed at her.

"Laugh at me all you want," she said firmly. "I'll take it as compliment. But really, what's happening here now?"

"Ludo was put on trial with evidence that he was passing information to Voldemort," Kingsley said. "But he was let off."

"Looks like we'll find out how," Sirius said eagerly.

**This was not, however, a Ludo Bagman gone to seed, but a Ludo Bagman who was clearly at the height of his Quidditch-playing fitness. His nose wasn't broken now; he was tall and lean and muscular. Bagman looked nervous as he sat down in the chained chair, but it did not bind him there as it had bound Karkaroff, and Bagman, perhaps taking heart from this, glanced around at the watching crowd, waved at a couple of them, and managed a small smile.**

"Guess that this happened when he was becoming famous," Arthur said in interest.

**"****Ludo Bagman, you have been brought here in front of the Council of Magical Law to answer charges relating to the activities of the Death Eaters," said Mr. Crouch. "We have heard the evidence against you, and are about to reach our verdict. Do you have anything to add to your testimony before we pronounce judgment?"**

"Maybe he should've used smaller words for him," Tonks offered in Moody's voice again, learning more laughs from them all.

"You know, that sounds like something he would say if he were here," Sirius grinned. "Maybe you're lucky that he's not."

"Oh, he wouldn't mind," she said teasingly.

"For some reason I doubt that," Molly said, though she was also smiling in a disapproving way.

**Harry couldn't believe his ears. Ludo Bagman, a Death Eater?**

**"****Only," said Bagman, smiling awkwardly, "well - I know I've been a bit of an idiot -"**

"That's saying something," Sirius grinned. "At least he's man enough to admit it."

**One or two wizards and witches in the surrounding seats smiled indulgently. Mr. Crouch did not appear to share their feelings. He was staring down at Ludo Bagman with an expression of the utmost severity and dislike.**

"Well this probably answers the question about why Crouch doesn't like Bagman in any case," commented Remus.

"Yeah, if I let someone get off without punishment, it would annoy me to," Sirius said happily. He was torn between his dislike of Bagman, and his hatred of Crouch. But at the moment, dislike definitely won.

**"****You never spoke a truer word, boy," someone muttered dryly to Dumbledore behind Harry. He looked around and saw Moody sitting there again. "If I didn't know he'd always been dim, I'd have said some of those Bludgers had permanently affected his brain…"**

"That's Mad-Eye alright," Tonks smiled. "Always making jokes."

"He has such a moody sense of humor," Sirius said fondly.

"That just adds to his charm," she told him laughing.

**"****Ludovic Bagman, you were caught passing information to Lord Voldemort's supporters," said Mr. Crouch. "For this, I suggest a term of imprisonment in Azkaban lasting no less than -"**

"Nah," Sirius said slowly. "He's an idiot, but I think that it would've just been too easy for someone to get info out of him."

"Fair enough," Kingsley agreed. "Usually, it's impossible to tell who's a Death Eater or not."

"Not really," Sirius said, thinking of the Malfoys. "Anyone who's a prejudice git automatically counts."

**But there was an angry outcry from the surrounding benches. Several of the witches and wizards around the walls stood up, shaking their heads, and even their fists, at Mr. Crouch.**

"What do you know?" Arthur declared. "That's one way to get out of getting sent to prison even when you've done something wrong."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed a little sour. "Be a Quidditch star and have your next match on the weekend of your trial? Damn it, why didn't I think of that?"

**"****But I've told you, I had no idea!" Bagman called earnestly over the crowd's babble, his round blue eyes widening. "None at all! Old Rookwood was a friend of my dad's… never crossed my mind he was in with You-Know-Who! I thought I was collecting information for our side! And Rookwood kept talking about getting me a job in the Ministry later on… once my Quidditch days are over, you know… I mean, I can't keep getting hit by Bludgers for the rest of my life, can I?"**

"I don't know why they were so hard on him," Tonks said. "I mean, until Karkaroff confessed, no one else even knew that Rookwood was a Death Eater. So I doubt that Bagman would've figured it out either."

"And we have people like this in charge?" Sirius asked. "God, we're screwed."

Remus couldn't help but laugh at that, more resentment of people like Umbridge and Fudge in charge welling up inside him.

**There were titters from the crowd.**

**"****It will be put to the vote," said Mr. Crouch coldly. He turned to the right-hand side of the dungeon. "The jury will please raise their hands… those in favor of imprisonment…"**

**Harry looked toward the right-hand side of the dungeon. Not one person raised their hand. Many of the witches and wizards around the walls began to clap. One of the witches on the jury stood up.**

"Wish I thought to be a star before the war," Sirius muttered to himself again. "It's so… brilliant. The perfect way to get out of trouble."

"Quidditch players were very important in those days," Arthur said. "After all, it was one of the only few times that people could forget that there was a war going on. People watched the game, or listened to it on the radio… they were able to have fun and enjoy themselves."

"No wonder no one wanted to condemn him," Molly said, remembering how Arthur and the boys would want to listen to every game. Even she had to admit, that it was easy to forget how dark the world was when everyone was enjoying themselves.

**"****Yes?" barked Crouch.**

**"****We'd just like to congratulate Mr. Bagman on his splendid performance for England in the Quidditch match against Turkey last Saturday," the witch said breathlessly.**

"Glad to see that she's got her priorities in order," Tonks said dryly.

"Take that Crouch," Sirius cried out, grinning.

**Mr. Crouch looked furious. The dungeon was ringing with applause now. Bagman got to his feet and bowed, beaming.**

That proved only to make Sirius grin wider; he loved hearing how Crouch was getting angry.

"I can only imagine how much Crouch loved that," Sirius laughed.

"Tell us how you really feel," Tonks laughed.

**"****Despicable," Mr. Crouch spat at Dumbledore, sitting down as Bagman walked out of the dungeon. "Rookwood get him a job indeed… The day Ludo Bagman joins us will be a sad day indeed for the Ministry…"**

"I bet he was eating his words when Ludo _did_ get a job," Sirius snickered gleefully, now actually rubbing his hands together.

"I thought you didn't like Bagman," Arthur asked him, wondering where all these mood swings were coming from.

"I don't," he answered happily. "But I hate Crouch more."

**And the dungeon dissolved again. When it had returned, Harry looked around. He and Dumbledore were still sitting beside Mr. Crouch, but the atmosphere could not have been more different. There was total silence, broken only by the dry sobs of a frail, wispy-looking witch in the seat next to Mr. Crouch. She was clutching a handkerchief to her mouth with trembling hands.**

"Who's she and why is she crying?" Tonks asked.

Molly bit her lower lip, having a bad feeling she knew what it was about.

"I think that this might be Crouch's son's trial," Kingsley groaned. "That has got to be Mrs. Crouch…"

Molly shut her eyes tightly. She had been afraid of that. She knew that this woman was the one who helped him get out of prison and letting a dangerous man loose—she couldn't blame her for wanting to protect her son.

**Harry looked up at Crouch and saw that he looked gaunter and grayer than ever before. A nerve was twitching in his temple.**

**"****Bring them in," he said, and his voice echoed through the silent dungeon.**

**The door in the corner opened yet again. Six dementors entered this time, flanking a group of four people. Harry saw the people in the crowd turn to look up at Mr. Crouch. A few of them whispered to one another.**

"Yes, it's his son's case," Arthur said darkly, not looking forward to this.

**The Dementors placed each of the four people in the four chairs with chained arms that now stood on the dungeon floor. There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous-looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne; **

"Rodolphus, Rabastan, and Bellatrix and Jr.," Tonks said, recognizing the descriptions, though she was aware that they no longer looked the way when they were sent to prison.

"Bellatrix," exclaimed Sirius angrily. While, he knew all this already, but he was just so angry that it was brought up. He still couldn't believe it. She got a trial! She got a trial and he never did! This is just proof that the world was out to get him. God, and the worst part was… that he was related to her!

**and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. He was shivering, his straw-colored hair all over his face, his freckled skin milk-white. The wispy little witch beside Crouch began to rock backward and forward in her seat whimpering into her handkerchief.**

**Crouch stood up. He looked down upon the four in front of him, and there was pure hatred in his face.**

"I don't believe this," Arthur said, putting his hand up to his eyes. He couldn't believe that any father could look at their own son—their only son—like that.

"But his son is Death Eater," Tonks said.

"Yes, but he still is his son," he said sadly. No matter what any of his children did—even Percy—he could never hate them. Was Barty's career really so important that he was willing to sacrifice all this?

**"****You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law," he said clearly, "so that we may pass judgment on you, for a crime so heinous -"**

**"****Father," said the boy with the straw-colored hair. "Father… please…"**

"What sort of father was he?" Molly demanded tearfully, her fingers gripping the book tightly.

"A rotten on," Sirius answered her, thinking of his parents with equal hatred. Why did this chapter have to bring up so many terrible memories for him?

**"****- that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court," said Crouch, speaking more loudly, drowning out his son's voice.** **"****We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror - Frank Longbottom –**

They all stopped dead at those words. All of them grimacing in pain at the thought of what happened to the Longbottoms.

**and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named -"**

**"****Father, I didn't!" shrieked the boy in chains below. **

"Sure you didn't," Sirius whispered; just giving him another reason to hate him. That kid, Neville was a good kid—and thanks to them, he'll never really know his own parents.

**"I didn't, I swear it. Father, don't send me back to the Dementors -"**

**"****You are further accused," bellowed Mr. Crouch,**** "****of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife, when he would not give you information. **

No one spoke for the longest time at those words. Like everyone else, Tonks was sitting there, terrified of hearing any more than she had to. She always knew that becoming an Auror was a dangerous job for her, but this really brought it home to her what could happen if she ever lost.

She gulped. She would just have to make sure that never happened to her then. It took several long minutes before anyone else could speak again, the silence was broken by Molly who sniffled slightly at the thought of another family that had been torn apart. She took a shuddering breath and went shakily on…

**You planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to power, and to resume the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong. I now ask the jury -"**

**"****Mother!" screamed the boy below, and the wispy little witch beside Crouch began to sob, rocking backward and forward. "Mother, stop him. Mother, I didn't do it, it wasn't me!"**

'_Mother isn't going to help you,' _Remus thought bitterly. He had become very fond of Frank and Alice, and he was devastated when he heard what happened. The only consoling thought he had was that Bellatrix and the others were sent to Azkaban, and away from innocent people. Though, that didn't mean much now that she was back out in the world.

**"****I now ask the jury," shouted Mr. Crouch, "to raise their hands if they believe, as I do, that these crimes deserve a life sentence in Azkaban!"**

**In unison, the witches and wizards along the right-hand side of the dungeon raised their hands. The crowd around the walls began to clap as it had for Bagman, their faces full of savage triumph. The boy began to scream. "No! Mother, no! I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't know! Don't send me there, don't let him!"**

Sirius shivered, remembering those exact same words the boy was screaming when he was brought in.

**The Dementors were gliding back into the room. The boys' three companions rose quietly from their seats; the woman with the heavy-lidded eyes looked up at Crouch and called, "The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!"**

"She does have a point, Severus mentioned that she's one of his favorites now," Remus said darkly.

"I just wish that she'd shut up," Sirius growled. "But Voldemort deserves someone like her. She's and insane lunatic who likes torturing people, and he's a heartless, soulless bastard who doesn't give a damn about others. They were meant for each other…" though he gagged heavily on that last part.

**But the boy was trying to fight off the Dementors, even though Harry could see their cold, draining power starting to affect him. The crowd was jeering, some of them on their feet, as the woman swept out of the dungeon, and the boy continued to struggle.**

**"****I'm your son!" he screamed up at Crouch. "I'm your son!"**

**"****You are no son of mine!" bellowed Mr. Crouch, his eyes bulging suddenly. "I have no son!"**

Arthur's eyes darkened.

**The wispy witch beside him gave a great gasp and slumped in her seat. She had fainted. Crouch appeared not to have noticed.**

**"****Take them away!" Crouch roared at the Dementors, spit flying from his mouth. "Take them ****away, and may they rot there!"**

"Well, he sure wasn't getting a _'World's #1 Dad'_ mug," Sirius said, trying to inject some humor back into the grim atmosphere. It worked, but only just barely and the laughter stopped quickly.

**"****Father! Father, I wasn't involved! No! No! Father, please!"**

**"****I think Harry, it is time to return to my office," said a quiet voice in Harry's ear.**

"Looks like Dumbledore finally came back," Tonks said grimly, not at all sorry to hear the end of the trials.

"Oh, I don't think he'll care though," Kingsley said slowly. "Or at the least, he won't be angry…"

**Harry started. He looked around. Then he looked on his other side.**

**There was an Albus Dumbledore sitting on his right, watching Crouch's son being dragged away by the Dementors - and there was an Albus Dumbledore on his left, looking right at him.**

"That must've been the strangest thing," Tonks said. "Imagine having two Dumbledore's on either side of you."

"I can hardly stand one," Sirius muttered.

**"****Come," said the Dumbledore on his left, and he put his hand under Harry's elbow. Harry**** felt himself rising into the air; the dungeon dissolved around him; for a moment, all was blackness, and then he felt as though he had done a slow-motion somersault, suddenly landing flat on his feet, in what seemed like the dazzling light of Dumbledore's sunlit office. The stone basin was shimmering in the cabinet in front of him, and Albus Dumbledore was standing beside him.**

**"****Professor," Harry gasped, "I know I shouldn't've - I didn't mean - the cabinet door was sort of open and -"**

"You're his favorite, Harry," Tonks laughed a little high-pitched. "Dumbledore won't mind."

**"****I quite understand," said Dumbledore. He lifted the basin, carried it over to his desk, placed it upon the polished top, and sat down in the chair behind it. He motioned for Harry to sit down opposite him. Harry did so, staring at the stone basin. The contents had returned to their original, silvery-white state, swirling and rippling beneath his gaze.**

**"****What is it?" Harry asked shakily.**

"So here's where Dumbledore goes into _'Teacher Mode'_," Sirius said gruffly as Remus smiled, knowing that Dumbledore always took the time to explain.

**"****This? It is called a Pensieve," said Dumbledore. "I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind."**

"Yeah," Remus said nodding, understanding that feeling. He wished that he could sort out his feelings as well.

**"****Er," said Harry, who couldn't truthfully say that he had ever felt anything of the sort.**

**"****At these times," said Dumbledore, indicating the stone basin, "I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form."**

**"****You mean… that stuff's your thoughts?" Harry said, staring at the swirling white substance in the basin.**

"Can't see why he's so surprised," Remus said smiling. "I'm sure he would have plenty of memories to fill the bowl. He has done many amazing things."

"I think Harry could do with one of those," Sirius said, pointing to the book. "See, his memories have managed to fill these books. Makes me wonder if I have enough memories like that."

**"****Certainly," said Dumbledore. "Let me show you."**

**Dumbledore drew his wand out of the inside of his robes and placed the tip into his own**** silvery hair, near his temple. When he took the wand away, hair seemed to be clinging to it - but then Harry saw that it was in fact a glistening strand of the same strange silvery-white substance that filled the Pensieve. Dumbledore added this fresh thought to the basin, ****and Harry, astonished, saw his own face swimming around the surface of the bowl. **

"Again, I don't see why he's astonished," Remus said with an unenthusiastic laugh. "With everything that had been happening that year… he must be worried."

"He must've been going over every single detail in case he missed something," Molly said thoughtfully.

"To bad that it didn't help," Sirius said softly.

**Dumbledore placed his long hands on either side of the Pensieve and swirled it, rather as a gold prospector would pan for fragments of gold… and Harry saw his own face change smoothly into Snape's, **

"There's another nightmare to give me," Sirius said shaking his head.

**who opened his mouth and spoke to the ceiling, his voice echoing slightly.**

**"****It's coming back… Karkaroff's too… stronger and clearer than ever…"**

"The mark?" Tonks asked, knowing the answer.

"Most likely," Remus sighed, while he couldn't understand why anyone would want something like that branded onto them forever.

**"****A connection I could have made without assistance," Dumbledore sighed, "but never mind." He peered over the top of his half-moon spectacles at Harry, who was gaping at Snape's face, which was continuing to swirl around the bowl. "I was using the Pensieve when Mr. Fudge arrived for our meeting and put it away rather hastily. Undoubtedly I did not fasten the cabinet door properly. Naturally, it would have attracted your attention."**

Kingsley smiled slightly.

"What is it?" Molly asked him, noticing the look.

"Oh, I think I just figured it out," he said carefully. "I can't say for certain though…"

"Figured what out?" Remus asked him.

"I'd been wondering why he didn't lock the cabinet," he went on. "He couldn't have known that Harry would go to see him, but I think that when Harry came into the office, he decided to leave it open so Harry could see it."

"But why would he do that?" she asked confused.

"Most likely to teach him a lesson," Kingsley said with a slight nod of the head. "We all know that Harry's naturally curious, and if it were me, then I set something like this up for him. It's a way to show him that he better be careful where he sticks his nose."

"Literally," Tonks laughed.

"And this way," Arthur said slowly, a tiny smile on his face, "Harry could learn a lesson without risking trouble or anything dangerous."

**"****I'm sorry," Harry mumbled.**

**Dumbledore shook his head. "Curiosity is not a sin," he said. "But we should exercise caution with our curiosity… yes, indeed…"**

They all nodded, just finding what Kingsley said more convincing.

"At least it's Dumbledore," Tonks said. "Better he finds him than someone like Snape."

"Snape would've killed him," Sirius nodded, shivering at that idea.

**Frowning slightly, he prodded the thoughts within the basin with the tip of his wand.**** Instantly, a figure rose out of it, a plump, scowling girl of about sixteen, who began to revolve slowly, with her feet still in the basin. She took no notice whatsoever of Harry or Professor Dumbledore. When she spoke, her voice echoed as Snape's had done, as though it were coming from the depths of the stone basin.**

**"****He put a hex on me, Professor Dumbledore, and I was only teasing him, sir, I only said I'd seen him kissing Florence behind the greenhouses last Thursday…"**

Sirius frowned. That sounded familiar but why…?

**"****But why Bertha," said Dumbledore sadly, looking up at the now silently revolving girl, "why did you have to follow him in the first place?"**

"Ah Bertha Jorkins," said Remus with a smile, he recognized that memory all too well. "I think I know this," he said looking at Sirius who blushed in realization.

"You know that memory?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," Remus said, jerking his head to Sirius. "Sirius was going steady with a sixed year girl named Florence when he was in third year. Bertha had followed them when they were making out behind the greenhouses."

"What did you do to that girl?" Molly demanded from him harshly.

"If I tell you, you'll just get angry," he answered innocently. "Though, it was her fault for following us. I never asked her to."

"You shouldn't have cursed her for that though!" she said at once.

"Easy for you to say," he whispered idly.

**"****Bertha?" Harry whispered, looking up at her. "Is that - was that Bertha Jorkins?"**

**"****Yes," said Dumbledore, prodding the thoughts in the basin again; Bertha sank back into them, and they became silvery and opaque once more. "That was Bertha as I remember her ****at school."**

"And she had a very sharp memory," Remus agreed. "Especially when it came to gossip."

"But then how did her memory get so bad?" Arthur asked, completely puzzled.

"According to Crouch Jr. you can thank Crouch Senior for that," Sirius growled darkly. "But I'm sure that we'll get to that sooner or later."

**The silvery light from the Pensieve illuminated Dumbledore's face, and it struck Harry suddenly how very old he was looking. He knew, of course, that Dumbledore was getting on ****in years, but somehow he never really thought of Dumbledore as an old man.**

"I think Dumbledore would appreciate that thought," Tonks said. Though she had similar feelings.

"Yes," Remus agreed. The man that he once admired was old… though it was still strange to think of him like that. He always acted with a much younger personality that it was easy to forget that he was no longer a young man.

**"****So, Harry," said Dumbledore quietly. "Before you got lost in my thoughts, you wanted to tell me something."**

"That's a funny way of putting it," Sirius smirked.

**"****Yes," said Harry. "Professor - I was in Divination just now, and - er - I fell asleep."**

"Odd place to pause," commented Tonks. "I would've said dozed off… and then gone on quickly."

**He hesitated here, wondering if a reprimand was coming, but Dumbledore merely said, "Quite understandable. Continue."**

They all laughed.

"But really, who could blame him for that?" Tonks laughed.

**"****Well, I had a dream," said Harry. "A dream about Lord Voldemort. He was torturing Wormtail… you know who Wormtail-"**

**"****I do know," said Dumbledore promptly. "Please continue."**

**"****Voldemort got a letter from an owl. He said something like, Wormtail's blunder had been repaired. He said someone was dead. Then he said, Wormtail wouldn't be fed to the snake - there was a snake beside his chair. He said - he said he'd be feeding me to it, instead. **

"He won't if I have anything to say about it," Sirius hissed and everyone silently agreed.

**Then he did the Cruciatus Curse on Wormtail - and my scar hurt," Harry said. "It woke me up, it hurt so badly."**

**Dumbledore merely looked at him.**

**"****Er - that's all," said Harry.**

"He sure does know how to end on a good note," Arthur said.

**"****I see," said Dumbledore quietly. "I see. Now, has your scar hurt at any other time this year, excepting the time it woke you up over the summer?"**

**"****No, I - how did you know it woke me up over the summer?" said Harry, astonished.**

"How did he know that?" Arthur asked in surprise. "Harry only told Sirius, Ron and Hermione."

"From me," Sirius said annoyed. "I was in contact with him to."

**"****You are not Sirius's only correspondent," said Dumbledore. "I have also been in contact**** with him ever since he left Hogwarts last year. It was I who suggested the mountainside cave as the safest place for him to stay."**

"Good thing he did too," Remus sighed in relief, not knowing what he would've done if Sirius had been captured and taken away.

**Dumbledore got up and began walking up and down behind his desk. Every now and then, he placed his wand tip to his temple, removed another shining silver thought, and added it to the Pensieve. The thoughts inside began to swirl so fast that Harry couldn't make out anything clearly: It was merely a blur of color.**

"I'd love to know what was going on in his head," Remus sighed. That had to be the most difficult thing about Albus Dumbledore… sometimes, getting answers from him was like getting your eyes ripped out—and once he was lost in his head, it was like it was in his own world and nothing could bring him back.

**"****Professor?" he said quietly, after a couple of minutes.**

**Dumbledore stopped pacing and looked at Harry.**

**"****My apologies," he said quietly. He sat back down at his desk.**

"He does tend to get lost in his own head, I've noticed, from time to time," Kingsley said.

"I think everyone does during war," Arthur sighed.

**"****D'you - d'you know why my scar's hurting me?"**

**Dumbledore looked very intently at Harry for a moment, and then said, "I have a theory, no more than that… It is my belief that your scar hurts both when Lord Voldemort is near you, and when he is feeling a particularly strong surge of hatred."**

**"****But… why?"**

"That's the million galleon question," Sirius growled, hating the fact that this was true.

**"****Because you and he are connected by the curse that failed," said Dumbledore. "That is no ordinary scar."**

"Thanks for stating the obvious, professor," Sirius said rolling his eyes.

**"****So you think… that dream… did it really happen?"**

**"****It is possible," said Dumbledore. "I would say - probable. Harry - did you see Voldemort?"**

Molly frowned. It was almost as if Dumbledore expected this.

**"****No," said Harry. "Just the back of his chair. But - there wouldn't have been anything to see, would there? I mean, he hasn't got a body, has he? But… but then how could he have held the wand?" Harry said slowly.**

"Interesting question," said Remus thinking it over. He remembered the Quibbler's article and he felt as if a cold chill went up his spine at the idea.

"He's got a body, though it's not much of one," Sirius said, remembering the description Harry told him after the Third Task.

**"****How indeed?" muttered Dumbledore. "How indeed…"**

**Neither Dumbledore nor Harry spoke for a while. Dumbledore was gazing across the room, and, every now and then, placing his wand tip to his temple and adding another shining silver thought to the seething mass within the Pensieve.**

**"****Professor," Harry said at last, "do you think he's getting stronger?"**

"I hate to say it but yes, he is," Arthur sighed. "And he still is… he could only get stronger…"

**"****Voldemort?" said Dumbledore, looking at Harry over the Pensieve. It was the characteristic, piercing look Dumbledore had given him on other occasions, and always made Harry feel as though Dumbledore were seeing right through him in a way that even Moody's magical eye could not. "Once again Harry, I can only give you my suspicions."**

"However, he's right most of the time," commented Kingsley.

"Just how does he do that?" Sirius asked exasperated. Just how does he always know?

**Dumbledore sighed again, and he looked older, and wearier, than ever. "The years of Voldemort's ascent to power," he said, "were marked with disappearances. Bertha Jorkins has vanished without a trace in the place where Voldemort was certainly known to be last. Mr. Crouch too has disappeared… within these very grounds. And there was a third ****disappearance, one which the Ministry, I regret to say, do not consider of any importance, for it concerns a Muggle. His name was Frank Bryce, **

"That Muggle from the first chapter?" Molly said startled, thinking of what happened to Frank just because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Who else could it be?" Arthur asked, terrible regret over what happened to the poor man.

**he lived in the village where Voldemort's father grew up, and he has not been seen since last August. **

**You see, I read the Muggle newspapers, unlike most of my Ministry friends."**

"Why didn't I think of that?" Arthur said, smacking himself with the palm of his hand. "The Muggle newspapers? Goodness, I wish I knew where to get a subscription…?"

"Arthur," Molly said firmly, and glared at her husband. "Can't we talk about this some other time?"

Arthur seemed to remember where he was and said, "Sorry, Molly dear…" though the excitement hadn't quite left his eyes yet.

**Dumbledore looked very seriously at Harry.**

**"****These disappearances seem to me to be linked. The Ministry disagrees - as you may have heard, while waiting outside my office."**

"Why is he telling him all this?" Tonks asked. "Really, he's not this open with just anyone."

"Yeah," Sirius said suspiciously.

"I don't know," Kingsley said. "But seeing his importance in the war in the future, it is probably necessary that he understands things."

"Wish he still feels the same way for him," Sirius muttered.

**Harry nodded. Silence fell between them again, Dumbledore extracting thoughts every now and then. Harry felt as though he ought to go, but his curiosity held him in his chair.**

**"****Professor?" he said again.**

**"****Yes, Harry?" said Dumbledore.**

**"****Er… could I ask you about… that court thing I was in… in the Pensieve?"**

**"****You could," said Dumbledore heavily. "I attended it many times, but some trials come back to me more clearly than others… particularly now…"**

"Yeah," Arthur muttered.

**"****You know - you know the trial you found me in? The one with Crouch's son? Well… were they talking about Neville's parents?"**

"And we're back to this," said Remus quietly.

"Looks like Harry finally finds out what happened to Frank and Alice," Tonks whispered.

**Dumbledore gave Harry a very sharp look. "Has Neville never told you why he has been brought up by his grandmother?" he said.**

**Harry shook his head, wondering, as he did so, how he could have failed to ask Neville this, in almost four years of knowing him.**

"I don't think that he would've answered even if you did, Harry," Remus said softly.

**"****Yes, they were talking about Neville's parents," said Dumbledore. "His father, Frank, was an Auror just like Professor Moody. He and his wife were tortured for information about Voldemort's whereabouts after he lost his powers, as you heard."**

**"****So they're dead?" said Harry quietly.**

"Better dead than what they are now," Kingsley said angrily. He had been good friends with Frank, and it was devastating when he heard the news.

**"****No," said Dumbledore, his voice full of a bitterness Harry had never heard there before.**** "They are insane. They are both in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I believe Neville visits them, with his grandmother, during the holidays. They do not recognize him."**

Molly's eyes filled with tears. "That poor boy…"

Tonks just sat there. Before her, Alice and Frank had been Moody's favorites, and he had been one of the first on the scene… she couldn't help but wonder if this incident already pushed his own feeble thread of sanity.

**Harry sat there, horror-struck. He had never known… never, in four years, bothered to find out…**

**"****The Longbottoms were very popular," said Dumbledore. **

"It was hard not to," Remus whispered.

**"****The attacks on them came after Voldemort's fall from power, just when everyone thought they were safe. Those attacks caused a wave of fury such as I have never known. The Ministry was under great pressure to catch those who had done it. Unfortunately, the Longbottoms' evidence was - given their condition - none too reliable."**

**"****Then Mr. Crouch's son might not have been involved?" said Harry slowly. **

"Oh, he was involved, alright," Arthur said resentfully.

"Harry always tries to see the best in others," Sirius before he looked up in horror. Oh, no… Harry was starting to sound just like Dumbledore! He groaned as he ran his fingers through his tangled mess of hair. He silently prayed that his godson wouldn't turn into him.

**Dumbledore shook his head.**

**"****As to that, I have no idea."**

**Harry sat in silence once more, watching the contents of the Pensieve swirl. There were two more questions he was burning to ask… but they concerned the guilt of living people…**

"Really?" Tonks asked interested.

**"****Er," he said, "Mr. Bagman…"**

**"… ****has never been accused of any Dark activity since," said Dumbledore calmly.**

**"****Right," said Harry hastily, staring at the contents of the Pensieve again, which were swirling more slowly now that Dumbledore had stopped adding thoughts.**

**"****And… er…"**

**But the Pensieve seemed to be asking his question for him.**

**Snape's face was swimming on the surface again. Dumbledore glanced down into it, and then up at Harry.**

**"****No more has Professor Snape," he said.**

"Not that he hasn't let anyone else knows," Sirius hissed conversationally.

**Harry looked into Dumbledore's light blue eyes, and the thing he really wanted to know spilled out of his mouth before he could stop it.**

**"****What made you think he'd really stopped supporting Voldemort, Professor?"**

"Like father like son," commented Remus, before glancing at Sirius. "Or—or like godfather, like godson."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sirius said, the corner of his mouth twitched.

**Dumbledore held Harrys gaze for a few seconds, and then said, "That, Harry, is a matter between Professor Snape and myself."**

"Can't he ever give a straight answer for once?" Sirius demanded harshly, feeling that he was close to losing what was left of his fragile mind.

**Harry knew that the interview was over; Dumbledore did not look angry, yet there was a ****finality in his tone that told Harry it was time to go. He stood up, and so did Dumbledore.**

**"****Harry," he said as Harry reached the door. "Please do not speak about Neville's parents to anybody else. He has the right to let people know, when he is ready."**

**"****Yes, Professor," said Harry, turning to go.**

"Harry wouldn't have told anyone even if he hadn't said a word," Molly said firmly.

"Yes," Remus agreed. "He knows what it's like to have no privacy."

"And I wouldn't want that kind of pity," Tonks said determinedly.

**"****And-"**

**Harry looked back. Dumbledore was standing over the Pensieve, his face lit from beneath by its silvery spots of light, looking older than ever. He stared at Harry for a moment, and then said, "Good luck with the third task."**

"That is the end of the chapter," Molly said in relief. Shutting the book and practically throwing the book away from her, only to glad to be rid of it.

"Can we stop for awhile?" asked Remus looking care worn and not completely recovered from the revelations of the chapter.

"It's time for lunch anyway," Arthur said checking his watch. No one complained, glad to be done with these last few chapters. They hardly ate as they had a rather subdued lunch of sandwiches and anything else that Molly could cook up from the pantry. After over an hour, they couldn't think of another excuse to forestall the eventual reading, and made to go back upstairs—at least until they heard a familiar knock on the door.

When Tonks answered it, she let out a happy exclamation to see Mad-Eye standing there.

"Yeah, yeah," he barked as he limped into the room, having a little extra trouble moving because he was carrying a usually heavy bag.

"We were just about to move on to the next chapter," Kingsley called up to him as he limped savagely up the stairs.

"Mad-Eye, would you like to…?" Tonks began and he gave her an answer before she even finished speaking.

"NO! Now shut it!" he barked.

She smiled brightly at Remus and said, "It's so nice to have him back don't you think? He always adds a little something special doesn't he?"

Remus stared at her for a moment before he looked up to see Mad-Eye limp into the room before he shook his head exasperatedly, a smile on his face.

**(Another chapter down! And for those of you who are asking about having the other teachers come and join…? Look, they need to stay and guard the school from Umbitch now don't they? Whether they come in time to hear the end, you'll just have to wait and see. I hope you enjoyed this chapter—and tomorrow is my last day of school! WHOO!)**


	36. The Third Task

**Chapter 35: The Third Task**

The tired group headed back upstairs and back to the familiar room to finish the last part of the book. However, when they got there, no one was in the mood to read. After waiting for several minutes, and no one was volunteering, Arthur slowly dragged his arm across the table to pick up the worn-looking book.

"I guess I'll start," he answered grimly, and almost wearily flipped through the pages they've already read. They all waited patiently as Arthur searched… and when he finally found it and he groaned out the chapter, everyone froze. "**Chapter 31: ****The Third Task**."

They all let those words sink in for a moment.

"So this is it?" Sirius asked, fear creeping into his stomach at the knowledge of what was about to happen. This was it… they finally reached the one chapter he had been dreading since they picked up this book. He didn't want to hear anymore, but at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to stop listening.

Arthur nodded, suddenly feeling a little ill. "We don't have to," he offered them. "We don't have to read any further…"

"Why read all the way to this point and stop now?" Moody asked calmly.

"We never should've started reading them in the first place," Remus whispered, furious with himself for ever going into that room and finding these private pieces of Harry's life.

"Oh, grow up already," Moody said darkly.

"How can you say something like that?!" Molly shouted at him feverishly, but before she could start a rant, he cut her off.

"And us crying about it will make one heck of a difference will it?" he yelled.

They all stopped at once, staring at him. He sighed and rubbed his forehead in tired, sort of, way. "Look," he said gruffly. "If you weren't prepared to read this, then you wouldn't have picked up the books in the first place. You wouldn't have kept coming back every chapter now could you? If you can't handle reading about the past, then you should just quit fighting the war right now."

He went into silence. Everyone stared at him. Arthur nodded slowly before he held the book up and started to read.

**"****Dumbledore reckons You-Know-Who's getting stronger again as well?" Ron whispered.**

**Everything Harry had seen in the Pensieve,** **nearly everything Dumbledore had told and ****shown him afterward, he had now shared with Ron and Hermione **

"Why even put that it there?" Tonks asked, hoping she sounded upbeat, but instead, sounded a little hoarse and worried. "I mean, I think I can say that we already knew that he would tell them. So there's no need…"

**- and, of course, with Sirius, to whom Harry had sent an owl the moment he had left**** Dumbledore's office. **

"Naturally," Sirius couldn't help but grin slightly. "I am your godfather after all, kid."

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat up late in the common room once again that night, talking it all over until Harry's mind was reeling, until he understood what Dumbledore had meant about a head becoming so full of thoughts that it would have been a relief to siphon them off.**

'_And it's only going to become more common as you get older,'_ Moody thought grimly, his normal eye looking down at his leg with distaste. Growing old is nothing but a great pain… while his magical eye glanced to the door, and sure enough, he was there. He smirked slightly. Some people could act young their whole life… well, that's sure to catch up to them sooner or later. They may be young at heart, but their bones are brittle.

**Ron stared into the common room fire. Harry thought he saw Ron shiver slightly, even though the evening was warm.**

**"****And he trusts Snape?" Ron said. "He really trusts Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?"**

**"****Yes," said Harry.**

"Unfortunately," Sirius said lightly to himself, still wondering why that over-grown bat was in the Order. He didn't seem to have any problems with joining Voldemort in the first place after all… what changed his mind?

**Hermione had not spoken for ten minutes. She was sitting with her forehead in her hands,**** staring at her knees. Harry thought she too looked as though she could have done with a Pensieve.**

Tonks grinned for a moment, but stopped when she saw Arthur frown in confusion.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"This part," he said, not glancing at her, "Hermione's answer, listen…"

**"****Rita Skeeter," she muttered finally.**

"What about her now?" Remus asked, mildly surprised. "Why is she asking about her?"

"Yeah, we get the fact you hate her guts, Hermione," said Sirius annoyed. "We all do. But what the hell does that parasitic mosquito have to do with anything?"

**"****How can you be worrying about her now?" said Ron, in utter disbelief.**

**"****I'm not worrying about her," Hermione said to her knees. "I'm just thinking… remember what she said to me in the Three Broomsticks? **_**'I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl.'**_** This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. **

"Oh," Tonks said in understanding, though her teeth were also gritted. "But that hardly matters now doesn't it? The issue here is trying to figure out what is happening here."

**And Winky too, remember… 'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard.' Mr. Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home."**

**"****Yeah, but Bagman didn't pass information on purpose, did he?" Hermione shrugged.**

"I doubt it," Moody barked rolling both his eyes. "That idiot doesn't have enough brains to fill a candlestick. "Utterly hopeless."

"It's always good to have your infinite wisdom here to guide us, Mad-Eye," Tonks said happily and sarcastically.

Mad-Eye suddenly felt the need to curse her.

**"****And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?" Ron said, turning back to Harry.**

"Well, she didn't did she?" Tonks asked, feeling as though she was channeling Fleur's energy for a moment. Really, how thick do some people have to be to believe that? While Madame Maxime wasn't her one her favorite people in the world, Tonks could see that she was fair and a good Headmistress.

"Yeah, but you're forgetting that technical things like that don't mean anything to Fudge," Sirius said bitterly.

**"****Yeah," said Harry, "but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the ****Beauxbatons carriage."**

"And the fact that she's half-giant automatically makes her his only suspect," Tonks snapped out loud. "And he thinks that Dumbledore's prejudice? That's the pot calling the kettle black."

"What do you expect from the Ministry?" Sirius asked loudly and grimly. "It's only purebloods and those who have money to buy people that mean anything to them. I say that we should just blow up the government, and start all over from scratch. Like get all those officials working out in farms or something, and hire people who are actually literate."

"You know, sometimes I think that would be the best idea," Arthur chuckled as the others all shook their heads in amusement.

"And I think that we should have Fudge buried up to his neck in dirt and have people walk by poke him with a stick," Sirius added in an undertone to Remus, who was cracking up as Arthur continued.

**"****We never thought of her, did we?" said Ron slowly. "Mind you, she's definitely got giant**** blood, and she doesn't want to admit it-"**

Out in the hallway, Albus sighed, _'That doesn't mean she's an awful person. She just doesn't want to draw attention to the fact.'_

"You can't really blame her though, Ron," said Kingsley sympathetically, unknowingly voicing what Albus was thinking. "Especially after seeing what happened to Hagrid."

"Believe me," Remus said bitterly, having experience similar acts of discrimination first-hand, "If you can avoid the prejudice, you should try."

**"****Of course she doesn't," said Hermione sharply, looking up. "Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita found out about his mother. Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big ****bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth."**

"Yet another good point, Hermione," Remus said.

"Why are you surprised, she always seems to come up with one," Sirius asked lightly. "She reminds me of you."

**Hermione looked at her watch. "We haven't done any practicing!" she said, looking shocked. "We were going to do the Impediment Curse! We'll have to really get down to it tomorrow! **

"Well, maybe they have a chance at surviving this war after all," Moody smirked slightly. The others all glanced at him uncomfortably, hoping that they could end the war before they will be forced to fight.

"Though that is a really useful spell to learn if you are in any tight spot," Kingsley agreed, hoping to dispel some of the tension in the air. It didn't work… they all had the same looks of fear and worry in their faces.

**Come on. Harry, you need to get some sleep."**

"Has anyone noticed that she's starting to sound a little like you, Molly?" Arthur chuckled.

"Well, that's good," she said firmly. "Otherwise, those boys would never get any sleep at all."

**Harry and Ron went slowly upstairs to their dormitory. As Harry pulled on his pajamas, he**** looked over at Neville's bed. True to his word to Dumbledore, he had not told Ron and Hermione about Neville s parents. As Harry took off his glasses and climbed into his four-poster, he imagined how it must feel to have parents still living but unable to recognize ****you. **

"It would be awful," Tonks whispered sadly, thinking of her own parents, and didn't want to think of what she would do if something happened to either of them.

Mad-Eye blinked. So Potter found out about the Longbottoms? His fingers curled into tight fists—anger boiling inside him at the memory of two of his favorite protégées. Death is too good a punishment for those who destroyed the people that he knew… sure Crouch lost his soul, but he should've suffered more for what he did in his opinion.

**He often got sympathy from strangers for being an orphan, but as he listened to Neville's****snores, he thought that Neville deserved it more than he did.**

"He does know how to bring the mood down to depression doesn't he?" Tonks asked miserably.

"They both deserve it," Molly said tearfully, hoping that her own children wouldn't have to go through any of that.

"But who would want it?" Sirius asked. To have your parents remembered for something like this?

**Lying in the darkness, Harry felt a rush of anger and hate toward the people who had tortured Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom… **

"You aren't the only one, Harry," Sirius growled, and he noticed that Moody's face was in an expression of suppressed rage.

"Mad-Eye?" Tonks asked, for once, not sounding like she was teasing or joking to him. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," he barked at her. "Just having some pleasant thoughts to what I would do to Bellatrix and the others should I meet up with that scum ever again."

**He remembered the jeers of the crowd as Crouch's son and his companions had been dragged from the court by the Dementors… He understood how they had felt… Then he remembered the milk-white face of the screaming boy and realized with a jolt that he had died a year later… **

'_If only he did,'_ Moody thought furiously. It would've saved them all from another war.

**It was Voldemort, Harry thought, staring up at the canopy of his bed in the darkness, it all came back to Voldemort… He was the one who had torn these families apart, who had ruined all these lives…**

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"He's right," said Sirius quietly, "It is Voldemort, it _is_ all his fault, he is the one who tears families apart and ruins everyone's life…" He remembered the terror everyone felt and what he lost thanks to him. Voldemort had been the cause of all that.

Albus shut his eyes tightly and thought back to the handsome, talented boy who he once taught. Why did any of this have to happen? How could Tom have gone down such a dark road? was there something, anything, he could've done to have stopped all that?

**Ron and Hermione were supposed to be studying for their exams, which would finish on the****day of the third task, but they were putting most of their efforts into helping Harry prepare.**

"Oh yes, Harry doesn't have exams," Arthur said looking up.

"He would've passed Defense Against the Dark Arts easy," Remus proudly, thinking how the boy dealt with the subject when he was still teacher… he had never seen such raw talent at a subject.

"Hey, wait a minute," Sirius said suddenly, sitting up a little. "Did Hermione just say that studying for her exam, which was only days away, wasn't important?"

"Yes," Arthur said with a little smile, looking over the sentence again.

"Well," Sirius said with a laugh. "That's a different note then what she had the year before."

"I think that she's more concerned that Potter lives past the school year then her grades at the moment," Moody offered. "Though I think that he wished that he took the exams over the Third Task."

"Shut up," Molly snapped ill-temperedly.

**"****Don't worry about it," Hermione said shortly when Harry pointed this out to them and said he didn't mind practicing on his own for a while, "at least we'll get top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts. We'd never have found out about all these hexes in class."**

"That's true and we all know that you appreciated the extra effort," commented Tonks, clapping her mentor on the back. His magical eye looked over at her and growled threateningly, "Touch me like that again… and I'll make you eat your wand."

"If they had had skilled teachers each year then they would've already known," Kingsley said softly. "Instead of just the one," he added with a nod to Remus, who smiled.

**"****Good training for when we're all Aurors," said Ron excitedly, attempting the Impediment Curse on a wasp that had buzzed into the room and making it stop dead in midair.**

Molly groaned. "Ron… not you too…"

"That's impressive," said Remus chuckled. "It would be difficult to hit anything that small, and moving. I can see that Ron is a real marksman."

Albus, on the other hand, was frowning in pain at those words. A wasps black and yellow colors stopping dead… he couldn't help but feel a bit of foreboding.

**The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited and tense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term. Harry was practicing hexes at every available moment. **

"If Ron's still complaining, then they could always just practice on passing Slytherins," Sirius offered happily.

"Sirius!" Molly said scolding.

"What?" he asked innocently. "If it were them, then they'd be doing it!"

"Only when Snape's around though," Tonks reminded him and he gave her a high-five.

**He felt more confident about this task than either of the others. Difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly be, Moody was right: Harry had managed to find his way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time he had some notice, some chance to prepare himself for what lay ahead.**

"I didn't care if he won," Sirius sighed, his temporary good mood vanishing like a whiff of smoke. "I only cared about him living past June."

"Well, he and Cedric had some idea of what was coming because they know Hagrid," Kingsley said.

"But Fleur and the boys still had more experience then Harry did," Arthur said.

"Only in magic," Sirius said stubbornly. "Did any of them fight a basilisk?"

"You still going on about that bloody snake?" Moody barked at him.

"What do you think?!" Sirius yelled at him. "How many people can say that they faced a basilisk and lived to tell the tale? That has to be one of the most amazing, impressive things I've ever heard.

**Tired of walking in on Harry, Hermione, and Ron all over the school, Professor McGonagall had given them permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes.**** Harry had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers;**

Moody nodded in approval. Yes, always good if you need a quick escape.

**the Reductor Curse, which would enable him to blast solid objects out of his way; **

"Also useful," he said, remembering fondly of all the things he's destroyed with that spell.

**and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione's that would make his wand point due north, therefore enabling him to check whether he was going in the right direction within the maze.**

"Impressive," said Kingsley deeply. "Most of that is fifth and six-year spells. They're catching up to the other champion's levels quickly."

**He was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though. This was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around himself that deflected minor curses; Hermione managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Harry wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counterjinx.**

"Oh, I'm sure that she knows," Tonks grinned. "But was just enjoying herself."

"Tonks," Molly said warningly.

"That's what I would've done," she offered with a grin. "Come on, she's been tense lately with all that's happening and we all know it. I'm sure that this would've cheered her up a little."

Sirius snorted loudly. "Sounds like it. Just a harmless prank is good for everyone once in awhile."

**"****You're still doing really well, though," Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list**** and crossing off those spells they had already learned. "Some of these are bound to come in handy."**

"And not just in the Task, they'll be useful for life," Moody added. _'Especially since the world is about to go to hell in a hand-basket.'_

**"****Come and look at this," said Ron, who was standing by the window. He was staring down onto the grounds. "What's Malfoy doing?"**

"Can't be good whatever it is," Sirius said knowingly. "Since when as Malfoy ever did anything to help people? He's up to something rotten… I know it."

**Harry and Hermione went to see. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. **

"And that's not suspicious at all," Sirius asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Brilliant lookouts they are; Malfoy is still being watched," Tonks smirked.

"That kid is hopeless," Moody growled. "When the war comes out into the open, he's never gonna last."

**Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it.**

"What's that about?" Sirius asked.

"Why ask us?" Tonks asked him. "We don't know anymore about what's happening here than you do."

"Interesting," commented Kingsley, "Why do I have a bad feeling about this."

"I really hope you're wrong about this," Arthur said, though feelings of uneasiness were growing in him as well.

**"****He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," said Harry curiously.**

"A what?" Arthur asked, stopping himself and Moody was muttering under his breath irritably.

"A Muggle device that allows you to communicate with someone else who is not nearby," said Kingsley Arthur looked eagerly at him as if asking him to continue. "They come in pairs and are a lot like telephones, but portable and you can only use them to contact someone who as the other one."

"Fascinating!" he whispered in awe.

"Yes, but they wouldn't work at Hogwarts," he said frowning. "I don't see why he would be doing that."

"Maybe he has one that can work in Hogwarts?" Tonks offered.

"I doubt it," Kingsley said. "No… there must be something else…"

"Is it too much to hope for that he's just finally lost it?" Sirius asked hopefully. They all looked at them and he sighed. "A guy can dream can't he?"

**"****He can't be," said Hermione, "I've told you, those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts. Come on, Harry," she added briskly, turning away from the window and moving ****back into the middle of the room, "let's try that Shield Charm again."**

"Another extremely handy charm," said Sirius. "It blocks most jinxes or at least weakens them."

"Too bad half that Auror department can't do that," muttered Mad-Eye.

"How'd they end up getting in there then?" Sirius asked in surprise. "What, will you just let anyone in anymore? That explains Nymphadora…"

"HEY!" she shouted, launching herself at him, and started hitting him.

"Ok! Ok! Ooookkkkk!" he yelled, holding his arms up to shield his head. "It was a joke!"

"But it seems that way," Moody growled bitterly and Tonks shot him an angry look. "If they were still training under me, then I make sure that they are pushed so hard that they are in tears by the end of the day."

"Which is why they don't like having you teach there anymore," Kingsley said, having been taught under him when he was still training himself. He learned more from Mad-Eye, then from all the other teachers put together.

"They said that I'm too hard on them," he said in outrage. "How else are they gonna learn? If you can't handle my training, then you should go to some other department."

**Sirius was sending daily owls now. **

"You sound worried," Remus commented to him softly.

"Wouldn't you?" Sirius asked. "I would've thought that you would've contacted him."

Remus gave him a sad look. "I wanted to," he said. "But I barely escaped trouble, and I didn't want to risk it. Besides, I knew that he had you."

Sirius shook his head, "You still think I can be a decent godfather?"

Remus gripped his shoulder. "Kids aren't easy to deal with. Especially teenagers… but you're doing fine under the circumstances."

**Like Hermione, he seemed to want to concentrate on getting Harry through the last task before they concerned themselves with anything else. He reminded Harry in every letter**** that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not Harry's ****responsibility, nor was it within his power to influence it.**

"But it involves him," Moody said softly, knowing that it was the kid that Voldemort wanted dead. Even if it wasn't Potter's responsibility, he was still at the center of the war.

_**If Voldemort is really getting stronger again, he wrote, my priority is to ensure your safety. **_

"Of course it is," Sirius nodded, his tone deadly serious.

Remus smiled and gave him a knowing look.

_**He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore's protection,**_

Mad-Eye snorted. That had never stopped Voldemort before. He's gotten in several times since the first book. Do they really think that it won't happen again? No wonder this world was screwed… Sure the kid was under the old man's protection… but he won't always be now will he?

"But they aren't trying to get in," said Arthur sadly. "They want to take him away from Dumbledore's protection."

"What protection?" Sirius growled.

_**but all the same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters.**_

"I think that you're really getting the hang of giving him good advice," Remus smiled and Sirius kicked his leg lightly.

"Don't I always?" he asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far," Remus said, thinking of all the crazy stunts that he did while they were children.

**Harry's nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth drew closer, but they were not as bad as those he had felt before the first and second tasks. For one thing, he was confident that, this time, he had done everything in his power to prepare for the task. For another, this was the final hurdle, and however well or badly he did, the tournament would at last be over, ****which would be an enormous relief.**

"I'm sure that everyone was thinking that," Molly sighed.

"I know," Tonks muttered. "Just hearing about the tasks wore me out. I don't know how the champions went through the tasks without going crazy."

'_In Harry's case, that is a nothing short of a miracle,'_ Albus thought grimly.

**Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task.**** The post owls appeared, bringing Harry a good-luck card from Sirius. It was only a piece of parchment, folded over and bearing a muddy paw print on its front, but Harry appreciated it ****all the same. A screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying her morning copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over it.**

"There's something about Harry in there isn't there?" Tonks moaned, knowingly.

"Oh, there's another article talking about him from Rita?" Sirius groaned, feeling the need to bash his head in against the wall. "I don't even want to know what it's about."

"It was about how Harry is unstable and dangerous," Molly said furiously.

"I told you not to tell me!" he snapped. "My God, who reads that crap?"

**"****What?" said Harry and Ron together, staring at her. "Nothing," said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the paper out of sight, **

"Really convincing, Hermione," Sirius muttered. "She should've just stopped getting it. Waste of money and paper."

"But you do need to know what happens in the world," Remus reminded him.

"With articles like that?" he asked. "Who needs it?"

**but Ron grabbed it. He stared at the headline and said, "No way. Not today. That old cow."**

**"****What?" said Harry. "Rita Skeeter again?"**

**"****No," said Ron, and just like Hermione, he attempted to push the paper out of sight.**

"He won't be any happier about it," Molly whispered, knowing that they both must've been as horrified to see something in that in the paper.

**"****It's about me, isn't it?" said Harry.**

**"****No," said Ron, in an entirely unconvincing tone. **

"Haven't they learned to lie better than that by now?" Sirius whispered horrified. "Come on, it's not that hard to come up with a convincing story!"

"They were caught off-guard," Kingsley said.

**But before Harry could demand to see the paper Draco Malfoy shouted across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table.**

**"****Hey, Potter! Potter! How's your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go ****berserk on us?"**

"Oh, no," Molly moaned, shaking her head, not looking forward to this.

"The last thing that I want to hear about is those damn Slytherins," Sirius growled.

**Malfoy was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet too. Slytherins up and down the table were**** sniggering, twisting in their seats to see Harry's reaction.**

**"****Let me see it," Harry said to Ron. "Give it here."**

**Very reluctantly, Ron handed over the newspaper. Harry turned it over and found himself staring at his own picture, beneath the banner headline:**

_**'**__**HARRY POTTER DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS'**_

Sirius looked so angry, that it was as if he was trying to set the book on fire. "When I get my hands on that hag…" he said softly, his voice cold and full of venom, "I'm gonna kill her."

"Gone off him though hasn't she?" said Moody dryly.

"Arthur, why don't you continue?!" Remus said loudly, now worried for Alastor's safety as Sirius looked ready to attack him.

_**The boy who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, **_

"Harry is not dangerous," Molly shouted angrily.

'_I wouldn't say that,'_ Sirius thought as he rubbed his eye, memories of what happened in the Shrieking Shack coming back to him. _'You've never been on the receiving end of his punches.'_

"He is dangerous… if you're Voldemort that is," Tonks grinned.

_**writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Harry Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon his suitability to compete in **__**a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School.**_

"Of course he is able to attend Hogwarts," Remus said firmly. "If I was able then anyone should."

Tonks gave him a sad look. Did Remus honestly see himself as a monster after all this?

"I can't believe she could've written something like that," Molly huffed. "A few months ago she was saying he was a tragic hero. And now…?"

"Potter was right," Moody said. "She couldn't keep writing about what a tragic little hero he was. Her fans got bored."

_**Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, **_

"He does _not_!" Sirius growled angrily, looking like she was ready to go out and curse Skeeter right there and then. "Regularly collapses my arse. Unless I'm reading the wrong book, it only happened once!"

_**and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on his forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill him). **_

"What?" Sirius called out in outrage. "He doesn't complain enough! Why that old hag!"

"She certainly has a gift for lying doesn't she?" Moody asked.

"Do you want to die?" Tonks whispered to him as Sirius turned his head to glare fiercely at him. Moody snorted.

"I'd like to see him try," he said softly. "I may be retired, but I'm far from dead."

_**On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that his scar was hurting too badly to continue **__**studying.**_

"Wait, how is that possible?" Remus questioned at once. "She wasn't there…"

"How else could she know that?" Kingsley asked. "Unless she overheard one of the other students, or Trelawney talking about it…"

"Yeah…" Remus said nodding. But he still couldn't help but feel uneasy about that.

_**It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potters brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon him by You- Know-Who, and that his insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of his deep-seated confusion.**_

"He is not unstable!" Tonks called. "He makes more sense than most people that I can say." She fought really hard to not look at Moody as she said that.

"I think that there's no doubt that he was affected by the attack on him," Kingsley said darkly. "But it not that kind of affect…"

Albus flinched at the reminder.

_**"**__**He might even be pretending," said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention."**_

"Like he needs it," Arthur said. "Or wants it. He goes out of his way to try and avoid it."

"Besides," Remus said at once. "What specialist are they talking about? There's no one who specializes in the after-effects of the Killing Curse. Harry's the only person to have ever survived it."

"Yeah," Mad-Eye agreed. "The only after-effect that people suffer from is a cause of death."

"Why are you here again?" Sirius snapped at him.

_**The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Harry Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public.**_

_**"**__**Potter can speak Parseltongue," reveals Draco Malfoy, a Hogwarts fourth year. **_

"Oh, I am going to kill that brat," Sirius snarled. Like the world needed to know that…

"People won't like that," Remus said shaking his head, knowing how people tend to treat others just because they were different. This treatment was something he never wanted Harry to know…"The idea that someone can talk to snakes will only cause them to hate and fear him…"

"Sirius, do you mind if I curse Malfoy with you?" Tonks asked.

"He's your cousin," Mad-Eye reminded her and she kicked him.

"My mother was adopted," she said firmly, pounding the arm of her chair. "I don't have any relationship to them."

"Good for you," Sirius said loudly. "I have often believed that I was adopted myself…"

_**"There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw him lose his temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. **_

"Did he hit his head or something?" Sirius demanded. "From what I read, he didn't lose his temper until the day after that, and it was at those Hufflepuffs for calling him a liar."

"Yes," Arthur agreed. "Rather, I think that Malfoy conveniently forgot to tell them that he stopped the snake attacking another student."

_**It was all hushed up, though. But he's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We**__** think he'd do anything for a bit of power."**_

Everyone was glaring at the book.

"That horrible woman," Molly said sadly. "She's just twisting the truth around to make Harry sound like some monster."

"People won't be so supportive of him once they read that," Remus whispered.

"The Prophet hasn't been helping either with all the stories about Potter and Dumbledore," Moody added, his magical eye still on Dumbledore in the hall. Why doesn't the old man just come in now? He was getting tired of this.

_**Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art.**_

"No it hasn't," Kingsley said. "Rather, it's the people who have been known to become associated with the Dark Arts."

"But that's all people need to know," Moody said. "One bad seed is enough to get anyone to hate whatever they could do."

"But it shouldn't," Kingsley huffed.

"People have a tenacity to hate what they don't understand," Albus whispered to himself, knowing that they couldn't hear him. He could understand. He had learned some form of Parseltongue in his youth. Though it was different than what Harry and Voldemort could do. He could only understand what others say when they speak it… he, himself, couldn't speak to snakes.

_**Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who**__** himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers." Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious **__**creatures as werewolves **_

"Remus is not vicious!" yelled Sirius and Tonks, glaring at the book as Remus looked up startled. Sirius noticed and snapped at him, "What? You think that we're going to sit back and take that? Stop thinking that you're lower than dirt for once in your life!"

Remus stared at Sirius anger, though touched, he wasn't sure where this hatred was coming from.

_**and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence."**_

"Actually, Hagrid is only half-giant," Kingsley corrected.

"This lady really needs to get her facts straight," Moody said slyly.

"Who gives a damn?" Sirius yelled at them. "The fact is that she's trying to make out my godson as some lying nutcase who wants to hurt people!"

"I think she already did," Moody said.

"You really want him to attack you don't you?" Tonks asked him as Remus had to hold Sirius back from pulling out his wand. "What? Are you just so bored that you're looking for someone to do something dumb enough to attack you?"

He shrugged, but a twisted smile was playing around what was left of his mouth.

_**Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a boy such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. **_

"Of course he doesn't want to compete!" Molly cried out exasperated. "He didn't have a choice in the matter!"

_**Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in his desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening.**_

"For the love of Merlin!" Arthur said, now regretting that he had started reading. "Like Harry Potter would resort to using Dark Arts!?"

"He's just wants to get past it, he doesn't even care about winning," Molly cried out. "I wish that he didn't win… then he wouldn't have been forced to go through any of this."

"Why that conniving, little…" Sirius hissed, now longing to hit something.

"It is amazing how easily a few lies can cause someone to think that a kid could be like this when they haven't even met them," said Kingsley firmly. "He's a polite young man who has been dealt a bad hand in life, but is trying to make the best of it. Sure, he's reckless and hot-headed, but how can he not with everything happening to him? He's only a teenager…"

"He's got a lot to learn," Moody agreed.

"Oh, Hermione!" Sirius called out to the ceiling, as if hoping that Hermione could hear him. "I hope that you get that Skeeter cow something good!"

Moody shook his head. So, this is what Poison-Pen Skeeter was up to. Skeeter may not be a Death Eater, but she is sure helping them. It goes without saying that Voldemort will be attempting an internal takeover of the Ministry of Magic and a number of other key organizations—and these articles are destroying the credibility of those who could put a stop to it. When you don't even know what the truth is, it is hard to fight for it. Thanks to her, Voldemort may become even more fearful than last time.

**"****Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?" said Harry lightly, folding up the paper.**

**Over at the Slytherin table, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were laughing at him, tapping their heads with their fingers, pulling grotesquely mad faces, and waggling their tongues like snakes.**

"Again?" Tonks asked, sounding unimpressed. "Just when I thought that they couldn't get any more pathetic."

"How mature," said Remus dryly, "They sound like they just turned two or three."

"In our day the Slytherins were still horrible demons," Sirius said with a shrug, "But at least their insults were creative. This is what Snape's favoritism has done. They have no fear of being punished, because they know that he'll get them out of trouble. So now they don't spend so much time thinking of ways to get around it."

**"****How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?" Ron said. "There's no way she was there,****there's no way she could've heard -"**

**"****The window was open," said Harry. "I opened it to breathe."**

"And you think that she could've heard you from North Tower?" Remus asked incredulously. "She must've just heard it from the other students."

"But that would mean that she was in the castle somewhere to do that," Tonks asked.

"So she's still breaking the law," Arthur said, a hint of glee in his tone. Oh, he would love to get her something for all the damage that she's done.

**"****You were at the top of North Tower!" Hermione said. "Your voice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!"**

**"****Well, you're the one who's supposed to be researching magical methods of bugging!" said Harry. "You tell me how she did it!"**

**"****I've been trying!" said Hermione. "But I… but…"**

**An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over Hermione's face. She slowly raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair.**

"What is wrong with her now?" Tonks asked.

"Sounds like she just had a brainstorm," Sirius said looking up eagerly. "That sounds like how Remus got whenever he figured out a hard question." Remus blushed and shot him a nasty look.

**"****Are you all right?" said Ron, frowning at her.**

**"****Yes," said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers through her hair again, and then held her hand up to her mouth, as though speaking into an invisible walkie-talkie. Harry and Ron stared at each other.**

"You think she figured out how Rita is doing it?" Tonks asked, rubbing her hands together like a little kid promised a treat. "Oh, I hope that she tells us what she thinks it could be…"

"Knowing her, she'll run off before explaining," Albus whispered to himself amused.

**"****I've had an idea," Hermione said, gazing into space. "I think I know… because then no one would be able to see… even Moody… and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge… but she's not allowed… she's definitely not allowed… I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library - just to make sure!"**

"Oh, come on!" Sirius groaned. "Just tell us for once!"

**With that, Hermione seized her school bag and dashed out of the Great Hall.**

**"****Oy!" Ron called after her. "We've got our History of Magic exam in ten minutes! Blimey," he said, turning back to Harry, "she must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing the start of an exam. What're you going to do in Binns's class – read again?"**

"Please, Binns is probably the easiest to get out of," Sirius said rolling his eyes. "He won't even notice if you're there or not. I bet that if everyone decided to skip class, he'd still come and teach—not even realizing that no one else's there."

**Exempt from the end-of-term tests as a Triwizard champion, Harry had been sitting in the back of every exam class so far, looking up fresh hexes for the third task.**

"Good," Moody said. "He'll need all the help he can get for what's coming."

**"****S'pose so," Harry said to Ron; but just then. Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward him.**

**"****Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she said.**

"Already?" Tonks asked startled. "What, the task's this early?"

"No," Molly assured her, a ray of happiness coming back. "You'll see."

**"****But the task's not till tonight!" said Harry, accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down his front, afraid he had mistaken the time.**

**"****I'm aware of that, Potter," she said. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them." She moved away. Harry ****gaped after her.**

"Family?" Sirius questioned with his eyebrows now disappearing into his hair. "What family?"

"Well, the Dursley's might show up if they thought that he could get killed," Tonks said unhappily.

"Well, us of course," Molly declared, as if it was obvious. "Me and Bill both went to see him compete."

"Oh, that's right," Sirius said, though there was a pang inside. He had wished with all his heart to go and see Harry compete as well, but he couldn't risk it… even in dog form… though that didn't stop him from feeling ashamed of not being able to support his godson.

**"****She doesn't expect the Dursleys to turn up, does she?" he asked Ron blankly.**

"I'd be surprised if she did," Tonks said darkly.

**"****Dunno," said Ron. "Harry, I'd better hurry, I'm going to be late for Binns. See you later."**

**Harry finished his breakfast in the emptying Great Hall. He saw Fleur Delacour get up from the Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and entered. Krum slouched off to join them shortly afterward. Harry stayed where he was. He really didn't want to go into the chamber. He had no family - no family who would turn up to see him ****risk his life, anyway.**

"Wish I could've gone," Arthur said sadly. "I wanted to, but couldn't get time off work."

"You aren't the only one," Sirius said bitterly. "I went, but I wasn't able to see him."

"You were there?" Tonks asked in surprise.

"Not near enough for them to see me," he shrugged. "I was waiting in Hagrid's pumpkin patch, and was listening to the commentary. Once I heard the screaming, I knew that something was wrong." For a brief moment, when he heard the words, 'He's dead!' he had feared the worst. And though he was guilty of it, he couldn't help but feel a rush of relief when he discovered that it had been Cedric. He looked down in shame…

**But just as he was getting up, thinking that he might as well go up to the library and do a**** spot more hex research, the door of the side chamber opened, and Cedric stuck his head out.**

**"****Harry, come on, they're waiting for you!"**

Molly smiled sadly, glad that she was able to do something for him.

**Utterly perplexed Harry got up. The Dursleys couldn't possibly be here, could they? He walked across the Hall and opened the door into the chamber. Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his father's hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding her mother's hand. She waved at Harry, who waved back, ****grinning.**

"Awww," Tonks cooed.

"Looks like he has another admirer," Sirius grinned. "Ginny's got more competition."

"Be nice," Molly told them.

**Then he saw Mrs. Weasley and Bill standing in front of the fireplace, beaming at him.**

Molly smiled wider at that.

**"****Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as he smiled broadly and walked over to them. "Thought we'd come and watch you. Harry!" She bent down and kissed him on the cheek.**

**"****You all right?" said Bill, grinning at Harry and shaking his hand. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail."**

"My favorite task," Sirius said, thinking of the details of how Harry flew and swirled around the Horntail with pride. "I would've liked to have seen that in person…"

**Fleur Delacour, Harry noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. Harry could tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or earrings with fangs on them.**

Tonks remembered the ethereal look on Fleur's face when she told her about the date. She grinned, that really does sound like it had been love at first sight—trust Harry to notice. "I'm guessing not," she laughed at the disapproving look on Molly's face.

"Wow, so she liked him, before he liked her," Sirius laughed. "Well, this explains the 'private lessons' he had been giving her to _eemprove 'er Eeenglish_."

Molly shot them both angry looks as Arthur went on.

**"****This is really nice of you," Harry muttered to Mrs. Weasley. "I thought for a moment - the**** Dursleys -"**

**"****Hmm," said Mrs. Weasley, pursing her lips. She had always refrained from criticizing the Dursleys in front of Harry, but her eyes flashed every time they were mentioned.**

"That was before I knew about everything they did," Molly scowled. "If I did…"

"Oh, don't worry, I'll criticize them enough for both of us," Sirius said, darkness coming back to his eyes. "And curse them while I'm at it."

**"****It's great being back here," said Bill, looking around the chamber (Violet, the Fat Lady's friend, winked at him from her frame). **

"Seems that the girls all seem to love Bill," Sirius said with a snort of laughter.

"It's hard not to," Tonks said, laughing. "He's almost to perfect. I want him to trip and fall once in awhile or something just to prove that he's human."

**"Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?"**

"Why would you want to see him?" Sirius asked just as Tonks said, "Why didn't they take him down when they had the chance?"

**"****Oh yeah," said Harry, who had met Sir Cadogan the previous year.**

**"****And the Fat Lady?" said Bill.**

**"****She was here in my time," said Mrs. Weasley. "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning -"**

"What was that?" Sirius asked, looking over at her. "And is there something that you want to share with the rest of the class?"

"No," she said, blushing. "It's none of your business."

**"****What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" said Bill, surveying his mother with amazement.**

**Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling.**

**"****Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll," she said. **

"Ah, yes," Arthur chuckled embarrassed at the memory of that night. It was the night where they shared their first kiss… of course, Pringle had to ruin it.

**"He got caught by Apollyon Pringle - he was the caretaker in those days - your father's still got the marks."**

There was an uncomfortable silence as they looked at the couple.

"Ok," Kingsley said, "Let's just move on why don't we?"

"What did he do to you?" Tonks asked Arthur, who shifted in his seat.

"Moving on," he said stiffly.

**"****Fancy giving us a tour, Harry?" said Bill.**

"Nice change of subject, Bill," Sirius said with a salute. "Now let's get this over with. The sooner this book is over with, the happier I'll be."

"You might not be feeling that way in a minute," Moody said knowingly.

**"****Yeah, okay," said Harry, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall. As they passed Amos Diggory, he looked around.**

**"****There you are, are you?" he said, looking Harry up and down.**

"I'm guessing he isn't happy about Harry being in the competition with Cedric," Kingsley.

**"****Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric has caught you up on points, are ****you?"**

"Harry is anything but full of himself," Sirius hissed under his breath, unable to feel any _real_ anger towards Amos… because this was going to be the last time that he will ever see his son… alive…

"Yet another person who thinks that Harry's only in the tournament for more fame," Albus whispered. Though he did feel as though a terrible pain was going through his heart at the memory of explaining to the Diggory's what happened to Cedric.

**"****What?" said Harry.**

**"****Ignore him," said Cedric in a low voice to Harry, frowning after his father. "He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeters article about the Triwizard Tournament – you know, when ****she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion."**

"Yes," Tonks said in annoyance. "But that's not his fault. If you want someone to be angry with, go curse Rita. She's the one who wrote the stupid article."

"Here, here," Sirius agreed.

**"****Didn't bother to correct her, though, did he?" **

"Actually, he did, but Rita didn't listen," Kingsley said, thinking back to that so-called interview.

**said Amos Diggory, loudly enough for Harry to hear as he started to walk out of the door with Mrs. Weasley and Bill. "Still… you'll show him, Ced. Beaten him once before, haven't you?"**

"Who cares about that?" Albus said, his head hitting the back of the wall. He honestly couldn't have cared less who won so long as they made it out alive… if only that was so…

**"****Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, Amos!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "I ****would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry!"**

"Hark whose talking," Sirius burst out laughing, turning to Molly, who looked ashamed. "Weren't you the one who thought that Harry cries over his dead parents and Hermione was toying with multiple hearts?"

A few people snorted and she turned red, so her whole head was the same color. "I'm not proud for it, but it's why I stopped reading that rubbish."

**Mr. Diggory looked as though he was going to say something angry, but his wife laid a hand on his arm, and he merely shrugged and turned away.**

**Harry had a very enjoyable morning walking over the sunny grounds with Bill and Mrs. Weasley, showing them the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship. Mrs. Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which had been planted after she had left school, **

"That's because it wasn't planted until I came," Remus said, lowering his head.

"Hey, thanks to you, Hogwarts now has the coolest tree there!" Sirius reminded him, poking his elbow into Remus's side. "Thanks to you… you helped to add one more unforgettable thing about Hogwarts!"

**and reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called Ogg.**

Albus smiled. He remembered Ogg fondly. Hagrid had tried to mold himself off the man's easy-going, and humorous attitude.

**"****How's Percy?" Harry asked as they walked around the greenhouses.**

Sirius bit back a groan. Why did he want to hear about that pompous prat?

**"****Not good," said Bill.**

**"****He's very upset," said Mrs. Weasley, lowering her voice and glancing around. **

'_Why?'_ Moody thought, rolling his eyes, _'Did he leave ink on his suit or something?'_

**"The Ministry wants to keep Mr. Crouch's disappearance quiet, but Percy's been hauled in for questioning about the instructions Mr. Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't genuinely written by him. Percy's been under a lot of strain. They're not letting him fill in for Mr. Crouch as the fifth judge tonight. Cornelius Fudge is going to be doing it."**

"Aww, poor 'Weatherby'," Tonks whispered to Sirius. "And Crouch was finally starting to get his name right too I bet."

Sirius snorted with laughter as Mad-Eye couldn't help but snort himself, but for a different reason. Mr. Always-in-the-Spotlight Fudge is conveniently subbing for Crouch in the most important task of the highly popular tournament. Why wasn't he surprised?

**They returned to the castle for lunch.**

**"****Mum - Bill!" said Ron, looking stunned, as he joined the Gryffindor table. "What're you doing here?"**

"There's a nasty shock," Kingsley chuckled.

"What?" Molly asked.

"What would you do if you went down to dinner to see your parents sitting there with all your friends?" Sirius laughed. "Just when you think you've escaped, there they are!"

**"****Come to watch Harry in the last task!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?"**

**"****Oh… okay," said Ron. "Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few.**

"Did he really say that?" Remus laughed.

"Word-for-word," she nodded.

"Wow, that takes some guts," Sirius said with respect.

"Not that you ever had any problems," Remus said, thinking of all the letters he sent home to his parents telling them how wonderful Gryffindor was, and that he got a Muggle-born girlfriend.

**It's all right," he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, while Mrs. Weasley looked stern, "they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard."**

Sirius and Tonks laughed at that while some of the adults smile slightly, except for Molly, who looked annoyed. Albus was biting back a smile, enjoying this conversation.

**Fred, George, and Ginny came to sit next to them too, and Harry was having such a good**** time he felt almost as though he were back at the Burrow; he had forgotten to worry about that evening's task, and not until Hermione turned up, halfway through lunch, did he remember that she had had a brainwave about Rita Skeeter.**

"Think she's gonna talk yet?" Tonks asked interested.

"I highly doubt it," Kingsley answered with a smile. "She might want to wait until she's got some real proof before she does."

**"****Are you going to tell us -?"**

**Hermione shook her head warningly and glanced at Mrs. Weasley.**

**"****Hello, Hermione," said Mrs. Weasley, much more stiffly than usual.**

Molly blushed slightly, now hating herself for ever having read that stupid article.

"Hello Mrs. Hypocrite," said Sirius quietly.

"I know," she hissed. "I already said I'm not proud of having ever read that disgusting article."

**"****Hello," said Hermione, her smile faltering at the cold expression on Mrs. Weasley's face.**

**Harry looked between them, then said, "Mrs. Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita ****Skeeter wrote in Witch Weekly, did you? Because Hermione's not my girlfriend."**

**"****Oh!" said Mrs. Weasley "No - of course I didn't!"**

**But she became considerably warmer toward Hermione after that.**

"Yes, because that doesn't make it seem like you believed it," Moody said, wishing that they could get to the more exciting stuff.

"Oh, I just felt so terrible," she sighed. She knew that it couldn't make up for what she thought, but she hoped that the extra-large Easter egg she sent to them was a good start.

**Harry, Bill, and Mrs. Weasley whiled away the afternoon with a long walk around the castle,**** and then returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast. Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table now. Bagman looked quite cheerful, but Cornelius Fudge, who was sitting next to Madame Maxime, looked stern and was not talking. **

"He better not have said anything to her," Tonks said angrily, channeling Fleur's spirit again. "It's not her fault that he's an idiot."

**Madame Maxime was concentrating on her plate, and Harry thought her eyes looked red. Hagrid kept glancing along the table at her.**

"You think that maybe she and Hagrid got into some kind of an argument?" Molly asked.

"Somehow I doubt it," Moody said. I think that it's a little more to do with the fact that she's feeling guilty… perhaps how she treated him? Impossible to say for sure, not that he cared…

**There were more courses than usual, but Harry, who was starting to feel really nervous now, didn't eat much. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell.**

**"****Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."**

"Couldn't they just forget to do the task?" Sirius demanded softly.

"Because that would be fair now wouldn't it?" Tonks asked. "And life isn't fair…"

**Harry got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were applauding him; the Weasleys and Hermione all wished him good luck, and he headed off out of the Great Hall with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor.**

'_For the last time,'_ they all thought.

**"****Feeling all right. Harry?" Bagman asked as they went down the stone steps onto the grounds. "Confident?"**

**"****I'm okay," said Harry. It was sort of true; he was nervous, but he kept running over all the hexes and spells he had been practicing in his mind as they walked, and the knowledge that he could remember them all made him feel better.**

"It's certainly a change," Tonks said. "He normally just waits until the last minute, panics, and then finds a way to scrape by while he's walking out to the task."

"Just like all children," Albus chuckled.

**They walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognizable.**

Sirius shook his head as if it was a mortal wound. "Sacrilege," he hissed.

**A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy.**

"That's not a good sign," Arthur whispered, not surprised to hear himself whisper. Already, the road ahead sounded like it would be dark for them all.

**Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest.**

**"****We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"**

**The champions nodded.**

"Too bad that that didn't do any good," Sirius scowled.

Albus shook his head in shame. These books so far had told him several things, and had helped to confirm his belief on how Voldemort had survived that Halloween night. But looking at everything from this point of view, really showed him how helpless and clueless they had been.

The books also had taught him that he wasn't as right as he thought he had been when placing Harry with his relatives. Albus truly was thankful that Sirius had been innocent. There had been something that didn't quite fit concerning what had happened that night, but he had been too blind to see it, just like so many other things.

**"****Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers.**

**"****Good luck. Harry," Hagrid whispered, **

"He'll need more then luck to get him through that," Tonks said softly.

**and the four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze. Bagman now pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, "Sonorus," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands.**

**"****Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! **

"Shut him up," Sirius hissed.

**Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In second place, with eighty points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"**

"We already know," Moody said annoyed. "Get on with it."

**Harry could just make out Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione applauding Fleur politely, halfway up the stands. He waved up at them, and they waved back, beaming at him.**

**"****So… on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three - two - one -"**

Sirius winced at that, knowing that after this moment, nothing would ever be the same for anyone…

**He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze.**

"Looks like we'll finally know what happened in the maze," Remus whispered in despair.

"I rather not know at all," Molly moaned.

"It's not the maze, it's the graveyard that will be the difficult part, Molly," whispered Albus—though he knew that she couldn't hear him.

**The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd****was silenced the moment they entered the maze. **

"Oh, that's got to be horrible," Tonks said shaking her head. "It's like you're cut off from everyone, and you're on your own."

"Please shut up, Tonks," Sirius snapped.

**Harry felt almost as though he were underwater again. **

Kingsley shook his head now, it sounded horrible.

**He pulled out his wand, muttered, "Lumos," and heard Cedric do the same just behind him. After about fifty yards, they reached a fork. They looked at each other.**

**"****See you," Harry said, and he took the left one, while Cedric took the right.**

**Harry heard Bagman's whistle for the second time. **

"I wonder why they can't hear anyone else, but the whistle," Arthur said.

"Most likely it's enchanted so that the champions would know," Kingsley answered.

"Why? To let them know their competition is in there with them?" Tonks asked.

"Or to let them know that they are in there so that they can go after them," Remus answered and they all looked up at him startled.

"They wouldn't," Molly whispered.

"Anything goes, Molly," Moody said. "They were all in the same boat. No one could see them anyway… if you can, you can attack them and no one would ever know…"

**Krum had entered the maze. Harry sped up. His chosen path seemed completely deserted. He turned right, and hurried on, holding his wand high over his head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight. **

"That's strange, there should be things at every turn," Kingsley stated suspiciously.

**Bagman's whistle blew in the distance for the third time. All of the champions were now inside. Harry kept looking behind him. The old feeling that he was being watched was upon him.**

Moody narrowed his eyes, Potter had excellent senses—and he agreed… it was too easy… his path is a bit _too_ clear…

"The Death Eater must have cleared his path," Arthur said darkly. "He can see what's going on after all."

"Ah," Moody said. "Yeah, that would do it. And he was most likely cursing the enchantments out of his way."

**The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. He reached a second fork.**

**"****Point Me," he whispered to his wand, holding it flat in his palm.**

"I'll have to remember that next time I get lost in London," Tonks joked around.

"You really are hopeless," Moody informed her coolly. She battled long eyelashes at him and answered sweetly, "I love ya to, Mad-Eye."

"Remind me to hurt you later," he said, shooting her a nasty look.

**The wand spun around once and pointed toward his right, into solid hedge. That way was north, and he knew that he needed to go northwest for the center of the maze. The best he could do was to take the left fork and go right again as soon as possible. The path ahead was empty too, and when Harry reached a right turn and took it, he again found his way unblocked.**

**Harry didn't know why, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving him. **

"Better than facing monsters," Molly shivered.

"It's only to get him through the maze faster, and therefore, to get him to Voldemort," Moody offered and she turned white at the idea. She didn't think she could stand to hear what the poor boy must've gone through while in that terrible place.

**Surely he should have met something by now? It felt as though the maze were luring him into a false sense of security. **

"So long as you don't let your guard down!" Moody barked.

"It said that he felt it," Tonks spoke up, "Never said that he was."

**Then he heard movement right behind him. He held out his wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side. Cedric looked severely shaken. The sleeve of his robe was smoking.**

"What on earth happened?" asked Remus at once.

**"****Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" he hissed. "They're enormous - I only just got away!"**

"Oh, I don't want to see how horrible they've become," Molly cried out in panic.

"Well, I'm glad that I came back," Moody said in interest.

**He shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path. Keen to put plenty of distance between himself and the skrewts, Harry hurried off again. Then, as he turned a corner, he saw… a dementor gliding toward him.**

"What!" said Sirius cried in panic, feeling cold inside at the memory of those creatures. "What the hell is Dumbledore thinking?"

Arthur, who had already started reading ahead, cried out in relief, "It's not!" He then went on: **Twelve feet tall, its face hidden by its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward him. Harry could hear its rattling breath; he felt clammy coldness stealing over him, but knew what he had to do… **

**He summoned the happiest thought he could, concentrated with all his might on the thought of getting out of the maze and celebrating with Ron and Hermione,**

They couldn't stop the smiles tugging at their mouths at those words, and Arthur finished: **raised his wand, and cried, "Expecto Patronum!"**

**A silver stag erupted from the end of Harry's wand and galloped toward the Dementor,** **which fell back and tripped over the hem of its robes… Harry had never seen a Dementor stumble.**

Sirius sighed in relief, now understanding. "That's because they don't."

"Dumbledore would never bring a Dementor to the maze," Kingsley agreed, also seeing what was this was about. "He brought a boggart."

Albus nodded. He didn't care what anyone else said, he was never going to allow a Dementor into the grounds if he could help it.

**"****Hang on!" he shouted, advancing in the wake of his silver Patronus, "You're a Boggart! Riddikulus!"**

**There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. **

"Wasn't that easy?" Tonks asked with raised eyebrows. "Maybe Dementors are getting almost too easy for him? Harry doesn't seem to fear Dementors as he once did, so what will be the shape of his next boggart?"

Sirius stared at the book as the others talked to Tonks, but he wasn't listening to a word they said. His own biggest fear was disappointing Harry, he couldn't imagine what he would do if Harry hated him.

**The silver stag faded from sight. Harry wished it could have stayed, he could have used**** some company… but he moved on, quickly and quietly as possible, listening hard, his wand held high once more. Left… right… left again… Twice he found himself facing dead ends. He did the Four-Point Spell again and found that he was going too far east. He turned back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of him. **

"That's Limbo Mist," Remus said at once, recognizing the description.

"Limbo what?" Molly echoed in confusion. "What is that?"

"Limbo Mist," Kingsley said and explained, "It's a very powerful spell, one that only a handful of wizards can perform."

"But what does it do?" Molly asked anxiously. "Is it dangerous?"

"That depends on the situation," Remus said. "It's an odd-looking golden mist that floats a few feet above the ground. When stepping into it, the mist appeared to reverse the effects of gravity. Individuals caught up in the mist feel that they are hanging upside down from the ground."

"Will they?" Arthur asked in astonishment.

"No," Remus explained, "If the individual can keep a cool head and just walk through the mist, then the effects disappear upon exiting the mist."

"Thank you Mr. Textbook," Sirius said.

**Harry approached it cautiously, pointing the wand's beam at it. This looked like some kind ****of enchantment. He wondered whether he might be able to blast it out of the way.**

"Won't work," Remus said. "Enchantments hardly ever yield to force."

"Yes, it wouldn't be fair if things were that easy now would it?" Sirius asked bitterly.

"He just needs to walk through it calmly thought," Tonks said, repeating what Remus said. "He should be alright."

**"****Reducio!" he said.**

**The spell shot straight through the mist, leaving it intact. He supposed he should have known better; the Reductor Curse was for solid objects. What would happen if he walked through the mist? Was it worth chancing it, or should he double back?**

**He was still hesitating when a scream shattered the silence.**

**"****Fleur?" Harry yelled.**

"What happened?" Tonks cried out.

"Oh no, what happen to her?" Molly cried, though she didn't particular cared about the girl she didn't want anything to happen to her.

**There was silence. He stared all around him. What had happened to her? Her scream ****seemed to have come from somewhere ahead. He took a deep breath and ran through the enchanted mist.**

Molly smiled only a little bit; Harry was so selfless, willing to risk who-knows-what, just to see if she was alright.

"A real knight in shining armor," Tonks said, glancing at Remus. Wolf-boy here could take a few lessons from Harry on that.

**The world turned upside down. Harry was hanging from the ground, with his hair on end,**** his glasses dangling off his nose, threatening to fall into the bottomless sky. He clutched them to the end of his nose and hung there, terrified. It felt as though his feet were glued to the grass, which had now become the ceiling. Below him the dark, star-spangled heavens stretched endlessly. He felt as though if he tried to move one of his feet, he would fall away from the earth completely.**

"That's freaky," Tonks whispered.

"How can you walk with that?" Sirius demanded.

'_It's all a matter of willpower,' _Albus thought.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Molly asked again nervously, biting her nails.

"He only thinks that he's falling away from it," Remus reassured her. "If he stays calm and just walks forward then he'll be fine."

**Think, he told himself, as all the blood rushed to his head, think… But not one of the spells he had practiced had been designed to combat a sudden reversal of ground and sky. Did he dare move his foot? He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. He had two choices - try and move, or send up red sparks, and get rescued and disqualified from the task.**

'_The point was to disorient him completely,'_ Albus thought. _'To test them in every kind of situation.'_

**He shut his eyes, so he wouldn't be able to see the view of endless space below him, and pulled his right foot as hard as he could away from the grassy ceiling. Immediately, the world righted itself. Harry fell forward onto his knees onto the wonderfully solid ground. He felt temporarily limp with shock. **

They all let out sighs in relief.

"Good, Harry," Sirius whispered.

**He took a deep, steadying breath, then got up again and hurried forward, looking back over his shoulder as he ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled innocently at him in the moonlight.**

"Moonlight?" Tonks whispered in confusion. Remus nodded bitterly, thinking of the full moon that night. That was the reason why he didn't come… he spent that night locked in his home…

"There shouldn't be moonlight out that early," Kingsley frowned.

"I think it was just for effect," Moody said with a smirk. "Nice touch."

**He paused at a junction of two paths and looked around for some sign of Fleur. He was sure it had been she who had screamed. What had she met? Was she all right? There was no sign of red sparks - did that mean she had got herself out of trouble, or was she in such trouble that she couldn't reach her wand? Harry took the right fork with a feeling of increasing unease… but at the same time, he couldn't help thinking. One champion down…**

"Harry!" Molly groaned, "Please don't think like that."

"Yeah," Sirius whispered. However, he knew that it was true. One champion was cut down that night… permanently.

**The cup was somewhere close by, and it sounded as though Fleur was no longer in the running. He'd got this far, hadn't he? What if he actually managed to win? Fleetingly, and for the first time since he'd found himself champion, he saw again that image of himself, raising the Triwizard Cup in front of the rest of the school… **

"He won't be thinking that way for long," Moody grunted.

**He met nothing for ten minutes, but kept running into dead ends. Twice he took the same wrong turning. Finally, he found a new route and started to jog along it, his wandlight waving, making his shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls.**

**Then he rounded another corner and found himself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt.**

"Oh, no," Molly whimpered, biting her nails so much, there wasn't much nail left, at the thought of a monster, afraid to hear it's description…

The others obviously felt the same way, for Arthur just sat there, staring at the book with a mixture of fear and anxiety, until Moody barked at him to hurry and read.

**Cedric was right - it was enormous. Ten feet long, it looked more like a giant scorpion than anything. Its long sting was curled over its back. **

"Only Hagrid could breed something like that!" Molly screamed.

"Wicked," Moody said softly under his breath. Maybe they could set a few of those monsters on the Death Eaters?

**Its thick armor glinted in the light from Harry's wand, which he pointed at it.**

**"****Stupefy!"**

**The spell hit the skrewt's armor and rebounded; **

"Rebounded?" Tonks gasped, "There's only a few creatures have a skin that tough."

"It's armor is magic proof," Remus said anxiously. Albus raised his eyebrows at that.

**Harry ducked just in time, but could smell burning hair; it had singed the top of his head. The skrewt issued a blast of fire from its end and flew forward toward him.**

**"****Impedimenta!" Harry yelled. The spell hit the skrewt's armor again and ricocheted off; Harry staggered back a few paces and fell over.**

"Just run!" Tonks yelled, forgetting that it had happened over a year ago. "Don't try to fight it off!"

**"****IMPEDIMENTA!"**

**The skrewt was inches from him when it froze - he had managed to hit it on its fleshy, shell-less underside. Panting, Harry pushed himself away from it and ran, hard, in the opposite direction - the Impediment Curse was not permanent; the skrewt would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment.**

"Run," Sirius called, looking white.

**He took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing himself to stop, heart hammering, he performed the Four-Point Spell again, backtracked, and chose a path that would take him northwest.**

**He had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when he heard something in the path running parallel to his own that made him stop dead.**

"Oh, what now?" Molly cried, wishing that the chapter would end already, though terrified of what she will hear once it does…

**"****What are you doing?" yelled Cedric's voice. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?"**

**And then Harry heard Krum's voice.**

**"****Crucio!"**

"What the hell?" Sirius yelled.

"He was using an Unforgivable Curse on Cedric," Arthur moaned, putting a hand up to his forehead in disbelief.

"But that would get him nothing but a life sentence in Azkaban," Kingsley said at once.

"It wasn't his fault," Remus said, remembering what Albus told him what happened that night. "Dumbledore said that Crouch used the Imperious Curse on Viktor to force him to take care of Cedric."

'_If he did, then maybe he would've lived,'_ Moody thought, but out of respect for the Diggory boy, he kept it to himself.

"Oh, Viktor must've felt so horrible at the end of all this," Molly whispered. "That Cedric would die after all that…"

**The air was suddenly full of Cedric's yells. Horrified, Harry began sprinting up his path, trying to find a way into Cedric's. When none appeared, he tried the Reductor Curse again. It wasn't very effective, but it burned a small hole in the hedge through which Harry forced his leg, kicking at the thick brambles and branches until they broke and made an opening; he struggled through it, tearing his robes, and looking to his right, saw Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground, Krum standing over him. **

Everyone shuddered at the image. No one, let alone a young man, who wasn't even out of school yet, should ever have had to feel something like that. It was a sign of what was to come…

**Harry pulled himself up and pointed his wand at Krum just as Krum looked up. Krum turned**** and began to run.**

**"****Stupefy!" Harry yelled.**

"Got 'em," Moody said grimly.

**The spell hit Krum in the back; he stopped dead in his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, facedown in the grass. **

"Not bad," Arthur admitted, "It's a lucky thing Harry's good under pressure."

"Luck's a loser's excuse," Moody grunted.

**Harry-dashed over to Cedric, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face.**

**"****Are you all right?" Harry said roughly, grabbing Cedric's arm.**

**"****Yeah," panted Cedric. "Yeah… I don't believe it… he crept up behind me… I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me…"**

**Cedric got up. He was still shaking. He and Harry looked down at Krum.**

"I hope they don't curse him," Molly said fretfully. "It wasn't his fault."

"If they did, it wasn't their fault either," Tonks answered.

**"****I can't believe this… I thought he was all right," Harry said, staring at Krum.**

**"****So did I," said Cedric.**

**"****Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?" said Harry.**

"Could it have been Krum as well?" asked Kingsley, thinking it all over.

"Most likely," Remus said quietly. "Crouch was using him to get rid of all the other competitors."

**"****Yeah," said Cedric. "You don't think Krum got her too?"**

"At least she was only stunned," Albus whispered. He was silently thankful that at least Viktor and Fleur were taken out of the maze before something terrible happened to either of them…

**"****I don't know," said Harry slowly.**

**"****Should we leave him here?" Cedric muttered.**

"Harry won't let him," Remus smiled, knowing that it just wasn't in the boy's nature to do something like that.

**"****No," said Harry. "I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him… otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt."**

**"****He'd deserve it," Cedric muttered, but all the same, he raised his wand and shot a shower ****of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay.**

"Honest man," Arthur smiled, even after being hexed with Cruciatus curse he was still willing to help Krum. Not too many people would've done that. Why did it have to be a boy like this who was cut down before he actually had a chance to live?

**Harry and Cedric stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them.**

**Then Cedric said, "Well… I s'pose we'd better go on…"**

**"****What?" said Harry. **

"He means the tournament, Harry," Remus explained fondly.

**"Oh… yeah… right…"**

**It was an odd moment. He and Cedric had been briefly united against Krum – now the fact that they were opponents came back to Harry. The two of them proceeded up the dark path without speaking, then Harry turned left, and Cedric right. Cedric's footsteps soon died away.**

Albus sighed. He truly thought that they would've become good friends after that… if Cedric had lived.

**Harry moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure he was moving in the right direction. It was between him and Cedric now. His desire to reach the cup first was now burning stronger than ever, but he could hardly believe what he'd just seen Krum do. The use of an Unforgivable Curse on a fellow human being meant a life term in Azkaban, that was what Moody had told them. Krum surely couldn't have wanted the Triwizard Cup that badly… **

"No he wouldn't," Remus said firmly. "He wasn't even aware of it."

"Poor guy," Tonks sighed. "He's probably still beating himself up for that."

**Harry sped up.**

**Every so often he hit more dead ends, **

"Can he stop using words like dead?" Sirius couldn't help but ask himself under his breath.

**but the increasing darkness made him feel sure he was getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as he strode down a long, straight path, he saw movement once again, and his beam of wandlight hit an extraordinary creature, one which he had only seen in picture form, in his Monster Book of Monsters.**

"Oh, no," Molly whispered, feeling close to fainting here.

**It was a sphinx.**

Remus stared, knowing that would've been an once-in-a-lifetime meeting.

**It had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Harry as he approached. He raised his wand, hesitating. She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking his progress. **

"That's what she does," Moody said. Riddles… he hated riddles… just get straight to the point…

**Then she spoke, in a deep, hoarse voice.**

**"****You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me."**

**"****So… so will you move, please?" said Harry, knowing what the answer was going to be.**

"At least you're polite about it," Remus muttered, shaking his head.

"But politeness isn't going to get him out of this," Moody said.

**"****No," she said, continuing to pace. "Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess - I let you pass. Answer wrongly - I attack. Remain silent – I will let you walk away from me unscathed."**

"Not a bad idea," Remus said. "So he's only in danger if he guesses wrong."

"Then don't guess wrong," Molly begged.

**Harry's stomach slipped several notches. It was Hermione who was good at this sort of thing, not him. He weighed his chances. If the riddle was too hard, he could keep silent, get away from the sphinx unharmed, and try and find an alternative route to the center.**

"Good idea," said Tonks approvingly, "nothing to be hurt by trying."

**"****Okay," he said. "Can I hear the riddle?"**

**The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recited:**

Sirius groaned. He hated riddles…

_**"**__**First think of the person who lives in disguise,**_

_**Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.**_

_**Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,**_

_**The middle of middle and end of the end?**_

_**And finally give me the sound often heard**_

_**During the search for a hard-to-find word.**_

_**Now string them together, and answer me this,**_

_**Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"**_

**They all looked up at each other.**

"What ever happened to that riddle about what had four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs at night?" Kingsley asked.

"What?" Sirius asked, staring at him as if he had lobsters coming out of his ears.

"Was once a famous riddle," Kingsley explained with a wave of his hand. "The answer is of course, man. A man starts off with crawling on all fours, walks on two legs when their adults, and needs a cane when they are old."

"I'll take your word for it," Sirius said rolling his eyes. Who would waste their time coming up with questions like this?

**Harry gaped at her.**

"I don't blame you, kid," Sirius said.

Albus smiled, already have figured it out.

Remus opened his mouth but Arthur said, "Wait, before you answer, let's see what it is. I'm sure he'll be fine with this one too." Remus thought it over before he nodded in agreement.

**"****Could I have it again… more slowly?" he asked tentatively. She blinked at him, smiled, and**** repeated the poem. "All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss?" Harry asked.**

**She merely smiled her mysterious smile.**

**Harry took that for a "yes."**

"So every time someone smiles they mean yes?" Tonks asked.

"What do you think?" Mood asked with a twisted smile of his own.

"I hate when you do that," she said shaking her head.

**Harry cast his mind around. There were plenty of animals he wouldn't want to kiss; his immediate thought was a Blast-Ended Skrewt, but something told him that wasn't the answer. He'd have to try and work out the clues…**

"Just work at it one bit at a time," Remus said encouragingly.

**"****A person in disguise," Harry muttered, staring at her, "who lies… er… that'd be a - an ****impostor. No, that's not my guess! A - a spy? **

Moody's narrowed his eyes slightly. With all this foreshadowing here, they should've seen this coming a mile away.

**I'll come back to that… could you give me the next clue again, please?"**

"He's getting there," Remus said, smiling.

**She repeated the next lines of the poem.**

**"'****The last thing to mend,'" Harry repeated. "Er… no idea… 'middle of middle'… could I have the last bit again?"**

"I hate riddles," Tonks said.

"I hear ya," Sirius growled.

**She gave him the last four lines.**

**"'****The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word,'" said Harry. "Er… that'd be… er… hang on - 'er'! Er's a sound!"**

**The sphinx smiled at him.**

"Yeah, he's on a role!" Sirius said smiling.

**"****Spy… er… spy… er…" said Harry, pacing up and down. "A creature I wouldn't want to kiss… a spider!"**

"Wow, how does that work?" Tonks shaking her head.

"You are hopeless," Moody said in his bored tone.

"What do you mean by that?" she snapped.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" he asked gruffly, rolling his eyes at her. "Part 1: Person who lives in disguise = Spy. Part 2: The _'mi__dd__le'_ of the world middle = d or _'the en__d__'_ of the phrase the end: Part 3: Sound a person makes when trying to think of a word = er. Spy+d(d)+er=spider."

"Wow," Arthur said with a long whistle.

"I hate riddles," he growled, "But I can at least figure them out if I need to."

"And you got it, Harry!" Sirius cheered at the book.

**The sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for him to pass.**

**"****Thanks!" said Harry, and, amazed at his own brilliance, he dashed forward. He had to be close now, he had to be… His wand was telling him he was bang on course; as long as he didn't meet anything too horrible, he might have a chance…**

Albus frowned, bringing back a bad case of déjà vu. He remembered having read a popular Muggle Fantasy book series called _the Lord of the Rings_—which he had greatly enjoyed. But it was strange… all these banging sounds with no explanation is definitely give him a headache. Unfortunately, it's also beginning to have a familiar ring. It is so reminiscent of the _'doom, boom'_ booming of Moria in the _Fellowship of the Ring_. That booming preceded a death… that couldn't have just been a coincidence could it?

**Harry broke into a run. He had a choice of paths up ahead. "Point Me!" he whispered again to his wand, and it spun around and pointed him to the right-hand one. He dashed up this one and saw light ahead.**

Sirius was grinding his teeth together so hard that it was hurting. It was coming… he could feel it.

**The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of was going to get there first. Cedric was sprinting as fast as he could toward the cup, and Harry knew he would never catch up, Cedric was much taller, had much longer legs –**

"So what happened?" Tonks cried out, her hair literally turning white with all the tension going on here.

**Then Harry saw something immense over a hedge to his left, moving quickly along a path that intersected with his own; it was moving so fast Cedric was about to run into it, and Cedric, his eyes on the cup, had not seen it –**

**"****Cedric!" Harry bellowed. "On your left!"**

"What is it!?" Sirius yelled out in fear. "What's attacking them!?"

"He's still helping him even at the end," said Remus softly. "Most people wouldn't think twice about doing something like that."

**Cedric looked around just in time to hurl himself past the thing and avoid colliding with it, but in his haste, he tripped. Harry saw Cedric's wand fly out of his hand as a gigantic spider stepped into the path and began to bear down upon Cedric.**

"Acromantula," Remus said weakly.

"Typical Hagrid," Albus sighed, shaking his head.

**"****Stupefy!" Harry yelled; **

"That's not strong enough," Albus whispered to himself. "You need at least two people to knock one of them out."

**the spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy black body, but for all the good it did, he might as well have thrown a stone at it; the spider jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Harry instead.**

**"****Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!"**

"Come on, what's with these things? What are they made of?" Sirius cried out.

**But it was no use - the spider was either so large, or so magical, that the spells were doing no more than aggravating it. Harry had one horrifying glimpse of eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers before it was upon him.**

"They've got to think of something!" Tonks called.

**He was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, he tried to kick it; his leg connected with the pincers and next moment he was in excruciating pain. He could hear Cedric yelling "Stupefy!" too, but his spell had no more effect than Harry's - Harry raised his wand as the spider opened its pincers once more and shouted "Expelliarmus!"**

Moody raised his eyebrows. Now, does this lifting action seem like a mean spider intent on harming Potter? It would not make sense that after running across the maze to get to Diggory and Potter, this giant spider would then gently lift Potter up to look at him. Why would it not be already tearing off a quick snack? One reason Potter is probably not being harm is because it, presumably, would not be allowed by the new tournament rules anyway. Just as Aragog agreed not to harm humans for Hagrid, this one might also be a particularly good friend to Hagrid and could have agreed to help in the maze… maybe even a favor for almost killing his friends last time. Sure it attacked him, but if you were kicked in the mouth by a squirmy human that you were holding, you might suddenly squeeze its leg too. We suspect that this spider didn't intend to hurt Potter's leg. But now that Potter has hurt the spider, does it resent him for it?

**It worked - the Disarming Spell made the spider drop him, but that meant that Harry fell twelve feet onto his already injured leg, which crumpled beneath him.**

"NO!" Molly screamed.

"Ouch," said Moody, "That's gonna hurt."

**Without pausing to think, he aimed high at the spider's underbelly, as he had done with the skrewt, and shouted "Stupefy!'' just as Cedric yelled the same thing. The two spells combined did what one alone had not: The spider keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby hedge, and strewing the path with a tangle of hairy legs.**

"Is he alright?" Molly cried in panic, clutching her face in terror.

**"****Harry!" he heard Cedric shouting. "You all right? Did it fall on you?"**

**"****No," Harry called back, panting. He looked down at his leg. It was bleeding freely. He could see some sort of thick, gluey secretion from the spider's pincers on his torn robes. He tried ****to get up, but his leg was shaking badly and did not want to support his weight. **

"Wow," Moody said impressed. "And he dueled Voldemort on an injured leg. What are the odds?"

Molly looked horrified. There were unshed tears in her eyes, nail grooves in her cheeks.

**He leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath, and looked around. Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming behind him.**

"Don't take it," Molly whispered. "Just don't…"

"It already happened here, people," Moody said loudly. "Grow up!"

"Oh, just rub it in why don't ya?!" Sirius yelled at him, wishing that he could curse the rest of his nose off.

**"****Take it, then," Harry panted to Cedric. "Go on, take it. You're there."**

**But Cedric didn't move. He merely stood there, looking at Harry. Then he turned to stare at the cup. Harry saw the longing expression on his face in its golden light. Cedric looked around at Harry again, who was now holding onto the hedge to support himself. Cedric took a deep breath.**

"He's not going to take it," Remus whispered. He had often wondered how the two of them took the cup at the same time… because they refused to do so…

"He doesn't think he deserves it, when Harry saved him twice," Kingsley said.

**"****You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in here."**

**"****That's not how it's supposed to work," Harry said. **

"Hypocritical of him. He'd give it up if he were in Cedric's position," Tonks murmured.

**He felt angry; his leg was very painful, he was aching all over from trying to throw off the spider, and after all his efforts, Cedric had beaten him to it, just as he'd beaten Harry to ask Cho to the ball. **

"But this isn't a prize that either of you want to win," Arthur croaked out.

**"The one who reaches the cup first gets the points. That's you. I'm telling you, I'm not going to win any races on this leg."**

**Cedric took a few paces nearer to the Stunned spider, away from the cup, shaking his head.**

**"****No," he said.**

**"****Stop being noble," said Harry irritably.**

Sirius snorted, to him, Harry was the last person to tell someone to stop being noble.

**"****Just take it, then we can get out of here."**

**Cedric watched Harry steadying himself, holding tight to the hedge.**

**"****You told me about the dragons," Cedric said. "I would've gone down in the first task if you hadn't told me what was coming."**

"True…" Sirius said softly, "But that hardly matters here."

**"****I had help on that too," Harry snapped, trying to mop up his bloody leg with his robes. "You helped me with the egg - we're square."**

Moody looked up. Is this secretion a king of blood? He strained his memory to think back to Fantastic Beasts and where to Find Them. Now, it says that one of the Acromantula's distinctive fears include a 'poisonous secretion'. A WHAT?! He sat up straight. If this is poisonous, and it is not only around the wound, but Potter goes and wipes his own wound with it? Then how come Potter isn't poisoned? There can only be two reasons. One is that this is a different secretion than the poison described. The other is that there is something very strange about the Potter kid… though that was obvious…

Moody knew all along that, but beyond his ability to deflect Killing Curses, it seems that this protection was with the boy all along—except that he was almost killed in Book 2 by the Basilisk fang. Well, Snape did mention that antidotes don't work on all poisons from book 1. So since Basilisks are so rare, maybe that poison was an exception, or maybe Fawkes somehow made him immune? Though that last part he highly doubted. If Snape had tried to poison Potter in class, would it have inadvertently revealed that the kid might not be poisoned? Maybe that the reason for Colin's coincidental arrival…? His eye looked through the door to Dumbledore, who was also lost in thought… Dumbledore's face was hidden in his hand and he was shaking slightly.

Moody frowned. What did the old man know that the rest of them didn't?

**"****I had help on the egg in the first place," said Cedric.**

"Crouch must have realized that Cedric would repay the favor to Harry," Arthur said bitterly. "And used it to help him win."

**"****We're still square," said Harry, testing his leg gingerly; it shook violently as he put weight on it; he had sprained his ankle when the spider had dropped him.**

"And now they are actually arguing about who gets the cup," sighed Kingsley. You don't meet such selfless people in the world anymore.

"They're arguing over who should take the cup?" Sirius groaned quietly, shaking his head. "Who does that?"

**"****You should've got more points on the second task," said Cedric mulishly. "You stayed**** behind to get all the hostages. I should've done that."**

**"****I was the only one who was thick enough to take that song seriously!" said Harry bitterly. "Just take the cup!"**

"Fleur did to," Tonks spoke up. "Anyone would. That song was anything but reasurring."

**"****No," said Cedric.**

**He stepped over the spider's tangled legs to join Harry, who stared at him. Cedric was serious. He was walking away from the sort of glory Hufflepuff House hadn't had in centuries.**

"No, he was walking toward what Hufflepuff really stands for," Tonks said half proud/half sad, tears now in her eyes. "Loyalty."

Albus hid his face in his hands. This… none of this was fair…

**"****Go on," Cedric said. He looked as though this was costing him every ounce of resolution he had, but his face was set, his arms were folded, he seemed decided.**

"He's a good kid," said Remus miserably, remembering Cedric from his classes, his anger towards Voldemort rising even more.

**Harry looked from Cedric to the cup. For one shining moment, he saw himself emerging from the maze, holding it. He saw himself holding the Triwizard Cup aloft, heard the roar of the crowd, saw Cho's face shining with admiration, more clearly than he had ever seen it before… and then the picture faded, and he found himself staring at Cedric's shadowy, stubborn face.**

"You don't see that too often anymore," Arthur said, voicing what Kingsley was thinking before.

**"****Both of us," Harry said.**

"No," Sirius said softly in despair, now knowing why Harry blamed himself for this. Everyone in the room was now silent.

"He didn't know," Molly said firmly. "It wasn't his fault… I mean, how could he have known?"

"That doesn't stop you from blaming yourself," Tonks said.

**"****What?"**

**"****We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."**

They all looked down, knowing that it wasn't a victory for them that day.

**Cedric stared at Harry. He unfolded his arms.**

**"****You - you sure?"**

"It would've been great if it wasn't for Voldemort," Sirius growled.

"If not for him, then this wouldn't have happened," Moody reminded him.

**"****Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah… we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together."**

Albus sighed; he knew that Harry had felt guilty about Cedric's death. Sometimes, things just happen. You can't always be looking for someone to blame.

**For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn't believe his ears; then his face split in a grin.**

**"****You're on," he said. "Come here."**

**He grabbed Harry's arm below the shoulder and helped Harry limp toward the plinth where the cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup's gleaming handles.**

"Don't," Molly moaned, though she knew that it wouldn't make any difference.

**"****On three, right?" said Harry. "One - two - three -"**

**He and Cedric both grasped a handle. Instantly, Harry felt a jerk somewhere behind his navel.**

"It's a portkey!" Kingsley hissed.

**His feet had left the ground. He could not unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it was pulling him onward in a howl of wind and swirling color, Cedric at his side.**

Arthur couldn't have been any happier to see that the chapter was over. He looked around and told them, now holding the book out as if it was something poisonous. He could see from the looks on everyone else's faces, that they were as keen to read as he was. He looked pleadingly at them all, not wanting to go any further.

Thankfully, Kingsley seemed to have taken pity on him.

"I guess…" he said softly, "I guess, I'll go next." Arthur was only too happy to hand it over to him. Kingsley glanced at them all, anxious to hear what was next, but flipped the page and bravely went on, "**Chapter 32: Flesh, Blood, and Bone.**"

**(This is my Christmas present to you all! Hope you all enjoyed it, and Happy Holidays! And the Lord of the Rings reference was in honor of the Hobbit movie I went to go see! I thought that it was oddly appropriate don't you?) **


	37. Flesh, Blood, and Bone

**Chapter 36: Flesh, Blood, and Bone**

"I guess…" he said softly, "I guess, I'll go next." Arthur was only too happy to hand it over to him. Kingsley glanced at them all, anxious to hear what was next, but flipped the page and bravely went on, "**Chapter 32: Flesh, Blood, and Bone.**"

Everyone suddenly felt sick just listening to the chapter title. Kingsley shook his head bitterly, knowing that what was coming was going to be, without a doubt, the most difficult book he had ever read.

"So we finally get to the chapters with Voldemort," Moody said, though without a trace of his usual amusement. Even he was starting to feel sick at what was to come.

"I'm sorry we had dinner before this," Tonks said, looking green.

"Who could eat after this?" Moody asked grimly.

**Harry felt his feet slam into the ground; his injured leg gave way, and he fell forward; his**** hand let go of the Triwizard Cup at last. He raised his head.**

**"****Where are we?" he said.**

"Nowhere good," Remus whispered, leaning forward so that his elbows were on his knees, his fingers laced together and held to his mouth so that they couldn't see how hard he was clenching his teeth.

**Cedric shook his head. He got up, pulled Harry to his feet, and they looked around. They had left the Hogwarts grounds completely; **

'_It was the only way to get Potter away from Dumbledore's protection,'_ Arthur thought miserably. It was coming… he didn't want to hear what really happened, but it was like he was compelled to hear it. He couldn't stop himself from listening.

**they had obviously traveled miles - perhaps hundreds of miles - for even the mountains surrounding the castle were gone. They were standing instead in a dark and overgrown**** graveyard; the black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to their right. A hill rose above them to their left. Harry could just make out the outline of a fine old house on the hillside.**

"You don't think it's the Riddle House from the very start do you?" Molly whispered loudly, staring around them all with fear in her eyes.

"Oh, I think so," Kingsley said dully. "That was the place where Dumbledore said."

'_The __Riddle House,' _Albus thought, his eyes losing their twinkle as he stared at the wall opposite him, but not really seeing it. He knew what was coming, but it was like he was seeing it all in his mind, seeing what happened with every little detail that Kingsley was reading out.

**Cedric looked down at the Triwizard Cup and then up at Harry.**

**"****Did anyone tell you the cup was a Portkey?" he asked.**

"If they did, I'd kill them," Sirius said hoarsely.

"It wasn't supposed to be," Molly murmured, pulling out her handkerchief and using it to dab at her eyes. "Once they entered the maze, Bagman said that when one of them reached the cup, it would end all the enchantments in the maze, and the center would send up gold sparks, letting us all know. But nothing happened. We were all waiting for hours and hours…"

She trailed off for a moment and they all looked at her.

"Was it really that bad?" Tonks asked softly, as Molly continued wiping her eyes.

"After Fleur and Krum were taken out of the maze, we all knew that it was either going to be Cedric or Harry who would win," she said tearfully. "I remember talking with Ron about it… he and Hermione were both so excited…" she sniffled for a moment, "But we all just kept waiting and waiting… I could see that even the teachers were getting worried. I remember thinking, _'One of them surly must've found the cup by now…'_ but still nothing happened."

Arthur wrapped an arm around her comfortingly and she finished, "And finally we saw this blue light at the entrance of the maze, but we couldn't see what was happening because there was a crowd there. That was when we heard that someone was dead."

They all stared, as Molly took a deep breath and said, "We were scared half to death. No one knew where Harry was… and we were with Madam Pomfrey for what felt like half an hour until Dumbledore walked in with Harry. I can't tell you what a relief that was to see that he was alright."

Everyone was on the edge of their seats. Arthur was hugging her tigher, looking shaken. Remus had put his hand on Sirius's shoulder and had grabbed Tonks' hand to comfort, not only her, but himself as well. It was a sign of how much he needed it, because he didn't even realize what he was doing. Even though they knew Harry was alive, only Dumbledore and Sirius knew what really had happen that night, but even they knew that Harry had hidden some details from them, and the concept of finding out through a book on his point of view scared them.

Kingsley and Moody were both pale and solemn as Albus continued staring at the wall. He knew how she felt… those same feelings had been going through his mind and heart as well.

_*Flashback*_

_He and the other judges sat there, almost having to force themselves to make small conversation—when it happened. Almost half an hour in, there had been a shot of red sparks erupted over one part of the maze._

_Ludo had spotted them and quickly called out, "That ladies and gentlemen is the signal that one of our champions is in trouble! Each of the champions had been warned before they entered the maze that should they need help, merely to send up those sparks! However, if they do so, then they will immediately be disqualified from the tournament. Now let's see who it is…?"_

_Albus half rose from his seat as he waited—finally Alastor appeared from one of the corners of the hedges, half dragging Fleur Delacour with him._

_Madame Maxime got up from her seat and went over at once to see what had happened. Albus also got up and walked over to see how she was when Ludo called out, "It seems that Fleur Delacour had been the one who sent the sparks up high, and has now been disqualified from the tournament! But let's give up a round of applause for her for a valiant effort!"_

_As applause began around them, Albus had leaned over to see her half-opened eyelids, "It looks like she's been stunned…" Madame Pomfrey said at once, when she had been called over from the medical tent. "It's not serious," she assured Madame Maxime, "There shouldn't be any lasting harm done."_

_She conjured up a stretcher and floated her off in the direction of the medical tent so that she could be given some time to recover in peace._

_Albus had then turned his attention back to the maze, hoping that one of the boys find the center of the maze soon and grab the cup so that this would finally end._

_It had been about twenty minutes after that when Viktor Krum had been pulled out… once again, Madame Pomfrey had reported that he had been stunned and took him as well as Ludo turned to address the results to the crowd._

_But Albus had grown uneasy. There was something very wrong here… he knew better than to doubt Madame Pomfrey's diagnosis, but the news had left definitely him rattled. Surely nothing in the maze had caused them both to be stunned like this? He knew every obstacle, enchantment, and trap that had been placed, and he couldn't remember ever placing something in there that would stun them both identically like this._

_Karkaroff was more furious that Durmstrang had been put out of the running than his student being injured, and would've probably have told Viktor off himself had he been conscious…_

_Albus ignored him once again, his mind still working furiously. First Fleur… now Viktor? Both of them were pretty much unscathed… just stunned and minor injuries… so how could they have sent up sparks?_

_Could it be that Harry or Cedric…? No, he couldn't believe that either boy would be trying to sabotage them. As Ludo announced that Viktor was unable to finish the task, everyone grew very tense—knowing that now it would only be a matter of time until the Hogwarts champion found the cup. The question was who?_

_Once again, Albus didn't care who won, so long as they both made it back unhurt. And though he filled his conscience with words of reassurances, he felt none of them. He just could not shake the feeling that something had gone very, very wrong. He could not stop those foreboding feelings in the pit of his stomach, some warning… that something terrible was about to happen?_

_Hours had passed. And with each second, he felt the need to pull out his hair—his fingers drumming anxiously on the table in front of him. What was taken so long? One of them should've found the cup by now? The stands were also growing impatient as well—wondering why nothing was happening. He sat there with the judges, watching intently._

_Minerva glanced up at him half anxious/half irritated every time she circled the maze, the stars on her hat glowing slightly in the growing darkness; and he could see how worried she was in the way she walked… almost pacing the maze. Albus knew they both thinking the same thing… how, despite everyone's brave face, the teachers all knew that someone was behind all this. Ever since Harry's name had come out of the Goblet, someone had been plotting something._

_He tried to find some means to keep his mind occupied and started looking around him—trying to find some kind of distraction… that was when his eyes fell on Alastor who was still limping around outer hedges._

_Normally, he wouldn't pay too much attention… at least until he saw the excited look on his old friend's face. It was almost as if he looked happy that something seemed to be wrong. That wasn't like him… normally, he would've been the first one to sense that something dangerous was near. He watched Alastor limping around the corner, until he was watching the back of his head and he disappeared._

_Slightly uneasy, he turned back to the hedge and stared at it—as if trying to bring both boys back through sear force of will. What happened to them? Was it possible that either of them lying there injured and defenseless? Unable to send up sparks? Horrible thoughts continued to play themselves in his head until at long last, what felt like several years, there was something happening at the entrance of the maze._

_There was a faint glowing blue light shining there for a moment, the drowsy crowd had also noticed it as well and they were pointing it out to their friends and talking excitedly—obviously thinking that this had been part of the task. And at once, Harry Potter appeared out of thin air with Cedric Diggory and the Triwizard Cup. Both of them landed face-first into the ground and laid there unmoving._

_For a moment, it was as if everything else around him was falling away around him. This was not what was supposed to happen; the champion who touched the Cup was supposed to trigger the end of the maze enchantments, not be whisked back here in front of them…_

_That was when there were shouts going on around him, pointing to the two boys who were lying there, still as stone. He ran, almost flew to get there before anyone else did—by the time he got there, neither boy had moved a muscle…_

_'No,' he silently begged as terror tore at his heart. 'No… they can't be… don't be dead… please don't be dead…'_

_He crouched down besides them and seized Harry, perhaps a little too roughly in his desperation, and turned him over, "Harry! Harry!"_

_For a moment, nothing happened… he just laid there as limp as a rag doll, his face was as white as a sheet, his glasses askew, and blood dripping from an injured leg… but then his green eyes slowly cracked open and were squinting at him, as if having trouble making him out_

_A breath that he hadn't even realized that he was holding was released as he felt relief. He's alive… but what on earth had happened? It didn't look as though Harry could focus on him… and he was gasping for breath as though he was having trouble breathing…_

_Albus turned his head, searching for Madam Pomfrey over the heads of the pressing crowd to come over, but then Harry did something that stopped him dead in his tracks. He had let go of the cup, and instead clutched at his wrist like it was his lifeline._

_As if he hadn't even noticed the crowd pressing in around them, as though desperate to tell him something… what he said felt as if his whole world came tumbling down around him… he croaked out, "He's back… he's back. Voldemort."_

_Albus stared at him… to horrified to do anything else as those words echoed inside his head. "He's back… He's back. Voldemort."_

_No… this can't be… he didn't… he couldn't have… no… not again…_

_He felt as if he had been punched in the chest. Harry started gasping as if he'd run miles, he was having trouble just trying to hold his head up—as if every word was hurting him. He could see the truth before him… Harry wasn't in shock because of the maze's obstacles. He wasn't hurt and winded just because of some creature that had been hiding…_

_And he wasn't here because the cup would've… wait…_

_He turned and stared at the slightly glowing Triwizard cup… the cup! He recognized that blue light anywhere… it was a Portkey… but that could only mean… his eyes widened as realization him like an avalanche… they had been betrayed…_

_Someone here at Hogwarts had turned the cup into a Portkey and sent him to Voldemort…_

_"What's going on? What's happened?" cried a familiar voice behind him. Albus was too busy trying to grasp what was happening here to pay attention to Cornelius, who had come out of the crowd, who was looking around them in amazement. Harry had continued to hold onto his wrist desperately, as if afraid to let go, until his adrenaline seemed to have faded right before his eyes, and his hand slipped and hit the ground with a dull thud._

_As he tried to help Harry sit up, Fudge said something that made him feel as if his insides had frozen… something that he had grown accustomed to the Dementors… as the Minister then shouted out so that no one could miss it—"My God- Diggory! Dumbledore- he's dead!"_

_*End of Flashback*_

**"****Nope," said Harry. He was looking around the graveyard. It was completely silent and slightly eerie. "Is this supposed to be part of the task?"**

Molly shook her head sadly, tears were threatening to spill again.

"No," Albus whispered insistently. He would never have allowed any of the contestants to leave the school grounds, no matter the circumstances were.

**"****I dunno," said Cedric. He sounded slightly nervous. "Wands out, d'you reckon?"**

"Yes," Remus answered at once. "That is a good idea."

"Would've been a better idea if they already had them out," Moody said sharply.

"How could they have predicted this?" Tonks demanded.

"That's no excuse," he barked back. "You must always be prepared for the unexpected! Especially, when you know that you have someone out there wanting you dead."

"I have a better idea, why don't they grab the cup and back to Hogwarts, get away from there," Molly said in vain. "Just leave. That way none of this ever would've happened."

"We all wish that, Molly," Arthur said sadly, tightening his arm around her. "We all do…"

**"****Yeah," said Harry, glad that Cedric had made the suggestion rather than him. They pulled out their wands. Harry kept looking around him. He had, yet again, the strange feeling that they were being watched.**

"If Harry thinks that someone is watching them, then that's reason enough to get out of there," Remus said, knowing how well Harry's instincts were.

**"****Someone's coming," he said suddenly.**

**Squinting tensely through the darkness, they watched the figure drawing nearer, walking steadily toward them between the graves. Harry couldn't make out a face, but from the way it was walking and holding its arms, he could tell that it was carrying something. **

Everyone shivered slightly knowing who it was, and what they were carrying.

**Whoever it was, he was short, and wearing a hooded cloak pulled up over his head to obscure his face. And - several paces nearer, the gap between them closing all the time - Harry saw that the thing in the person's arms looked like a baby… or was it merely a bundle ****of robes?**

"It's not a baby," Tonks whispered, closing her eyes, and wishing that she could plug up her ears so that she wouldn't have to hear this.

Sirius's knuckles felt as if they were going to pop out socket from clenching his fists so tightly. His teeth were in danger of being grinded to dust from how hard he was grinding them together. Pettigrew… Wormtail… whoever the hell he was, he was going to kill him one day. He was going to destroy him… make him suffer for everything he's done, all the harm he's responsible.

**Harry lowered his wand slightly **

"NO!" Sirius yelled, but Kingsley didn't seem to hear him for he just went on as if he couldn't stop himself.

**and glanced sideways at Cedric. Cedric shot him a quizzical look. They both turned back to watch the approaching figure. It stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them. For a second Harry and Cedric and the short figure simply looked at one another.**

"Don't just stand there!" Tonks cried out in panic. "Move! Before it's too late!"

'_Too late for that warning,'_ Moody thought grimly. He really wasn't looking forward to their reactions when they read about the walking Snake returning to his body. He didn't think his ears could take it.

**And then, without warning, Harry's scar exploded with pain. **

Everyone paled at that.

"No," Sirius said, pale as everyone else in the room. No one heard him, it was as if his voice was just an echo at the end of a long tunnel. "It's Voldemort. His scar only hurts when he's near… and being less than ten feet away should be close enough."

**It was agony such as he had never felt in all his life; his wand slipped from his fingers as he**** put his hands over his face; his knees buckled; he was on the ground and he could see ****nothing at all; his head was about to split open.**

They were all looking sick. They couldn't imagine just how painful that would be to undergo…

"I would have passed out long before," Tonks whispered. She had experienced pain before, but this sounded a lot worse than any little injury she ever had.

**From far away, above his head, he heard a high, cold voice say, "Kill the spare."**

Simultaneously the color drained away from everyone's faces.

Molly now had silent tears cascading down her cheeks and was now biting a corner of her handkerchief. Sirius looked ready to kill, and Moody had shut his eyes, his expression devoid of emotion.

**A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words to the night:**

_**"**__**Avada Kedavra!"**_

"NO!" Tonks cried out, having grown so fond of Cedric.

Molly was now crying noisily into Arthur's shoulder, who was shaking his head in anger and grief for the Diggory's. Mad-Eye still sat there, his one eye closed, while the magical one stood very still, staring at the ceiling. Kingsley just stared at the two words… seeing it on paper in ink… it really seemed to bring it home to him that it wasn't just a dream. This had really happened.

Albus just continued to stare in front of him at the wall…

"DAMNIT," Sirius yelled, punching the arm of his chair and getting up to pace the room. Remus sat there, his face harden and looking green. How could his once friend kill the innocent boy… just like that? There really wasn't anything left of his friend. Sirius on the other hand was cracking his knuckles, pleasuring his mind with thoughts of wringing Wormtail's scrawny neck.

**A blast of green light blazed through Harry's eyelids, and he heard something heavy fall to the ground beside him; the pain in his scar reached such a pitch that he retched, and then it diminished; terrified of what he was about to see, he opened his stinging eyes.**

**Cedric was lying spread-eagled on the ground beside him. He was dead.**

Kingsley stopped reading for a moment as a mark of respect; it just wasn't fair that someone so young had been murdered.

Molly and Tonks were both crying, while everyone else, including Dumbledore outside, all had hard looks on their faces, and were gripping their wands.

Only a monster could do something like this.

**For a second that contained an eternity, Harry stared into Cedric's face, at his open gray eyes, blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted house, at his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised. And then, before Harry's mind had accepted what he was seeing, before he could feel anything but numb disbelief, he felt himself being pulled to his feet.**

"Get your filthy hands off him," Sirius snarled, still pacing, but stopped at those words. He was staring at the book with such venom, that it was a wonder he didn't grab it from Kingsley and ripped it in half himself.

But he didn't care. How could he just do this to his best friend's son? _'Fight back, Harry,'_ he thought. _'You're more than able to take that useless worm out.'_

**The short man in the cloak had put down his bundle, lit his wand, and was dragging Harry toward the marble headstone. Harry saw the name upon it flickering in the wand light before he was forced around and slammed against it.**

**TOM RIDDLE**

"But…" Arthur stated, confused for a moment.

"Must be his father," Moody said, his eye still shut, but the magical one was now fixed on him. "He was named after his father before he changed it."

"Right," Arthur said darkly, remembering the name on the diary. A name he will always hate no matter who it was.

**The cloaked man was now conjuring tight cords around Harry, tying him from neck to ankles to the headstone. Harry could hear shallow, fast breathing from the depths of the hood; he struggled, **

"Of course he did," Remus smiled slightly. Of course he would fight back… that's so like him.

**and the man hit him - hit him with a hand that had a finger missing.**

"Get your filthy hands off him," Sirius snarled threateningly, his fingers tightening around the wand in his pocket. How much more damage was he going to do to his godson? "If he laid one finger on him -" Sirius threatened but trailed off. He didn't have the heart to finish that sentence. Each person had the exact same expression of hatred.

**And Harry realized who was under the hood. It was Wormtail.**

Remus had to get up and almost wrestle Sirius back into his seat—who looked ready to kill them all.

**"****You!" he gasped.**

**But Wormtail, who had finished conjuring the ropes, did not reply; he was busy checking the tightness of the cords, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, rumbling over the knots. ****Once sure that Harry was bound so tightly to the headstone that he couldn't move an inch, **

"Let him go," Remus growled under his breath, still making sure he has a hold on to Sirius so he doesn't leave the house to begin another quest to hunt down Wormtail.

**Wormtail drew a length of some black material from the inside of his cloak and stuffed it roughly into Harry's mouth; then, without a word, he turned from Harry and hurried away. Harry couldn't make a sound, nor could he see where Wormtail had gone; he couldn't turn his head to see beyond the headstone; he could see only what was right in front of him.**

**Cedric's body was lying some twenty feet away. **

"How could they?" Molly whispered mournfully.

'_Well, if that didn't scar the kid for life, nothing will,'_ Moody thought, finally opening his eyes. He still remembered the first dead body he saw… he still had nightmares about it. But it was probably worse for the kid… not only did he know the victim, he was also the intended victim himself.

**Some way beyond him, glinting in the starlight, lay the Triwizard Cup. Harry's wand was on the ground at Cedric's feet. The bundle of robes that Harry had thought was a baby was close by, at the foot of the grave. **

"It's like they're taunting him," Tonks whispered. "This is sick."

Remus, who had grabbed her hand again, simply nodded.

**It seemed to be stirring fretfully. Harry watched it, and his scar seared with pain again… and he suddenly knew that he didn't want to see what was in those robes… he didn't want that bundle opened…**

"No, you don't," Arthur whispered. Harry never talked about it, and he didn't blame him one bit for it.

**He could hear noises at his feet. He looked down and saw a gigantic snake slithering through the grass, circling the headstone where he was tied. **

Arthur shivered at the mention of the snake that almost killed him. Looks like he wasn't the only one having nightmares about that serpent.

**Wormtail's fast, wheezy breathing was growing louder again. It sounded as though he was forcing something heavy across the ground. Then he came back within Harry's range of vision, and Harry saw him pushing a stone cauldron to the foot of the grave. It was full of what seemed to be water – **

Kingsley paused for the slightest moment, he doubted that anyone, not even Severus, would want to know what was in that water…

**Harry could hear it slopping around - and it was larger than any cauldron Harry had ever used; a great stone belly large enough for a full-grown man to sit in.**

"There's a reason for that," Moody grunted.

**The thing inside the bundle of robes on the ground was stirring more persistently, as though it was trying to free itself. Now Wormtail was busying himself at the bottom of the cauldron with a wand. Suddenly there were crackling names beneath it. The large snake slithered away into the darkness. The liquid in the cauldron seemed to heat very fast. The surface began not only to bubble, but to send out fiery sparks, as though it were on fire. Steam was thickening, blurring the outline of Wormtail tending the fire. The movements beneath the robes became more agitated. And Harry heard the high, cold voice again.**

**"****Hurry!"**

"Why didn't he just tell him to shut up?" Tonks mumbled.

**The whole surface of the water was alight with sparks now. It might have been encrusted with diamonds.**

**"****It is ready Master."**

"No," Sirius moaned.

**"****Now…" said the cold voice.**

**Wormtail pulled open the robes on the ground, revealing what was inside them, and Harry let out a yell that was strangled in the wad of material blocking his mouth.**

"Please tell me that there isn't a description," Tonks whimpered, but Kingsley had already read out: **It was as though Wormtail had flipped over a stone and revealed something ugly, slimy, and blind - but worse, a hundred times worse. **

"Oh God," Sirius said; it was as though his face had a permanent twitch in it. He didn't say anything else, but was now wringing his hands over and over so harshly, that they were being rubbed raw.

"Please don't describe it, Harry," Tonks begged, hugging Remus now, feeling a little better in his arms.

**The thing Wormtail had been carrying had the shape of a crouched human child, except that Harry had never seen anything less like a child. It was hairless and scaly-looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face - no child alive ever had a face like that - flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes.**

Kingsley couldn't go on, feeling sick to his stomach.

He wasn't the only one. Tonks was staring at the book, her mouth open in repulsion. "That's… that…" she couldn't go on. "That's Voldemort?"

"What's left of him," Moody growled.

"And he thinks that he's superior?" Sirius croaked out, his face green at the picture in his mind. "Just what the hell is he?!"

Albus shut his eyes tightly, trying so hard not to think of the creature that Harry was describing, but failing miserably. _'Oh, Tom… were you really that desperate to cling to life? To reduce yourself to something like this?'_

Molly was now trembling, whether it was from fear or sadness, no one knew. "It's just… I can't… I never knew…" she couldn't go on, simply hiding her face in Arthur's shoulder.

**The thing seemed almost helpless; it raised its thin arms, put them around Wormtail's neck, and Wormtail lifted it. As he did so, his hood fell back, and Harry saw the look of revulsion on Wormtail's weak, pale face in the firelight as he carried the creature to the rim of the ****cauldron. **

"Then why did he go back to him? Why did he join them?" Remus wondered softly. Sirius was too busy hiding his face in his hands to notice, but Tonks did. While he had unknowingly wrapped an arm around her shoulders, she still took his hand and squeezed it tightly.

**For one moment, Harry saw the evil, flat face illuminated in the sparks dancing on the**** surface of the potion. And then Wormtail lowered the creature into the cauldron; there was a hiss, and it vanished below the surface; Harry heard its frail body hit the bottom with a soft thud.**

"Why didn't he just drown already?" Moody asked. "Would've saved us the trouble."

"Can't you just shut up?" Sirius begged.

_**Let it drown**_**, Harry thought, his scar burning almost past endurance, **_**please… let it drown**_**…**

"Words outta my mouth," Moody shrugged.

**Wormtail was speaking. His voice shook; he seemed frightened beyond his wits. He raised his wand, closed his eyes, and spoke to the night.**

_**"**__**Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"**_

**The surface of the grave at Harry's feet cracked. Horrified, Harry watched as a fine trickle of dust rose into the air at Wormtail's command and fell softly into the cauldron. **

"He's taking bones from his own father's grave," Kingsley repeated aghast.

"That's wrong on so many levels," Tonks said, wrinkling her nose. "I thought that he would've hated to use anything from his father."

"Well, from the sounds of it, his father wasn't much of one," Moody shrugged. "And beggars can't be choosers. When you are desperate, you will sink to any level."

**The diamond surface of the water broke and hissed; it sent sparks in all directions and**** turned a vivid, poisonous-looking blue.**

**And now Wormtail was whimpering. He pulled a long, thin, shining silver dagger from inside his cloak. His voice broke into petrified sobs.**

"He isn't…" Tonks said warily.

"He is," Sirius hissed, the haunted, dead look in his eyes more terrifying than ever before.

_**"**__**Flesh - of the servant - w-willingly given - you will - revive - your master."**_

**He stretched his right hand out in front of him - the hand with the missing finger. He gripped the dagger very tightly in his left hand and swung it upward.**

"He cut off his right hand," whispered Arthur looking slightly nauseous.

"And I thought the bone was wrong," Tonks croaked. "That's disgusting! How can anyone cut off their own hand like that?!"

Moody raised his eyebrows. Didn't Voldemort tell Wormtail in Chapter 1 that he had an important role, which many of his followers would give their right hands to perform? What a sick sense of humor.

**Harry realized what Wormtail was about to do a second before it happened – he closed his eyes as tightly as he could, but he could not block the scream that pierced the night, that went through Harry as though he had been stabbed with the dagger too. He heard ****something fall to the ground, heard Wormtail's anguished panting, then a sickening splash, as something was dropped into the cauldron.**

"You've really let yourself sink low, haven't you Wormtail?" Sirius snarled hatefully, hating Pettigrew all the more for all of this.

**Harry couldn't stand to look… but the potion had turned a burning red; the light of it shone**** through Harry's closed eyelids…Wormtail was gasping and moaning with agony. Not until Harry felt Wormtail's anguished breath on his face did he realize that Wormtail was right in ****front of him.**

_**"**__**B-blood of the enemy… forcibly taken… you will… resurrect your foe."**_

By this point, everyone in the room and out looked sick and disgusted at what was about to happen. It seemed that no one could find the ability to comment. Even Mad-Eye was looking ill and unwilling to hear anymore.

"I can't believe this," Sirius said in a deadly whisper. "After everything James did for him… after Harry spared his life… he does this…?"

Molly looking absolutely furious; the pain and horrible things that boy had to go through… and for what?

**Harry could do nothing to prevent it, he was tied too tightly… **

The hand that Tonks held was now shaking slightly. She looked at him worriedly, but Remus was talking to Sirius, though she couldn't tell who he was trying to comfort. Maybe both of them? "It will be alright, Sirius. Harry is strong he will get through this he is smart and he'll get back."

But it was impossible to tell if Sirius was even listening to him.

**Squinting down, struggling hopelessly at the ropes binding him, he saw the shining silver dagger shaking in Wormtail's remaining hand. He felt its point penetrate the crook of his right arm and blood seeping down the sleeve of his torn robes. Wormtail, still panting with pain, rumbled in his pocket for a glass vial and held it to Harry's cut, so that a dribble of blood fell into it.**

Downstairs, the portrait of Mrs. Black was awoken when the roar of fury erupted from above.

"SIRIUS!" Remus yelled, holding tightly onto his friend as Kingsley jumped up and ran through the door to go and quiet Sirius's mother downstairs; the book still in his hands.

"That rat! I'm gonna kill him! How dare he? HOW DARE HE?!" Sirius looked ready to kill, and several of them had to scoot away, fearful that he would take his anger out on one of them.

It took some time for Sirius to calm down after that. Hearing what Wormtail did finally pushed him over the edge, and his anger seemed to be the one in control here. In fact, Remus had to drag Sirius out of the room and up the stairs to an empty room for him to calm down.

Not that the others were complaining. They were glad to have an excuse not to have to continue for a short time. They could hear Sirius yelling and cursing from one of the room above him for some time, but little by little, the shouting calmed down and it became quiet.

In fact, it almost felt as if they had gone deaf.

It was unnerving—and it was starting to give them goosebumps. They waited… and waited…

Finally, after at least an hour before Remus came down, half dragging Sirius with him, his eyes red and was breathing deeply. They both entered without saying a word, and took their usual seats. There was another uncomfortable silence for a moment.

"You… ok? Sirius?" Arthur asked him hesitatingly.

He didn't answer, just nodded glumly. Kingsley shot him a careful look before he opened the book again, and quickly finding the place where he left off.

**He staggered back to the cauldron with Harry's blood. He poured it inside. The liquid within turned, instantly, a blinding white. Wormtail, his job done, dropped to his knees beside the cauldron, then slumped sideways and lay on the ground, cradling the bleeding stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing.**

No one said a word, none of them feeling any amount of pity…

**The cauldron was simmering, sending its diamond sparks in all directions, so blindingly bright that it turned all else to velvety blackness. Nothing happened…Let it have drowned. Harry thought, let it have gone wrong…**

"I'm afraid that wishful thinking, Harry," said Sirius softly, feeling as if there was a thick cloud of darkness hanging thick on his heart.

For some reason, Mad-Eye swiveled his magical eye around to Dumbledore in the hallway, a little impressed that he was able to keep himself from being found after all the action.

Albus could almost sense that Alastor's eye was on him. He knew, deep down, that one day, he would have to tell Harry about the prophecy that was responsible for setting his life on this course in the first place. But to do that would to confirm that the weight of an entire world did indeed rest on a boy who wasn't even of age yet. He couldn't do it…

'_But why not?'_ asked a quiet part of his mind, the part reminding him how important it was for his plan to succeed. _'Hasn't he more than proven that he can take it?'_

A part of him did agree. So why couldn't he do it? Why did he no longer care for the plan so long as Harry got to be spared that terrible news for as long as possible? Was it because he knew that once the boy heard the prophecy, he would never be the same again? Why?

Why was he putting them both through all this?

He could almost hear Alastor chuckling in the back of his mind as if he heard what he was thinking.

**And then, suddenly, the sparks emanating from the cauldron were extinguished. A surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron instead, obliterating everything in front of Harry, so that he couldn't see Wormtail or Cedric or anything but vapor hanging in the air… It's gone wrong, he thought… it's drowned… please… please let it be dead… But then, through the mist in front of him, he saw, with an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron.**

Molly's shaking became worse and she had anxious tear trickling down her face at the revulsion she felt for what was happening here.

**"****Robe me," said the high, cold voice from behind the steam, and Wormtail, sobbing and moaning, still cradling his mutilated arm, scrambled to pick up the black robes from the ground, got to his feet, reached up, and pulled them one handed over his master's head. The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Harry… **

They all sat there, all of them fighting the urge to be sick.

**and Harry stared back into the face that had haunted his nightmares for three years. **

"For longer than that," Remus whispered, remembering how it had mention how Harry used to dream of that green light and laugh.

"And probably always will," Tonks whispered with a shudder.

**Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snakes with slits for nostrils…**

Stunned silence filled the room. Half the room had never seen that face and was terrified at what they heard. While the few of them who had seen that same face looked as if a shadow had passed over their own… making them look almost… ghostly…

**Lord Voldemort had risen again.**

Silence rang through the room, all stunned and revolted. Sirius had his head in his hands, looking thoroughly ill. Everyone is silent for a few minutes, no one finding any words to describe how they felt.

"It's over," Kingsley said at last. "The chapter," he added when they all looked up at him.

"That was a short chapter," Tonks mumbled through numb lips.

"May I?" Sirius asked, holding out his hand for the book. Startled, Kingsley handed it over… which allowed Sirius to throw it across the room, hit the wall, and bounced back to hit the floor with such force, the cover was now barely hanging on.

It was a sign of how horrible it had been that no one had bothered told him off.

They all sat there silent for some time. Finally, Remus realized that no one was going to bother reading, so he decided to get it over with. He got up and fetched it, moving the cover to see him.

"Can we continue?" asked Remus, "I think it would be best if we just got it all out of the way."

The dark look in each of their faces was enough of an answer for him. "We should get this done as soon as possible," he said softly, trying to convince himself as well as them all.

He cleared his throat and said in a thick voice, "**Chapter 33: The Death Eaters.**"

**(The last chapter for the year! It's less than ten minutes from midnight! Hope you all enjoy it and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!)**


	38. The Death Eaters

**Chapter 37: The Death Eaters**

He cleared his throat and said in a thick voice, "**Chapter 33: The Death Eaters.**"

He glanced up at them all, everyone understanding what this meant.

"The slime who managed to worm their way out of prison," Moody said needlessly. "He's calling them all to him to announce his return."

**Voldemort looked away from Harry and began examining his own body. His hands were like ****large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cats, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness.**

Remus's voice shook a little, but he soon controlled himself and started to read Voldemort's name with more force. No one flinched—and it was hard to believe that they were afraid to say the name only a few weeks ago.

**He held up his hands and flexed the fingers, his expression rapt and exultant. He took not the slightest notice of Wormtail, who lay twitching and bleeding on the ground, nor of the ****great snake, which had slithered back into sight and was circling Harry again, hissing. **

"That slithering serpent better stay away from him," Sirius growled and Arthur, once again, recoiled at the thought of that snake. It was bad enough seeing it in the middle of the Ministry, and with a wand—but to see it while unable to defend yourself? That had to be torture…

**Voldemort slipped one of those unnaturally long-fingered hands into a deep pocket and drew out a wand. **

"A wand?" Remus stopped himself, looking up. "That's his first wand isn't it? The one he always had?"

"Most likely," Kingsley replied. "That's what Dumbledore said to me once… he said that it was because of that that Harry managed to escape."

"Yeah, but how did he get his wand?" he stated confused. "After what happened when he lost his powers and his body? Where has it been all this time?"

"There's a chance that it was still there all this time…" Arthur said slowly. "After James and Lily had been taken from the house…" he glanced at Sirius and Remus, who were looking miserable at his words and finished quickly, "After that… the house had been made into a kinda memorial. No one's been in the house since then… maybe he went back to Godric's Hallow and…?" Arthur suggested. "It could've been under the rubble all this time and…?" he trailed off, unable to say anything else.

Sirius looked furious; now aching to hunt Voldemort down. Most likely Wormtail went to the house and got the wand back… yeah, he was sure that's what happened. That rat… his fingers were now twitching so horribly that they were blurred and looked like the legs of spiders… how dare that rat go back to that house? The same house of the people who trusted him to keep them safe? He had a small prayer in his head. He never prayed before, but he prayed right now that Wormtail suffer the worst kind of death possible.

And when he died, he would suffer for all eternity. That was what he deserved. He took several deep breaths to calm himself, forcing himself to listen to Remus's words. Listening to every detail, finding more reasons to kill Voldemort, Wormtail, and every other Death Eater.

**H****e caressed it gently too; and then he raised it, and pointed it at Wormtail, who was lifted off the ground and thrown against the headstone where Harry was tied; he fell to the foot of it and lay there, crumpled up and crying. **

"Nice guy," Tonks muttered in antipathy. "Nice way to thank Wormtail for all his trouble."

Sirius felt no pity at all for his once friend; privately thinking that he deserved this and so much more for joining Voldemort in the first place. He made his bed and now he's gotta lie in it. "Good," he said vindictively.

"But why would he do that? Didn't he just help him rise again?" Molly asked frowning.

"Testing his powers most likely," Moody spat. "It doesn't matter to him. His servants are all the same to him. Expendable… don't see why anyone would want to die as one of his slaves."

**Voldemort turned his scarlet eyes upon Harry, laughing a high, cold, mirthless laugh. **

The few in the room who had heard that laugh, shivered. That laugh wasn't human… it sounded as though it came from some kind of demon straight from hell.

**Wormtail's robes were shining with blood now; he had wrapped the stump of his arm in them. **

**"****My Lord…" he choked, "my Lord… you promised… you did promise…" **

"That doesn't mean he'll keep it," Remus pointed out bitterly. "He doesn't need you anymore, Wormtail. He got want he wanted."

"That's Voldemort in a nutshell," Sirius muttered, "He takes every advantage he can from someone and when he's done, you're ancient history."

**"****Hold out your arm," said Voldemort lazily. **

**"****Oh Master… thank you, Master…" **

**He extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort laughed again.**

"And he's a monster as always," Tonks said rolling her eyes. "You think that he would be a little more grateful."

"He is sick," Molly said, her voice going slightly fainter and yet keeping it fierce at the same time. They were fighting this thing? Just what was he? She couldn't believe that he could ever have been born human.

**"****The other arm, Wormtail." **

**"****Master, please… please…" **

"Begging doesn't work," Sirius snarled. "It only makes him feel that more important. Makes him know that their lives are in his hands."

**Voldemort bent down and pulled out Wormtail's left arm; he forced the sleeve of Wormtail's robes up past his elbow, and Harry saw something upon the skin there, something like a vivid red tattoo - a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth - the image that had appeared in the sky at the Quidditch World Cup: the Dark Mark. **

'_A mark that you will always be less than human,'_ Moody thought angrily. A mark that is the cause of the deaths of countless innocent people. He shut his normal eye for a moment and thought back to all the times that he had seen that mark hanging in the sky, knowing that underneath it, someone was dead. He opened his eye again once Remus picked up the pace.

**Voldemort examined it carefully, ignoring Wormtail's uncontrollable weeping. **

**"****It is back," he said softly, "they will all have noticed it… and now, we shall see… now we shall know…" **

**He pressed his long white forefinger to the brand on Wormtail's arm. **

"It's nothing but his brand," Kingsley muttered.

"Of course," Moody muttered. "They're his property. He owns them… just a bunch of animals to him…"

**The scar on Harry s forehead seared with a sharp pain again, and Wormtail let out a fresh**** howl; Voldemort removed his fingers from Wormtail's mark, and Harry saw that it had ****turned jet black. **

"There is a Protean Charm on the mark then," Kingsley said, raising his eyebrow. "So that's how it works."

"And now the Death Eater will come running back to their master like the dogs they are," Moody said.

"I don't know why they would bother," Tonks called, folding her legs up, underneath her. "If it were me, I'd leave. Leave the country, leave Britain even. Go someplace like Australia or Antarctica…"

"Easier said than done, Tonks," Remus muttered.

"Does that happen every time he touches them?" Molly asked anxiously. "I mean Harry's scar? Does it hurt him every time that he summons his Death Eaters? If so, then we have to do something…?"

"I don't think so," Remus said frowning. "He would tell us wouldn't he? We would notice… I mean, it hurts him whenever Voldemort is near him or feeling a particularly strong emotion. I don't know. How can we know anything about this scar?"

No one knew what to answer to that.

Albus didn't think that was the case however. Voldemort rarely called all his Death Eaters at once, at least according to Severus. Usually he just calls them when he needs something done. It's so hard to say anything here…

**A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Voldemort straightened up, threw back his head, and stared around at the dark graveyard. **

**"****How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" he whispered, his gleaming red eyes fixed upon the stars. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?" **

"It's a lose-lose situation here," Arthur muttered, biting his lower lip.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed sourly, and holding up his hands like they were the platforms of a scale. "On one hand," he tilted on hand, "You can go back and a power-hungry, murdering, inhumane maniac…" He then tilted the second hand and went on, "Or stay away and have him come and hunt you down. Yeah, I see the point. But still…" he put both hands down and muttered, "If you ask me, better that than die with him for your master."

**He began to pace up and down before Harry and Wormtail, eyes sweeping the graveyard all the while. After a minute or so, he looked down at Harry again, a cruel smile twisting his snakelike face. **

Molly shivered, now wishing that Harry was here so that she could hug him tightly. Just to know that he was safe here, and nowhere near this monster.

**"****You stand, Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late father," he hissed softly. "A Muggle and a fool… very like your dear mother. **

More silence. A silence so bad that it hurt their ears… but then the explosion happened.

"A FOOL? A MUGGLE?! LILY WAS NOT A MUGGLE!" Sirius bellowed out angrily, his temper snapping out of control with that comment. "NOR WAS SHE A FOOL! HOW DARE HE? SHE BESTED HIM IF MEMORY SERVES ME CORRECTLY! SHE STOPPED HIM DEAD IN HIS TRACKS DIDN'T SHE? SO WHO'S THE BETTER ONE HERE?" He pulled his wand out of his pocket and made to get up, but Remus forced him to remain in his seat. "Lily Potter was one of the best, the most talented, witches who ever walked through Hogwarts. And was also one of the bravest people I've ever known and if he thinks…"

"Sirius!" Remus yelled, the book sliding from his lap and fell onto the floor. He didn't notice it, he was busy trying to restrain Sirius, though he too was furious. "We all understand! But there's nothing we can do! Let's just—let's just finish this book and then we'll talk about what we're going to do!"

Sirius was pulled back into his seat, steam practically coming out of his ears as he glared at the book on the floor as if it was the cause of all the pain in the world. Which, at the moment, it was causing him unbearable pain.

As the others mentioned words of comfort to Sirius, Moody glanced down at the bag he brought with him. Though the only one who noticed was Kingsley. He looked up, about to ask what was in there when Remus had retrieved the book and was continuing.

**But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you as a child… and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death…" **

"He calls that a _use_?" Molly gasped appalled. "To use your own father's remains like that?"

"What did you expect?" Sirius called in a hard voice. "He doesn't care about anything but staying alive. I think it's clear enough that he will sink to any level to survive!"

**Voldemort laughed again. Up and down he paced, looking all around him as he walked, and**** the snake continued to circle in the grass. **

**"****You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was… He didn't like magic, my father… **

Albus looked to the door and couldn't help but wonder how Tom would've turned out if his father and mother had been with him from the start. He remembered hearing a saying long ago how the children of monsters often grow up to be monsters themselves. But he just couldn't… he couldn't believe that…

**"****He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born Potter, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage… but I vowed to find ****him… I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name… Tom Riddle…" **

"I still can't believe he would do that," Molly whispered.

But Albus barely heard her. This was unusual. Here was Tom, giving information about his past away quite freely, as if he couldn't care who heard him. Which is definitely uncommon for him, he doubted that any of his followers even know he once had a different name.

**Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave. **

**"****Listen to me, reliving family history…" he said quietly, "why, I am growing quite sentimental… **

"I doubt it," snorted Tonks, "You have to care to be sentimental, which means that you have to have a heart in you somewhere. And he clearly doesn't have one. Just a black hole in his chest where on once was."

"Well said," Sirius clapped his hands together in mock applause. Though the next line that Remus read out caused him to laugh.

**But look, Harry! My true family returns…" **

"Family," Sirius laughed bitterly. "Like he even understands what family means."

**The air was suddenly full of the swishing of cloaks. Between graves, behind the yew tree, in every shadowy space, wizards were Apparating. All of them were hooded and masked. And one by one they moved forward… slowly, cautiously, as though they could hardly believe their eyes Voldemort stood in silence, waiting for them. **

"Now that's service," Moody said sarcastically. "He calls and they come running. I'm surprised that none of them have his slippers and a pipe ready for him as well."

"I think that they're too stunned to believe it," Kingsley said. "Like it's a dream."

"More like a nightmare," Sirius muttered.

**Then one of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, crawled toward Voldemort and kissed the hem of his black robes. **

**"****Master… Master" he murmured. **

"Ugh," Sirius gagged, feeling disgusted at how low Death Eaters were willing to go in Voldemort's presence. He personally couldn't stand to think how low that Bellatrix would sink to prove herself.

**The Death Eaters behind him did the same; each of them approaching Voldemort on his knees and kissing his robes, before backing away and standing up, forming a silent circle, which enclosed Tom Riddle's grave, Harry, Voldemort, and the sobbing and twitching heap that was Wormtail. **

"That is…" Sirius whispered, "I don't even know if there is a word to describe how pathetic those people are, bowing down to a murderer like him… It's disgusting, if anyone is a disgrace to wizard kind it are those people."

"And they claim to have wizard's pride," Tonks muttered, shaking her head so harshly that her golden curls were bouncing around. "If that's pureblood wizard pride, then I'm proud to be a half-blood!"

"Some people have all the luck," Sirius sighed enviously. He couldn't stand the fact that he had been born a pureblood. But he knew that his own blood was anything but pure…

**Yet they left gaps in the circle, as though waiting for more people. Voldemort, however, did not seem to expect more. **

"Because the rest are either dead or in Azkaban," Moody grunted coldly. "No point in waiting."

**He looked around at the hooded faces, and though there was no wind rustling seemed to run around the circle, as though it had shivered. **

'_They're wondering which ones of them will be killed on the spot,'_ Arthur thought, his anger once again growing.

**"****Welcome, Death Eaters," said Voldemort quietly. "Thirteen years… thirteen years since last we met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday, we are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?" **

"Who would want to unite under that ugly thing?" Tonks asked bluntly. "You think that he could've picked something with a little more style than a snake and skull?"

"Well, it sure makes a statement," Moody offered and she snorted.

**He put back his terrible face and sniffed, his slit-like nostrils widening. **

**"****I smell guilt," he said. "There is a stench or guilt upon the air." **

"Smell? He doesn't have a nose…" Moody commented, his lip curling in a way that would make Severus proud.

Tonks roared with laughter. "And he thinks he's better than other people."

"Because he doesn't care how he looks," Albus whispered. "His only ambition is to overcome death and become stronger. He could care less with his appearance… the more different he looks, the better anyway. He doesn't want anyone to make the connection of who he was once."

**A second shiver ran around the circle, as though each member of it longed, but did not dare to step back from him. **

"I just don't get it," Molly called out. "They see what kind of creature he is! Why do they follow him if they know how cruel he is? Even they're afraid of him, and yet they return!"

"They return _because_ they're afraid," Albus whispered gravely, though he knew that it was no point. She couldn't hear him.

"I'll tell ya," Sirius barked. "They're all power-hungry, Muggle-hating, no-good…" and his string of curses when on and on until Remus read on.

**"****I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact - such prompt appearances! And I ask myself… why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?" **

"Maybe because they weren't really loyal," Tonks smirked.

**No one spoke. No one moved except Wormtail, who was upon the ground, still sobbing over his bleeding arm. **

"Who cares about him?" Sirius asked coldly. "If they wait enough he'll bleed to death."

**"****And I answer myself," whispered Voldemort, "they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment…**

"That sounds about right," Arthur said bitterly thinking specifically of Lucius Malfoy. His hatred for Lucius was still so great… it was people like him and his family that gave wizards a bad name. He remembered saying that once to him face to face, and they still hold true. Especially after he slipped the diary to Ginny.

"You know, it wouldn't surprise me if he just decided to kill them all and then start over," Sirius suggested, "Sounds like it would be easier."

**And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? **

Albus raised his head slightly, his thoughts going back to his theory. Horcruxes… what else will he say? But then, if that was the case, why was he explaining all this to everyone there? Maybe, in his triumph in returning to his body, he truly felt invincible?

Then again, it is more likely that Tom didn't so much as tell them specifically what it is that he did to make himself immortal, merely that he was. And even if he did come right out and tell them what he had done… only a handful of people would realize what, exactly, a Horcrux was.

**They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living? **

"That depends who's asking," Remus muttered angrily.

"Mightier…" Sirius muttered in disgust. "I know people ten times the person you'll ever be!"

**"****And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort… **

Tonks then started making coughing noises. "Cough, Harry Potter, cough."

She then looked at them all innocently. "Sorry… his ego is making me sick."

Sirius smirked. "I really don't know which is bigger anymore. Hogwarts, or his head. Personally, I think it's his head… because that's where all his supporters are."

Finally, there were some light laughs at that.

**perhaps they now pay allegiance to another… perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?" **

A few people scowled at that.

"It was the easiest way to keep an eye on them," Albus whispered.

**At the mention of Dumbledore's name, the members of the circle stirred, and some muttered and shook their heads. Voldemort ignored them. **

**"****It is a disappointment to me… I confess myself disappointed…" **

"Which is good for the rest of us," Arthur muttered.

**One of the men suddenly flung himself forward, breaking the circle. Trembling from head to foot, he collapsed at Voldemort's feet. **

**"****Master!" he shrieked, "Master, forgive me! Forgive us all!" **

They all shook their heads, disgusted at the behavior.

"I wish he hadn't," muttered Remus.

"He still needs them to do his dirty work for him," Moody snapped. "So he can't give them up yet."

"Shame," Sirius said.

**Voldemort began to laugh. He raised his wand. **

**"****Crucio!" **

Many shuddered remembering the spider from class.

**The Death Eater on the ground writhed and shrieked; Harry was sure the sound must carry to the houses around… Let the police come, he thought desperately… anyone… anything… **

"He shouldn't think that," said Kingsley softly, "Police are only muggles, they wouldn't stand a chance. He won't hesitate to kill a few muggles."

But no one bothered to listen to him. It didn't do anything to stop the misery they were all feeling as they listened to Harry's thoughts… knowing that no help was coming…

**Voldemort raised his wand. The tortured Death Eater lay flat upon the ground, gasping. **

**"****Get up, Avery," said Voldemort softly. "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years… I want thirteen years' repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Wormtail?" **

A muscle was going in Sirius's face.

**He looked down at Wormtail, who continued to sob. **

**"****You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends. **

"He should be afraid of me," Sirius growled.

**You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, don't you?" **

"I hate to agree with him, but yeah, he does," Sirius snarled viciously, with a very ugly looked on his face. "He needs to pay so much more though."

"Which one do you hate more? Wormtail or Voldemort?" Tonks asked him.

He thought it over. "Wormtail… though it's close."

"You don't hate Voldemort as much?" Arthur asked in surprise.

"I hate that he killed James and Lily… what he's putting Harry through," Sirius hissed. "But Wormtail was the one who sold them out. Like they meant nothing to him." He glared up at them. "They trusted him to keep them safe… I trust him… and he betrayed all that. If he never gave them up, then they might still be alive now."

No one knew what to say to him for that.

**"****Yes, Master," moaned Wormtail, "please. Master… please…" **

**"****Yet you helped return me to my body," said Voldemort coolly, watching Wormtail sob on the ground. "Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me… and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers…" **

They all looked up at each other. "He only gives them enough to remind them what they could have with him in charge," Moody said.

**Voldemort raised his wand again and whirled it through the air. A streak of what looked like molten silver hung shining in the wand's wake. Momentarily shapeless, it writhed and then formed itself into a gleaming replica of a human hand, bright as moonlight, which soared downward and fixed itself upon Wormtails bleeding wrist. **

Albus looked over his shoulder at the closed door. That did not bold well for Wormtail…

**Wormtail's sobbing stopped abruptly. His breathing harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the silver hand, now attached seamlessly to his arm, as though he were wearing a dazzling glove. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it into powder. **

**"****My Lord," he whispered. "Master… it is beautiful… thank you… thank you…" **

"I wouldn't be thankful, nothing in life is never free," Kingsley said, his eyes darkening. "There has to be a catch…"

"How much does someone want to bet that he put some kind of curse on it in case Wormtail did something against him?" Moody asked, as if making a bet on a chess game.

Albus was lost in thought. Harry once saved Pettigrew's life. He owns Harry a life debt… this could help him one day…

"No one would be dumb enough to bet against that, Moody," Tonks said.

"Wormtail might," Arthur whispered.

**He scrambled forward on his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes. **

**"****May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail," said Voldemort. **

Albus doubted that Pettigrew would live long enough to do so with that hand…

**"****No, my Lord… never, my Lord…" **

**Wormtail stood up and took his place in the circle, staring at his powerful new hand, his face still shining with tears. Voldemort now approached the man on Wormtail's right. **

**"****Lucius, my slippery friend," he whispered, halting before him. **

"Slippery alright," Arthur snarled. "Though I prefer to think of slimy… rotten to the core."

Molly didn't even bother to reprimand him. She merely continued to hold tightly onto his hand.

**"I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? **

"Muggle-torture? Why am I not surprised?" Arthur growled, sounding more like Moody than himself.

"You'll get him someday, dear," Molly told him wearily, suddenly wishing that she could go back in time to before all this was happening. To a time when her children were still young enough for her to keep home with her all the time.

**Yet you never tried to find me, Lucius… Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresay… **

"They were not, they were cruel and evil," Molly said angrily, thinking of those two children being suspended like that.

**but might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding your master?" **

"No, it would have been better if no one found him," Sirius said at once. Let him stay in his little forest in Albania. Let him just rot there… would've been good for all of us.

**"****My Lord, I was constantly on the alert," came Lucius Malfoy's voice swiftly from beneath the hood. "Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could have prevented me -" **

"Oh, suck up why don't you?" Arthur said angrily. "That's how you always got through life. By lying and slipping money into anyone's pocket. You're lying through your teeth and you know it."

"Would you like me to lick your feet clean while I'm at it?" Tonks asked in a gruff voice, earning a few snorts from Sirius.

**"****And yet you ran from my Mark, when a faithful Death Eater sent it into the sky last summer?" said Voldemort lazily, and Mr. Malfoy stopped talking abruptly. "Yes, I know all about that, Lucius… You have disappointed me… I expect more faithful service in the future." **

**"****Of course, my Lord, of course… You are merciful, thank you…" **

"He's letting them all off easy if you ask me," Tonks muttered.

"He still needs his influence in the ministry and his wealth for the new war he's planning," Moody said. "That's the only reason he's not cursing them all."

**Voldemort moved on, and stopped, staring at the space - large enough for two people - that**** separated Malfoy and the next man. **

**"****The Lestranges should stand here," said Voldemort quietly. **

"No," said Sirius strongly, "They both deserve to rot there! In there and away from innocent people."

**"****But they are entombed in Azkaban. **

'_Were they belong,' _Sirius thought firmly.

**They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me… When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be honored beyond their dreams. **

"Well, his plans worked didn't they?" Moody said darkly. "All the work to put those Death Eaters into Azkaban and now they're out in the world again."

"Just our luck," Sirius said sourly.

"Don't worry!" Tonks said upbeat. "We'll get them all back in prison soon!"

"Yeah," Moody said, rolling his eyes, both of them. "Knowing our luck, they'll come waltzing into the Ministry and turn themselves in before we get around to them."

"You should really try to think positively for once, Mad-Eye," Tonks said, her hands on her hips.

"And you shouldn't get your hopes up," he growled.

Remus smiled. It was like a conversation between a gloomy father, and a rebellious daughter.

**The dementors will join us… they are our natural allies… we will recall the banished giants… I shall have all my devoted servants returned to me, and an army of creatures whom all fear…" **

Albus felt as if the breath was caught in his chest at the thought of the Dementors. Sirius froze in horror for a second—horrible flashbacks of his stay in Azkaban came back and he found it hard to get air.

**He walked on. Some of the Death Eaters he passed in silence, but he paused before others and spoke to them. **

**"****Macnair… destroying dangerous beasts for the Ministry of Magic now, Wormtail tells me? You shall have better victims than that soon, Macnair. Lord Voldemort will provide…" **

"Well, he's sure giving us a lot of information," Kingsley said.

"He doesn't expect anyone but his pets to leave alive," Moody reminded him. Molly and Sirius both took sharp intakes of breath at how calmly Moody was talking about Harry's life.

"The kid's alive isn't he?" Moody demanded.

"And do you know how close he came to dying that night?" Sirius barked at him.

"And us blubbering about it will change it won't it?" Moody asked. "Just be thankful that he had enough wits to come back alive. The Diggory's weren't that lucky."

They all stared at him, but no one said another word until Remus continued.

**"****Thank you, Master… thank you," murmured Macnair. **

**"****And here" - Voldemort moved on to the two largest hooded figures - "we have Crabbe… you will do better this time, will you not, Crabbe? And you, Goyle?" **

Sirius snorted, he supposed the saying 'Like father, like son,' certainly applied to these two. Now he could see which side their son's got their brains from.

**They bowed clumsily, muttering dully. **

"I don't know," Tonks said, leaning her cheek on her hand. "If Crabbe's and Goyle's parents are as intelligent as their offspring, then it may be to Dumbledore's advantage to have Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle working for Voldemort."

A smirk appeared on Sirius's face for a second.

**"****Yes, Master…" **

**"****We will, Master…" **

**"****The same goes for you, Nott," said Voldemort quietly as he walked past a stooped figure in Mr. Goyles shadow. **

**"****My Lord, I prostrate myself before you, I am your most faithful -" **

"Sure you are," Moody said rolling his eyes. "And I have pink wings and sing like a cherub."

Tonks burst out laughing at that, "Oh, I wish I could see that."

**"****That will do," said Voldemort. **

**He had reached the largest gap of all, and he stood surveying it with his blank, red eyes, as though he could see people standing there. **

**"****And here we have six missing Death Eaters… three dead in my service. **

"Good for the rest of us," Moody snarled, thinking of Rosier.

**One, too cowardly to return… he will pay. **

"Karkaroff," guessed Remus logically.

"Of course he would be to cowardly to return," Tonks said. "He sold out all the other Death Eaters for his freedom. I don't think they'd be pleased to see him back."

**One, who I believe has left me forever… he will be killed, of course… **

"Severus then…" Remus said, noticing Sirius roll his eyes.

**and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service." **

"Ah, Crouch Jr." Sirius hissed, once again feeling hatred rise inside him at the thought of the bastard.

**The Death Eaters stirred, and Harry saw their eyes dart sideways at one another through**** their masks. **

**"****He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friend arrived here tonight… **

"He's lucky that he's out of my reach," Sirius stated, wishing that he could've broken a few bones… or rip off an arm or leg as Padfoot.

**"****Yes," said Voldemort, a grin curling his lipless mouth as the eyes of the circle flashed in Harry's direction. "Harry Potter has kindly joined us for my rebirthing party. One might go ****so far as to call him my guest of honor." **

"Not willingly," Molly said savagely. Those two words brought everyone back to the fact that Harry was now in a situation of life and death. He was surrounded by Voldemort and his Death Eaters… all of whom, wanted him dead.

**There was a silence. Then the Death Eater to the right of Wormtail stepped forward, and Lucius Malfoy's voice spoke from under the mask. **

**"****Master, we crave to know… we beg you to tell us… how you have achieved this… this miracle… how you managed to return to us…" **

"I wouldn't call that a miracle," Tonks said loudly. "More like a gift from hell."

**"****Ah, what a story it is, Lucius," said Voldemort. "And it begins - and ends – with my young friend here." **

"He sure does love to hear himself talk doesn't he?" Tonks growled.

"Which is good," Moody stated. "Gives the kid more time to think of a way out of it."

"I don't care what he says, but if he touches him, I'm gonna…" Sirius began, tearing the arm of the couch so violently that he was sure that it was about to break off.

**He walked lazily over to stand next to Harry, so that the eyes of the whole circle were upon**** the two of them. The snake continued to circle. **

**"****You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall?" Voldemort said softly, his red eyes upon Harry, whose scar began to burn so fiercely that he almost screamed in ****agony. **

"That's because he was and is your downfall," Molly said firmly.

"Yeah!" Tonks called out. "How many times did you get your butt handed to you by him?"

"Oh, but he's angry," Moody pointed out. He could tell that the overgrown Snake wanted nothing more than to kill the boy then and there, and had he, then the kid would never have gotten away… thank goodness that he's pride's a big as his ego.

**"****You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in the attempt to save him – and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not foreseen… I could not touch the boy." **

They all leaned forward in their seats, wondering just what happened that Halloween night.

"But why?" Tonks asked quietly, "Why couldn't he?"

"It has something to do with Lily," Molly answered softly.

"Yes," Albus whispered. It was because Tom never expected something so pure as sacrificial love without being severely hurt.

**Voldemort raised one of his long white fingers and put it very close to Harry's cheek. **

**"****His mother left upon him the traces other sacrifice… This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it… but no matter. I can touch him now."**

Albus narrowed his eyes, anger boiling him inside at the memory of the night of the Third Task. How scared and broken the boy had seemed once he took him up to his office.

"He took Harry's blood," Kingsley whispered. "And Lily's sacrifice now lives in him to."

"That… that…" Molly was outraged. She couldn't stand this. Lily's life had been the final gift for her son—something that was meant for him alone. And Voldemort just took something so selfless… something pure and sacred even—and just soiled it. He took it for his own use.

**Harry felt the cold tip of the long white finger touch him, and thought his head would burst with the pain. **

"Get your filthy hands away from him!" Sirius yelled forcefully, wishing that he could've bitten off those fingers.

Molly whimpered in fear as Tonks and Arthur had closed their eyes, and Remus paused for moment as anxiety began to sink in. He took several calming breaths and forced himself to keep reading.

**Voldemort laughed softly in his ear, then took the finger away and continued addressing the Death Eaters.**

**"****I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself. **

"Oh she knew what she was doing," Molly said firmly. "And it was anything but foolish. She was protecting someone she loved."

"Which is more than you could ever do, Tom," Sirius snarled menacingly. Lily sure showed him a thing or two…

**Aaah… pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost… but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know… I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. **

Albus's eyes closed at those words, and he leaned back, deep in thought. Yet another one of Tom's flaws… his arrogance. Did he not realize how much he just said there? How much he was letting slip out?

"What is he talking about?" Tonks asked, sounding completely lost. "_'I who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality,'_ what does that mean? That he can't die like other people?"

"I think that's obvious," Moody said annoyed. "He should've died that night, but he didn't. He managed to survive as some kind of specter all this time and return to a body. Don't know how, but he's more immortal than normal people."

"But then how do we beat him?" Molly asked in panic. "If he can't die…?"

"Everyone has a weak point," he snapped gruffly. "The key to doing so is to discover his weakness. Everyone has one…"

"But even if we do discover his weakness, it still won't be easy to fight him," Kingsley said deeply.

Moody rubbed his scarred chin. "Yes, Voldemort is going to be very difficult to defeat if he cannot die like other people," Moody said thoughtfully. "He has no remorse about killing others, so if he can't be killed, that puts us at a terrible disadvantage."

**You know my goal - to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked… for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself… for I had no body, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of a wand… **

"Which Pettigrew provided him," Sirius sneered in disgust. Why couldn't they go back to the happier chapters? He didn't know how much longer he could stand to listen to Voldemort bragging.

**"****I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist… I settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited… Surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me… one of them would come and perform the magic I could not, to restore me to a body… but I waited in vain…" **

"He doesn't seem the type to depend on others," Arthur frowned.

"He didn't have a choice," Albus whispered to himself. Kingsley was thinking along the same lines and explained, "He was weak, and didn't even have a body. He had no choice but to wait. He was desperate."

"Funny how low someone will sink in their desperation," Moody said.

**The shiver ran once more around the circle of listening Death Eaters. Voldemort let the silence spiral horribly before continuing. **

**"****Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals - snakes, of course, being my preference – **

"I wonder why?" Arthur asked sarcastically.

"Why not?" Sirius asked. "Snakes are probably the closest things to relatives he's got."

**but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic… and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long… **

"He sounds so sorry for that doesn't he?" Remus asked, his voice quiet, but tone sardonic.

"Just so regretful," Sirius spat.

**"****Then… four years ago… the means for my return seemed assured. A wizard - young, foolish, and gullible - wandered across my path in the forest I had made my home. Oh, he ****seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of… for he was a teacher at Dumbledore's school… **

"Quirrell," Arthur stated slowly. "So that's how he ran into Voldemort."

"And was dumb enough to believe everything that snake said," Sirius said evilly. "So who's the bigger loser here?"

**he was easy to bend to my will… he brought me back to this country, and after a while, I**** took possession of his body, to supervise him closely as he carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I did not manage to steal the Sorcerer's Stone. I was not to be assured immortal life. I was thwarted… thwarted, once again, by Harry Potter…" **

"You think that would've been enough to show which one of them is the better one," Sirius demanded proudly.

"You think," Tonks said. "And they all probably think that… but they know that if they do, then they're dead."

"And that would be such a tragedy wouldn't it?" Moody asked.

**Silence once more; nothing was stirring, not even the leaves on the yew tree. The Death Eaters were quite motionless, the glittering eyes in their masks fixed upon Voldemort, and upon Harry. **

**"****The servant died when I left his body, and I was left as weak as ever I had been," Voldemort continued. **

'_You might say that Quirrell's life span was a bit shorter than he anticipated,'_ Moody thought with a smirk. Well, you can't say that he didn't learn his lesson.

**"I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didn't then fear that I might never regain my powers… Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hour… I could not hope that I would be sent another wizard to possess… and I had given up hope, now, that any of my Death Eaters cared what had become of me…" **

"How terrible for you," Sirius said mockingly. "No one cares about you? I wonder why?"

**One or two of the masked wizards in the circle moved uncomfortably, but Voldemort took no notice. **

"More likely he noticed but didn't care," Moody said with a smirk.

"The guilt trip," Sirius sighed, all too used that. He remembered how Remus always managed to make him feel bad about the trouble that they got into. Voldemort wanted them to fell that guilt, but also to make them fear it. It was like he was saying to them, _'you've had your warning… don't do it again… if you do, then I'll feed you to the snake.'_ Effective… though twisted…

**"****And then, not even a year ago, when I had almost abandoned hope, it happened at last… a servant returned to me. Wormtail here, who had faked his own death to escape justice, was driven out of hiding by those he had once counted friends, and decided to return to his master. **

Darkness was shining in each of their eyes at the mention of Wormtail. Sirius especially looked like some kind of wild beast ready to kill his prey.

**He sought me in the country where it had long been rumored I was hiding… helped, of course, by the rats he met along the way. Wormtail has a curious affinity with rats, do you not, Wormtail? His filthy little friends told him there was a place, deep in an Albanian forest, that they avoided, where small animals like themselves had met their deaths by a dark shadow that possessed them… **

"Was he forced to eat rats?" Tonks asked, glancing at Sirius.

"They aren't that bad if you eat them cooked," Sirius smirked and she recoiled at the idea.

**But his journey back to me was not smooth, was it, Wormtail? For, hungry one night, on the edge of the very forest where he had hoped to find me, he foolishly stopped at an inn for some food… **

"Well, he always was an idiot," Sirius said.

Moody knew better than to mention that if Wormtail was an idiot, what did that make Sirius for being outwitted by him? But he had a feeling that was going too far.

**and who should he meet there, but one Bertha Jorkins, a witch from the Ministry of Magic. **

"So that's how she ended up as You-Know-Who's victim," Arthur said sadly. "Because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Let us all hope that she is now able to rest in peace," Remus said gently. "Along with all the other victims of this war."

But they all knew better. They all knew that these people would never find peace until Voldemort was finished… for good.

**Now see the way that fate favors Lord Voldemort. This might have been the end of Wormtail, and of my last hope for regeneration. But Wormtail - displaying a presence of**** mind I would never have expected from him – convinced Bertha Jorkins to accompany him on a nighttime stroll. He overpowered her… he brought her to me. And Bertha Jorkins, who might have ruined all, proved instead to be a gift beyond my wildest dreams… for - with a little persuasion – **

Everyone turned green as they realized what he was getting at.

"So he tortured her?" Molly whispered.

"What else do you expect?" Sirius said irritably. He had a bad feeling that by the time he was finished with her, she was in the same, if not worse, shape as Alice and Frank Longbottom.

**she became a veritable mine of information. **

"And he found out about Crouch Jr. and came up with this sick plan," Tonks finished dully. Now it all made perfect sense. Why everything had happened the way they did last year.

"She always did like to gossip," Sirius croaked hoarsely. In the end, that was what killed her. What a way to go…

**"****She told me that the Triwizard Tournament would be played at Hogwarts this year. She told me that she knew of a faithful Death Eater who would be only too willing to help me, if I could only contact him.**

Halfway through, they all suddenly heard a dark, menacing growling sound… at first they thought that Sirius had transformed back into the dog and was growling… at least until they realized that it was coming from Mad-Eye.

"Filthy scum," Moody growled, as he ran his gnarled hand over his staff threateningly. "Should've bashed his head in when I had the chance."

**She told me many things… but the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and when I had extracted all useful information from her, her mind and body were both damaged beyond repair. She had now served her purpose. I could not possess her. I disposed of her." **

Everyone felt sick to their stomach at how he said that. Just like that… as if it was something that he did everyday… as if her life truly meant nothing…

**Voldemort smiled his terrible smile, his red eyes blank and pitiless. **

"Nothing," Moody said shaking his head. "He feels nothing for what he did. He just killed an innocent woman and he thinks it's some kind of joke."

"What a monster," Molly whispered, a hand over her mouth. She truly couldn't think of anything else to call him. He wasn't anything but a monster.

Albus felt the usual pang of pain at those words. Tom… why?

**"****Wormtail's body, of course, was ill adapted for possession, as all assumed him dead, and would attract far too much attention if noticed. However, he was the able-bodied servant I needed, and, poor wizard though he is, **

"Well, that's one thing right about him," Sirius said grumpily. Why couldn't he see what kind of vermin that Wormtail was from the start?

**Wormtail was able to follow the instructions I gave him, which would return me to a rudimentary, weak body of my own, a body I would be able to inhabit while awaiting the essential ingredients for true rebirth… a spell or two of my own invention… a little help from my dear Nagini," Voldemorts red eyes fell upon the continually circling snake,**

Arthur shivered and Tonks stated, "Talk about being prepared. He came up with these inventions in case that something like this happened?"

"Never hurts to prepare for anything?" Moody grunted, pulling out his flask.

"**A potion concocted from unicorn blood, and the snake venom Nagini provided… I was soon returned to an almost human form, and strong enough to travel. **

"A human form? In what reality?" Sirius asked, thinking of the creature that was dropped into the cauldron. "I don't have the slightest clue what he was, but a human isn't one of them."

**There was no hope of stealing the Sorcerer's Stone anymore, for I knew that Dumbledore would have seen to it that it was destroyed. But I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. I set my sights lower… I would settle for my old body back again, and my old strength. **

"And that wasn't ambitious enough for you?" Tonks asked, her eyebrows raised. "I hate to see what his usual expectations are."

**"****I knew that to achieve this - it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight - I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail? Flesh given by a servant… **

"Still sick," Tonks shuddered at the mention of Wormtail hacking off his own hand.

**My father's bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here, where he was buried. **

"Disgusting," Remus muttered, his eyes narrowed at that.

**But the blood of a foe… Wormtail would have had me use any wizard, would you not, Wormtail? Any wizard who had hated me… as so many of them still do. **

"Everyone hates you but for my twisted cousin," Sirius snapped. "But no… you had to be picky didn't you?"

"If he had, then he would've returned so much earlier, and we wouldn't have had any clue would we?" Tonks asked them all.

"But that doesn't mean that he would've been able to harm Harry," Kingsley pointed out. "It's because of him that Voldemort didn't get it through quickly."

"Shows how scared he is of him," Sirius said smugly.

**But I knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I wanted Harry Potter's blood. **

Molly shook her head. Tears now forming. All this pain and suffering for that dear boy and for what? Just why was he so determined to kill Harry?

"You ever think that Harry did something really bad in a past life and that's why he's always getting into so much trouble?" Tonks suggested. "And this is like karma getting back to him?"

"If he was, then it was probably Ron's fault," Sirius smirked slightly. "He must've been there to…"

"Ok," Remus said gently, though slightly amused by their argument. "We get it."

**I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago… for the lingering protection his mother once gave him would then reside in my veins too… **

"Sacrilege," Molly whispered again. To her, this truly wasn't any different than destroying something innocent.

**"****But how to get at Harry Potter? For he has been better protected than I think even he knows, protected in ways devised by Dumbledore long ago, when it fell to him to arrange the boy's future. **

Sirius's eyes narrowed at that; anger at Dumbledore back now.

**Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the boy's protection as long as he is in his relations' care. Not even I can touch him there… **

"So that's why he had to keep going back to them?" Molly sighed; there was a reason to keep Harry in that house… but surly there were other ways?

"I don't get it," Tonks said at once.

"He's protected by his mother's blood," Kingsley sighed. "It's clever really… since Petunia is the only living relative that Lily had left, Harry was protected there. Her sacrifice lives on and able to keep out anyone from doing him harm."

"At least from outside the house," Sirius snarled again.

"Would Voldemort be able to get there now, because he shares Harry's blood?" asked Remus worried.

"I can't be sure, but I doubt it," Kingsley said after thinking it over. "I mean, he wasn't able to go near Privet Drive over the summer. The intent of the visit would be to cause harm, which means he wouldn't be able to enter the perimeter of the wards if he wishes to harm Harry."

**Then, of course, there was the Quidditch World Cup… I thought his protection might be weaker there, away from his relations and Dumbledore, but I was not yet strong enough to attempt kidnap in the midst of a horde of Ministry wizards. And then, the boy would return to Hogwarts, where he is under the crooked nose of that Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. **

'_What good has it done so far?'_ Sirius thought with anger of the first few years. The Stone in first year, a Basilisk in his second, Dementors third year, and then the tournament last year! He could only hope that this year was somewhat good for hid godson. For good grief, he deserves a break.

**So how could I take him? Why… by using Bertha Jorkins's information, of course. Use my one faithful Death Eater, stationed at Hogwarts, to ensure that the boy's name was entered into the Goblet of Fire. Use my Death Eater to ensure that the boy won the tournament - that he touched the Triwizard Cup first - the cup which my Death Eater had turned into a Portkey, which would bring him here, beyond the reach of Dumbledore's help and protection, and into my waiting arms. **

Albus shut his eyes, his heart now aching something terrible. It was ingenious… though painful at the same time.

**And here he is… the boy you all believed had been my downfall…"**

"And he _will_ be your downfall," Sirius snapped loudly. "He's beaten you before, and he'll do it again!"

"Hear! Hear!" Tonks cheered out loud, most of them smiling along with them.

**Voldemort moved slowly forward and turned to face Harry. He raised his wand. **

It was here that Remus stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened in horror at the next word he saw, his jaw dropped… unable to speak.

Everyone immediately tensed, knowing something bad had happened.

"Remus?" Tonks asked, her smile fading as she took his hand. "What is it? What happened?"

Remus tried to speak, but the only think that came out was a faint gargling noise.

"What is it?" Sirius demanded, hitting his friend in the shoulder. "What did he do?"

Remus just shook his head. "I… I can't… he never… I had no idea…"

"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked anxiously. No one knew what was wrong, until Remus finally managed to choke out one word. What he next read, managed to make everyone react even worse than when Cedric had been killed in the book. And though it came out in a stutter, they all understood…

**"****C-c-cru-crucio!" **

"NO!" Practically every person screamed.

Sirius dove for the book, actually ripping the book in half in his panic, and most of the previous chapters were now floating down to the floor. But he didn't care, he held onto the rest of the book—the parts they haven't read yet and was staring at the one word, his hands shaking, his knuckles white.

"What?" shouted Molly unable to say anything else; she had already started outright sobbing at the idea of Harry getting tortured.

The rest of the room was staring at what was left of the book in shock. No one should feel that curse, let alone a fourteen year old boy.

"Why didn't he tell us this?" Sirius screamed. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in a corner and die when he saw the proof… the word written there in black in white. "Why didn't he tell me about this?"

Albus shut his eyes tightly in pain and let tears fall down towards his long white beard; Kingsley had an almost pained expression on his face; Mad-Eye had bowed his head slightly—his expression unreadable. Tonks had turned so white that she looked ghostly, and her bright, blonde hair, had turned black. Molly held onto her husband and cried as Arthur stared at the book with an expression of horror.

Sirius couldn't stand it anymore. He flung it away from him. All this time… all this time, his godson had been tortured that night and he never knew? He was there… he was there in Dumbledore's office that night, why didn't Harry think to tell him this?

No one said a word. Remus looked away, refusing to read another word. After a short time, Kingsley bent down and picked it up. He turned the feeble pages, hardly anything was left of the book as most of its contents were still on the floor. Knowing that someone had to finish this, he decided to continue on. He knew that the quicker they get it over with, the better it would be for all of them to understand.

**It was pain beyond anything Harry had ever experienced; his very bones were on fire; his head was surely splitting along his scar; **

Albus held his hand up to hide his eyes, looking graver than anyone had ever seen him, the lines of his face standing out in stark pain. Tonks was clinging to a visibly tormented Remus and Sirius just sat there, staring ahead of himself as if he had been petrified.

**his eyes were rolling madly in his head; he wanted it to end… to black out… to die… **

"No," Sirius said, gripping his hair, horrified at what he was hearing. That Harry actually wished to die. He was the strongest person he had ever known, and he was wishing that he could die? Was the pain truly so awful that death was preferable? Sirius once again had his head in his hands; he loved Harry more than anything, and to hear he had wanted to die, made him which that he could just beat his head against the wall until he bleed to death.

Molly and Arthur were both looking as though someone had already started hurting them. Molly, especially, was now looking like a mother bear that had seen a hunter going after one of her cubs. Remus could only hide his face in his hands, knowing that if Lily and James were listening to this, it would've broken their hearts. Kingsley took several breaths, quickly checking to see how many chapters were left.

"We're almost done here," he said, with a determined tone in his soothing voice.

**And then it was gone. He was hanging limply in the ropes binding him to the headstone of Voldemort's father, looking up into those bright red eyes through a kind of mist. The night ****was ringing with the sound of the Death Eaters' laughter. **

"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY?!" screamed Sirius's voice, causing them all to jump. But Molly was on Sirius's side and didn't notice.

"That is not funny!" she shouted with tears in her eyes, how dare they find a child's pain amusing?

"I'd love to see how they felt if it were their sons feeling it," Sirius barked, looking quite mad. "I'm sure that they won't think it's so funny then!"

Kingsley knew that his only chance to get Sirius to calm down was to finish the chapter as soon as possible and hope they get back to Hogwarts soon.

**"****You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me," said Voldemort. **

"He's a hell of a lot stronger than you will ever be," Sirius said firmly.

**"But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help him, and no mother to die for him. **

"How _dare_ he bring Lily into this?" Sirius howled. "He doesn't deserve to say her name."

"He calls it a _lucky chance_ that Lily sacrificed herself?" Remus growled furiously, shaking in anger. "No one forced her to do that! She had a mind of her own and if she had to, she'd have died for him a thousand more times."

"She was a mother," Molly said softly. "Of course she would…"

**I will give him his chance. He will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. **

"And yet Harry escaped you, again and again! Who's the stronger one in this situation?" Tonks yelled out triumphantly.

**Just a little longer, Nagini," he whispered, and the snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching. **

Not even Arthur shivered at the mention of that snake. His own fear seemed insignificant compared to the agony he was listening to.

**"****Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand."**

"He gave him back his wand?" Tonks whispered incredulously.

"He didn't think that it would make much of a difference," Moody explained.

"But why give him a chance?" Tonks asked him. "Wouldn't it have been easier to kill him then and there while he couldn't move?"

Molly, Remus, and Sirius all quivered that that.

"I don't think that he's a human anymore. But, believe it or not, he's still a male," Moody said, taking a long swig of whatever was in his flask. "And he's never gonna be satisfied until he knows who wields a bigger sword.

"But he has a chance to defend himself," Molly said firmly. "This was how he escaped."

Molly could feel her eyes beginning to tear up at the thought of what would've happened if it had been Harry's body she had seen back at the maze. While the boy may not have been her child by blood, he had impacted the lives of her whole family, there was just no way they could ever give him up. He was in desperate need of a family, and they already thought of him as a brother… a son even…

"Another stupid mistake of the Snake, giving him his wand, though," Moody said with a evil smirk. "He could have just killed him but he decides to fight him and then losses making himself look like an idiot who can't even beat a fourteen year old in a duel."

"That's the end of this chapter," Kingsley said. "How about I continue right onto the next? But I think this will be the last chapter I read in this book. We have about four more chapters left."

They all nodded, glad that he was offering.

"I'll finish the chapter after you," Remus said, turning red that he wasn't able to read all the way through. "Since I didn't finish this one."

Kingsley gave him a kind look as Sirius offered to take the chapter after him.

"Which will leave the last chapter?" Kingsley asked. "Funny, now that I think about it, Dumbledore was usually the one to read the last chapter."

Albus blinked in realization of that as well.

"We'll figure it later," Sirius said at once, leaning over and scooping up all the papers and just flung them on the table. "The sooner that we get this over with the happier I'll be."

Kingsley nodded as he turned the page of the mostly destroyed book. "**Chapter 34: ****Prior ****Incantatem**."

**(End of another chapter. I got it up a day early! I got finished with work a little earlier than I thought I would so I thought that I would just get this out of the way. Also, I took down those two Author notes, here they are below in case you missed them… I just want to thank everyone again who sent me in a suggestion. Also, I think that this was the one chapter that everyone has been looking forward too because of Harry being tortured. I hope that I didn't disappoint you all. and for those of you who have been writing and telling me, yes I know that there are two different versions of the order of Harry's parents when they come out of the wand.)**

_**Question:**_

_**Attention fans,**_

_**I need some advice.**_

_**Lately, I've been getting a lot of PM's on doing a Harry Potter fairytale story. I've thought about it, and I've decided that if I get the right kind of inspiration, I'll come up with one.**_

_**So if any of you have a favorite Harry Potter couple, and want to see them in your favorite fairytale like Peter Pan, Cinderella, or even something out of the box like Anastasia, the please drop in your suggestions. I promise that it won't be the usual fairytale that you're used to.**_

_**It can be any couple from the HP universe and any fairytale.**_

_**Examples like:**_

_**Lily x James**_

_**Ron x Hermione**_

_**Harry x Ginny**_

_**Molly x Arthur**_

_**Remus x Tonks**_

_**Etc... etc... etc...**_

_**I'd like to see what kind of ideas you all come up with. **_

_**Thanks for reading this, and for any ideas you have in store. And also thank you for supporting my 'reading the books' fic. **_

_**Thanks again.**_

_**Answer:**_

_**Dear Readers,**_

_**First, I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who offered their ideas. Some of them were really creative. I've gone over all the suggestions, and I'm thinking about writing several. Here are some of the suggestions I've received in the last couple days**_

_**Here are some of the suggestions that I got"**_

_**Harry x Ginny in a Cinderella twist.**_

_**Remus x Tonks in the world of Aladdin.**_

_**Lily x James in the Swan Princess.**_

_**Harry x Ginny in Pocahontas.**_

_**Ron x Hermione in Sleeping Beauty.**_

_**Bill x Fleur in Mulan.**_

_**Lily x James in the Little Mermaid.**_

_**Remus x Tonks in Red Riding Hood (How'd you come up with that one? ;-)**_

_**Lily x James in the Princess and the Frog.**_

_**One was about Harry x Ginny in the King Arthur story…**_

_**But I think that the most original one was the Remus x Tonks in Rapunzel…**_

_**I liked all the suggestions, but I was really impressed with just three main ones. I went over every idea, and I decided to do a mini-series on the story themes I liked the best. How do these sound? **_

_**The winners are:**_

_**Harry x Ginny in Sleeping Beauty**_

_**Ron x Hermione in Anastasia**_

_**James x Lily in Peter Pan**_

_**So those are the three stories that I'm now starting to work on. Don't know when I'll start putting any of them up. But when I do, please be kind enough to put in your opinions. Thanks you again to anyone who's sent in their ideas.**_


	39. Prior Incantatem

**Chapter 38: Prior Incantatem**

Kingsley nodded as he turned the page of the mostly destroyed book. "**Chapter 34: ****Prior ****Incantatem**."

They all glanced at each other nervously, not knowing what was going to happen, and how to react to what will.

"That's the spell that shows what the last spell to be cast by your wand is?" Remus said slowly. Dumbledore had told them what had happened that night, but he never went into much details.

"Harry and Voldemort have brother wands," Sirius muttered, remembering what Harry told him that night after the task. "That's what saved him."

"So?" Tonks asked confused. "What difference does that make?"

"Use your head, Nymphadora," Moody said. She glared furiously at him. "Stop calling me Nymphadora! I hate that name."

"Then start thinking before you speak then maybe I'll stop," he shot back. "Course, that's about as likely as you becoming a ballerina."

"SHUT UP!" she yelled.

Arthur then leaned forward to address her, "Tonks," he said, "If they're brother wands, then they won't work properly work against each other. Because of that, Harry was able to escape."

"I'm just glad that he got away and is safe," Molly whispered, holding his hand. Just thinking how close the poor boy came to dying that night scared her to the core.

**Wormtail approached Harry, who scrambled to find his feet, to support his own weight before the ropes were untied. Wormtail raised his new silver hand, pulled out the wad of material gagging Harry, and then, with one swipe, cut through the bonds tying Harry to the gravestone. **

**There was a split second, perhaps, when Harry might have considered running for it, but his injured leg shook under him as he stood **

"But how?" Tonks whispered, her voice seemed to sound louder than usual in this silent atmosphere. "Didn't he hurt his leg? He was bitten by the spider in the maze."

"Oh, my goodness," Molly whimpered, her hands to her face as she remembered. "And he hurt his ankle to. How could he even stand?"

"That's impressive," Moody stated, examining his flask. "Not only is he standing against Voldemort, and, what was it? Thirty Death Eaters with an injured leg? That's something you don't hear every day."

"Would you shut up?" Sirius asked, his eyes twitching horribly.

**on the overgrown grave, as the Death Eaters closed ranks, forming a tighter circle around him and Voldemort, so that the gaps where the missing Death Eaters should have stood were filled. **

"That's not fair!" Molly screamed out. "He's alone against all of them! He's facing Voldemort and surrounded by Death Eaters! How does that prove he's better?"

"That's the point," Arthur said. "He's showing how much power he's got."

"All the more humiliating for them when the kid gets away," Moody smirked.

**Wormtail walked out of the circle to the place where Cedric's body lay and returned with Harry's wand, which he thrust roughly into Harry's hand without looking at him. **

Sirius growled threateningly, feeling close to breaking something again. Mostly Wormtail's skull… "What's wrong, Wormtail?" he asked sarcastically. "The kid saves your life after you took everything away from him and you can't look him in the eye? I wonder why?"

**Then Wormtail resumed his place in the circle of watching Death Eaters. **

**"****You have been taught how to duel Harry Potter?" said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness. **

"Sort of," Tonks said, thinking to the second book and what happened there. "They learned how a duel works but…"

"You know, I don't know which teacher was worse," Sirius said dully. "Lockhart or Snape. Why couldn't they have just put each other in the hospital?"

"I can't believe that he's making him duel like this," Molly said, her face red from anger.

"This is the point," Kingsley sighed. "He was toying with him." He then added in his mind, _'Like how a cat will play with its food before it kills it.'_ However, he didn't dare say that.

"Molly," Arthur said, taking her hand. "It's over remember? Harry's safe."

"I know," she sighed. "But that doesn't make it any easier to listen to."

**At these words Harry remembered, as though from a former life, the dueling club at Hogwarts he had attended briefly two years ago… **

Sirius snorted at that. "Oh, fat lot of good that was huh?"

"Why couldn't it have been Flitwick?" Remus asked desperately. "At least they would've learned something and no one would've been sent to the hospital."

**All he had learned there was the Disarming Spell, "Expelliarmus"… **

Albus looked up and smiled at that. That one spell was what saved him… a spell that merely disarms instead of doing real harm, unless you will it… that's just like Harry.

"Which turned out to actually be quite useful," Kingsley said.

"But the kid should learn some new spells," Moody said. "I doubt that it will help again. If your opponent knows all your tricks, then you are like meat on a stick."

**and what use would it be to deprive Voldemort of his wand, even if he could, when he was surrounded by Death Eaters, outnumbered by at least thirty to one? **

Molly looked ready to faint. "Thirty?" she mouthed to Arthur, looking terrified.

He gave her a sad look and took her hand even tighter than before. "It's ok," he whispered. "Just keep telling yourself that."

**He had never learned anything that could possibly fit him for this. He knew he was facing the thing against which Moody had always warned… the unblockable Avada Kedavra curse – and Voldemort was right - his mother was not here to die for him this time… He was quite unprotected… **

'_That wasn't true,' _Albus couldn't help but think.

"He's wrong about one part," Tonks said, trying to make them feel better. "About the unblockable part that is. You can survive it, Harry's living proof of that."

"But I doubt that it will work again," Moody snapped. "What are the odds of it working again?" At his words, everything seemed to bring back just how much danger Harry was in. For some, like Sirius and Molly, it made their throats constrict and feel as if they couldn't breathe. But there was cold dread inside all their hearts… thinking of how close it was for this outcome to have turned out differently.

"But he's doing pretty good giving the situation," Moody said, examining his flask. "He's staying calm and looking at his opinions, however few there are."

"This isn't one of your stupid test though Mad-Eye," Tonks reminded him bluntly.

"Never said it was," Moody grunted, taking a long sip.

**"****We bow to each other. Harry," said Voldemort, bending a little, but keeping his snakelike face upturned to Harry. "Come, the niceties must be observed… Dumbledore would like you to show manners… Bow to death, Harry…" **

Sirius growled, his eyes almost turning red in anger. "I can't believe he said that," he hissed between teeth that were clenched so tightly that they could hardly understand his words. "Harry would never bow to him in a duel. He's not going to bow to death… he's not going to die anytime soon."

Many shuddered, thanking God that Harry had come out of there alive, that he was now safe and sound.

**The Death Eaters were laughing again. Voldemorts lipless mouth was smiling. Harry did not bow. **

"That's right," Sirius nodded firmly. "Don't give in to him. Show him that he's not as special as he thinks."

**He was not going to let Voldemort play with him before killing him… he was not going to give him that satisfaction… **

And that line was what got Sirius's tense mood to relax and smile for a brief second.

"And he didn't even give Voldemort the satisfaction of killing him either," Kingsley muttered as he turned the page. "I wouldn't have wanted to be around him when he escaped."

"I wonder how many of his own Death Eater's he killed or tortured," Tonks said, suddenly thinking of a little kid throwing a tantrum. That sounds like something that he would've done if he didn't get what he wanted.

**"****I said, bow," Voldemort said, raising his wand - and Harry felt his spine curve as though a huge, invisible hand were bending him ruthlessly forward, and the Death Eaters laughed harder than ever. **

Moody rolled his eyes. He could see from this that Voldemort's power over people is as much mental as it is physical. It is a true reign of terror in which his attacks his enemies psychologically, using bullying and cult-style tactics to rally his followers. The first signs of a coward and a bully.

"How is this funny?" Molly demanded furiously. "A child being tortured and forced to bow like that? I bet they wouldn't think it was funny if it was one of them!"

"I think that they were glad that it wasn't them," Moody muttered softly.

**"****Very good," said Voldemort softly, and as he raised his wand the pressure bearing down upon Harry lifted too. "And now you face me, like a man… straight-backed and proud, the way your father died… **

Sirius gasped and felt as though someone was squeezing his heart. Voldemort was playing and teasing with Harry but this was crossing the line. Remus obviously felt the same.

"How dare he mention James?" Remus demanded sounding furious and sad. "When _he_ was the one who killed him?"

"James died with honor and trying to protect his family," Sirius spat out angrily, agreeing with Remus. James was ten times the man that Voldemort will ever be.

**"****And now - we duel." **

Kingsley, who knew where this was going, paused for a moment, suddenly wishing that he hadn't offered to read. There was deathly silence in the room as they all stared at him, wondering why he was taking so long. Sighing, he then almost had to force himself to keep reading.

**Voldemort raised his wand, and before Harry could do anything to defend himself, before he could even move, he had been hit again by the Cruciatus Curse. The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that he no longer knew where he was… White-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin, his head was surely going to burst with pain, he was screaming more loudly than he'd ever screamed in his life – **

"Stop it," Molly cried out; her hands over her ears, she hated hearing Harry been tortured and knowing that there is nothing she could do to have stopped it.

Anger, pain and sadness were all present on different people throughout the room. Arthur just held Molly as she fought the tears. Tonks had lowered her gaze to the floor, suddenly feeling ashamed. Remus and Sirius had closed their eyes, with pained expressions on their faces. But out of all of them, Sirius felt the worst. He buried his face in his hands, wondering—for what felt like the millionth time—why Harry never told him? Told him that he had been tortured and was hurting? To find out what his godson had to go through like this… to hear from his point of view without holding back…

Why did any of this have to happen?

**And then it stopped. Harry rolled over and scrambled to his feet; **

"He can actually walk after that?" Kingsley cried out, breaking off in mid-sentence. "That is almost unheard of! Most can barely move after being subjected to the Cruciatus Curse."

"Shut up, Kingsley!" Molly yelled for the first time, stunning them all into silence. But Kingsley didn't mind, understanding completely that was probably not the best thing to say. Instead, he turned his head back to the pages and continued.

**he was shaking as uncontrollably as Wormtail had done when his hand had been cut off; he staggered sideways into the wall of watching Death Eaters, and they pushed him away, back toward Voldemort. **

"And they call themselves human," muttered Sirius under his breath in disgust, "Or maybe they think of themselves as better than human. What a joke. They have the morals of cockroaches."

"Or slime," Tonks offered with a shrug. "Because that's what they are."

**"****A little break," said Voldemort, the slit-like nostrils dilating with excitement, "a little pause… That hurt, didn't it Harry? You don't want me to do that again, do you?" **

"I wish he got some of his own medicine!" Sirius hissed, his hands clenching into his fist. What he wouldn't give to torture Voldemort like that… she how he liked it.

**Harry didn't answer. He was going to die like Cedric, those pitiless red eyes were telling him so… he was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it… but he wasn't going to play along. He wasn't going to obey Voldemort… he wasn't going to beg… **

"Of course not," Arthur said smiling slightly. "Harry will do a lot of things, but begging isn't going to be one of them."

Remus and Sirius both nodded in approval, they knew that they would do the same thing, one thing was sure, Harry was definitely a marauder's son there.

**"****I asked you whether you want me to do that again," said Voldemort softly. **

**"****Answer me! Imperio" **

Albus bit back a groan. As far as he knew, no one had ever been able to throw Voldemort's Imperius Curse.

"What?" Molly asked, seeing the look on everyone's faces. "He can throw off the Imperius Curse can't he? What's the problem?"

"The problem is that Voldemort's curse is bound to be stronger than the fake Mad-Eye Moody," Kingsley told her. "It would take a will stronger than his own to bet him."

**And Harry felt, for the third time in his life, the sensation that his mind had been wiped of all thought… Ah, it was bliss, not to think, it was as though he were floating, dreaming… **_**just answer no… say no… just answer no…**_

_**I will not,**_** said a stronger voice, in the back of his head, **_**I won't answer…**_

Albus looked up. What? Was this something else that Harry neglected to tell them?

_**Just answer no…**_

"He's fighting it," Remus said, a grin slowly appearing on his face.

_**I won't do it, I won't say it… **_

_**Just answer no… **_

"He's fighting it," said Tonks in awe, "he is fighting Voldmort's infamous Imperius Curse! Come on, kid…"

**"****I WON'T!" **

Several of them gasped.

"He did it?" Arthur whispered.

"He did it," Kingsley confirmed. "That's what it says here. He fought it…"

"Not only that, he's thrown it off completely," Moody said, now grinning. Looks like his copycat Death Eater did one good thing.

"Yes! He broke it," Remus exclaimed beaming. "I can't believe that!"

"That's amazing," Arthur smiled widely.

"No one's ever done that before," Albus whispered, as pride crept its way into his heart. But there was one problem with that. Tom wasn't going to be pleased about that. He took several deep breaths to steady himself. Tom wasn't going to show any mercy after that. Tom thought that it had all been chance, and luck that Harry had been able to escape from him. But now, a fourteen year old boy threw off his legendary Imperius Cruse. He will want to kill him even more now, even if to save face, because Harry embarrassed him in front of his followers.

**And these words burst from Harry's mouth; they echoed through the graveyard, and the dream state was lifted as suddenly as though cold water had been thrown over him - back rushed the aches that the Cruciatus Curse had left all over his body - back rushed the realization of where he was, and what he was facing… **

**"****You won't?" said Voldemort quietly, and the Death Eaters were not laughing now. **

"Hah! Even the Death Eaters are shocked," Sirius grinned. "Take that you low-life, no good, sons of—"

"The way I see it, there are only two things that are going through their minds right then," Moody muttered. "They're probably thinking that maybe their master isn't as tough as he thinks he is. Or thinking that they were about to see the kid killed right then and there."

"I am warning you, Moody," Sirius said threateningly. "Shut up if you want to keep what's left of your body parts."

"I wonder what's going to happen now," said Moody as if he didn't hear Sirius. If Potter didn't make him angry before, he sure did now."

**"****You won't say no? Harry, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before you die… Perhaps another little dose of pain?" **

"Don't you dare," snarled Sirius, as Molly started crying again.

**Voldemort raised his wand, but this time Harry was ready; with the reflexes born of his Quidditch training, he flung himself sideways onto the ground; he rolled behind the marble headstone of Voldemort's father, and he heard it crack as the curse missed him. **

Kingsley shook his head. "Dodging is the best he can do right now. But he won't be able to keep this up forever, especially on that leg."

"Still, being able dodge a curse with a sprained and bleeding leg after being under multiple Unforgiveable Curses is impressive," Moody said, and Tonks was now starting to fear for her mentor's life at the glares that Sirius and Molly were giving him.

"Looks like Quidditch training can help you in the future," Sirius said. Now, he was determined that Harry becomes a Quidditch star after he left school. Away from war, able to play a game he loves… that's what he wanted.

But Albus was just thinking about what Moody said. After thinking about it, he realized that Harry was the only person to have ever survived all three of the Unforgivable Curses. He ran a hand through his white hair, suddenly feeling older than he ever felt before.

**"****We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry," said Voldemort's soft, cold voice, drawing nearer, as the Death Eaters laughed. "You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? **

"Duel?" Sirius repeated with a hiss. "Is that what you call it? To me it looked more like you were torturing a kid."

**Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harry… come out and play, **

"He's really treating it like it's nothing but a game," Remus whispered, shaking his head.

"I sure wouldn't want to play with him," Tonks said croakily. She knew that he wasn't one of those people who played fair… and if he won… your dead.

**then… it will be quick… it might even be painless… I would not know… I have never died…" **

"Why not?" Sirius demanded. "Would've done the world the biggest favor."

**Harry crouched behind the headstone and knew the end had come. There was no hope… no help to be had. And as he heard Voldemort draw nearer still, he knew one thing only, and it was beyond fear or reason: He was not going to die crouching here like a child playing hide-and-seek; he was not going to die kneeling at Voldemort's feet… **

Remus exchanged a look with Sirius, who was now staring at the wall in front of him.

"That sounds familiar doesn't it?" Remus asked him softly, sounding choked up.

"Y-yeah," Sirius said, his voice calm, but a single, stray tear leaked out of his eye and rolled down his face. "James and Lily… it's what they would say. They… they'd been so proud to have heard that."

**he was going to die upright like his father, and he was going to die trying to defend himself, even if no defense was possible… **

At those words, this time it was Albus who now felt close to crying. Which was saying a lot because he couldn't remember crying for a long, long time…

But he agreed with Sirius and Remus. That sounded like something that James would've said… something that Lily would've shouted to the rest of the world to hear. He was truly his parent's son.

"I wish I had half that courage," he whispered softly to himself.

Meanwhile, in the room, Tonks and Kingsley both looked at each other, knowing that if Harry ever applied for a job in the Auror department, they would take him on at once.

**Before Voldemort could stick his snakelike face around the headstone. Harry stood up… he gripped his wand tightly in his hand, thrust it out in front of him, and threw himself around the headstone, facing Voldemort. Voldemort was ready. As Harry shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Voldemort cried, "Avada Kedavra!"**

Tears continued to stream down Molly's face and she began shaking slightly as Arthur, who was looking anxious and pale, just held her tightly like how he did after they received the news that Molly's brothers had been killed.

Everyone seemed to be holding their breath as Kingsley went on hurriedly.

**A jet of green light issued from Voldemorts wand just as a jet of red light blasted from Harry's - they met in midair – **

For one wild moment, Albus thought about how the colors represented the opposing Houses of Hogwarts, and felt light-headed from holding his breath.

**and suddenly Harry's wand was vibrating as though an electric charge were surging through it; **

"What in Merlin's pants is going on here?" asked Tonks called out, but no one answered as Kingsley read: **his hand seized up around it; he couldn't have released it if he'd wanted to - and a narrow beam of light connected the two wands, neither red nor green, but bright, deep gold. **

Albus nodded, knowing that the wands wouldn't fight each other. He leaned closer to the door, determined to hear everything…

**Harry, following the beam with his astonished gaze, saw that Voldemort's long white fingers too were gripping a wand that was shaking and vibrating.**

**And then - nothing could have prepared Harry for this - he felt his feet lift from the ground. **

They gasped as they leaned in, all of their hearts beating faster—wondering what on earth was going on here, and what will happen next.

**He and Voldemort were both being raised into the air, their wands still connected by that thread of shimmering golden light. They glided away from the tombstone of Voldemort's father and then came to rest on a patch of ground that was clear and free of graves… **

"Now that's something you don't see every day," Moody muttered, but no one bothered saying a word to him.

**The Death Eaters were shouting; they were asking Voldemort for instructions; they were closing in, reforming the circle around Harry and Voldemort, the snake slithering at their heels, some of them drawing their wands – **

"Don't know what they'd do about it," Sirius said.

"Brainless idiots," Moody said shaking his head. "Even if they could do something, I doubt that they'd be able to figure it out."

**The golden thread connecting Harry and Voldemort splintered; though the wands remained connected, a thousand more beams arced high over Harry and Voldemort, crisscrossing all around them, until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage of light, beyond which the Death Eaters circled like jackals, their cries strangely muffled now… **

"This is what happens when a wand meets his brother. A very rare event called Prior Incantatem," Kingsley said almost reverently.

"Thus the chapter name," Tonks pointed out needlessly.

"Really, Tonks?" Moody asked, looking at her as if she was a little kid who just pointed out the sky was blue. Thankfully, Tonks didn't notice.

"Isn't that used to show the last spells performed?" Arthur asked.

"That's what Dumbledore," Sirius said, once again thinking back to what Harry told them in Dumbledore's office. "Something like, one of their wands will force the other to reveal the last spells they performed in reverse order."

"But how do you do it?" Molly asked confused, "How do they force their wands to do that?"

"It is based mostly on will and determination," Albus said, though he was just wasting his breath without her listening.

**"****Do nothing!" Voldemort shrieked to the Death Eaters, and Harry saw his red eyes wide with astonishment at what was happening, saw him fighting to break the thread of light still connecting his wand with Harry's; Harry held onto his wand more tightly, with both hands, and the golden thread remained unbroken. "Do nothing unless I command you!" Voldemort shouted to the Death Eaters. **

"He can't let them do the job for him when he already claimed he would finish him off," Sirius stated, knowing that this was good for them. "It would only serve to make him look pathetic that he couldn't kill a kid that one of his servants had been able to. His pride couldn't take it."

"He is the idiot for doing that though," Moody said. When he noticed the glares at him he went on, "I'm only saying that it will only serve to be an advantage to Potter in the future. It would've been easier to finish him off when he had the chance, but since he wanted to act like a drama queen, his plans are going down in flames."

**And then an unearthly and beautiful sound filled the air… It was coming from every thread of the light-spun web vibrating around Harry and Voldemort. It was a sound Harry recognized, though he had heard it only once before in his life: phoenix song. **

"Fawkes," Albus said softly, thinking back to the incident in the Chamber of Secrets. Of course the boy would recognize it.

"Why would he be hearing phoenix song?" asked Molly, still cradled in Arthur's arms. "That's not normal is it?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Moody said frowning.

"No, wait," Kingsley said, thinking it over. "Both wands have a phoenix tail feather as the core."

"How did he recognize the song though?" asked Remus, "I was under the impression that all phoenix songs were unique, if he recognized it then it must have come from Fawkes."

Albus smiled to himself at that.

**It was the sound of hope to Harry… the most beautiful and welcome thing he had ever heard in his life… He felt as though the song were inside him instead of just around him… It was the sound he connected with Dumbledore, and it was almost as though a friend were speaking in his ear… **

Albus smiled just a little wider at that realizing that Harry must be able to sense Fawkes and by extension… himself. He knew that phoenix song gives strength to the pure, ad also instills fear in the impure. His heart suddenly felt lighter, though he also felt a great deal of guilt inside at that—knowing now how much his presence meant to him that day.

_**Don't break the connection. **_

_**I know. **_**Harry told the music, **

"He's talking to music?" Tonks asked.

"If it helps him survive, who cares?" Sirius snapped. "He could've been talking to a piano for all I care so long as he got out of this mess alive."

_**I know I mustn't**_**… **

**But no sooner had he thought it, than the thing became much harder to do. **

Sirius bit his lip, his hands twisting the fabric so badly that he was tearing it off.

**His wand began to vibrate more powerfully than ever… and now the beam between him and Voldemort changed too… it was as though large beads of light were sliding up and down the thread connecting the wands - Harry felt his wand give a shudder under his hand as the light beads began to slide slowly and steadily his way… The direction of the beams movement was now toward him, from Voldemort, and he felt his wand shudder angrily… **

Albus looked up, his heart racing—wondering what on earth was happening here.

**As the closest bead of light moved nearer to Harrys wand tip, the wood beneath his fingers grew so hot he feared it would burst into flame. **

"If that happens, he's as good as dead," Moody said.

Sirius reached over, looking ready to throttle him, at least until Remus and Tonks both held him back, his claw-like hand now desperately trying to inch its way closer to him. But Kingsley continued and Sirius stopped almost at once at his words.

**The closer that bead moved, the harder Harry's wand vibrated; he was sure his wand would not survive contact with it; it felt as though it was about to shatter under his fingers – He concentrated every last particle of his mind upon forcing the bead back toward Voldemort, his ears full of phoenix song, his eyes furious, fixed… and slowly, very slowly, the beads quivered to a halt, and then, just as slowly, they began to move the other way… **

"That's amazing," Kingsley whispered; shaking his head. He's actually overpowering him. To have more determination and will than Voldemort himself? Now that is something that you don't see every day.

**and it was Voldemort's wand that was vibrating extra-hard now… Voldemort who looked astonished, and almost fearful… **

Albus continued to star at the wall in front of him as everyone talked about what they were reading in excitement. It seemed that Harry was remarkable indeed, apparently his will overpowered Tom's. He sighed. _'Tom,'_ he thought. _'You are such a fool. Much like myself. You believe yourself superior to everyone and that no one can stand against you. Your arrogance will be the end of you… but I can't help but pray that Harry will have the will to show you something different.'_

"He's bloody amazing," Tonks called out, snapping her fingers together, and her hair turning to a bright pink color again. "He's scaring Voldemort. Snake-face is actually scared of him! This is great! As far as I know, the only one who can do that is Dumbledore!"

"That's good for us," Moody said.

**One of the beads of light was quivering, inches from the tip of Voldemorts wand. Harry didn't understand why he was doing it, didn't know what it might achieve… but he now concentrated as he had never done in his life on forcing that bead of light right back into Voldemort s wand… and slowly… very slowly… it moved along the golden thread… it trembled for a moment… and then it connected… **

"He did it!" said Sirius in astonishment. "He did it! He showed him who's the stronger one!"

"But what will happen now?" Molly asked. "Now that the light has touched his wand?"

"We will see," Kingsley said, turning his eyes back to the book.

**At once, Voldemort's wand began to emit echoing screams of pain… **

Albus felt his hands shaking again, knowing who's screams those were.

**then - Voldemort's red eyes widened with shock - a dense, smoky hand flew out of the tip of it and vanished… the ghost of the hand he had made Wormtail… more shouts of pain… and then something much larger began to blossom from Voldemorts wand tip, a great, grayish something, that looked as though it were made of the solidest, densest smoke… It was a head… now a chest and arms… the torso of Cedric Diggory. **

Molly let out a squeal of shock as everyone, but Sirius, stared at each other.

"How is that possible?" Arthur asked softly.

"Prior Incantatem," Kingsley said quietly. "It is forcing Voldemort's wand to reveal the echoes of its past spells."

"Yes, everything we already read is being repeated here," Moody said in agreement.

"So you mean the last murders," responded Sirius darkly.

"They aren't alive though are they?" asked Molly cautiously.

"No," Moody answered grimly, not looking at anything but his flask. "Unfortunately, there is no spell that can bring back the dead. Think of them as like shadows who will disappear as soon as the connection is broken."

**If ever Harry might have released his wand from shock, it would have been then, but instinct kept him clutching his wand tightly, so that the thread of golden light remained unbroken, even though the thick gray ghost of Cedric Diggory (was it a ghost? it looked so solid) **

Albus nodded. It was more than a ghost, but at the same time, he wasn't truly alive.

**emerged in its entirety from the end of Voldemort s wand, as though it were squeezing itself out of a very narrow tunnel… and this shade of Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden thread of light, and spoke.**

**"****Hold on Harry," it said. **

Most of the room felt tears well in their eyes. Molly was rubbing her, already red eyes, and was wondering how she could keep finding tears to shed.

**Its voice was distant and echoing. Harry looked at Voldemort… his wide red eyes were still shocked… **

"He's now really scared," Tonks said grinning. "Bet he never saw that coming. His victims coming back… he shouldn't be too eager to see all of them again do you think?"

"I doubt that they're pleased to see him either," Moody said.

"Doesn't surprise me," Albus whispered. "Voldemort is scared of death so of course they would be scaring him."

**he had no more expected this than Harry had… and, very dimly Harry heard the frightened yells of the Death Eaters, prowling around the edges of the golden dome… More screams of pain from the wand… **

"Those are probably from torturing Wormtail," Sirius stated. It wasn't a question, it was a statement, and Sirius showed no signs of emotion, as if he couldn't have cared less.

**and then something else emerged from its tip… the dense shadow of a second head, quickly followed by arms and torso… an old man Harry had seen only in a dream was now pushing himself out of the end of the wand just as Cedric had done… and his ghost, or his shadow, or whatever it was, fell next to Cedric's, and surveyed Harry and Voldemort, and the golden web, and the connected wands, with mild surprise, leaning on his walking stick… **

"Frank Bryce," Molly said sadly.

"The guy, Frank from the first chapter?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"Who else could it be?" Moody asked.

**"****He was a real wizard, then?" the old man said, his eyes on Voldemort. "Killed me, that one did… You fight him, boy…" **

"He shouldn't have died," Tonks said sadly. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time…"

"Isn't that always how it works?" Mad-Eye stated coolly.

"He's helping him," Sirius said firmly. "And a bunch of innocent people have been murdered because of this demon. Can you show a little sympathy?"

"They're dead," he said bluntly. "Why would they need or want it?"

"Mad-Eye, you might want to run!" Tonks yelled as she and Remus had to jump on top of Sirius to prevent him from launching himself at Moody's throat.

He chuckled. "Like you could beat me?"

"You just keep digging your grave, Alastor," Kingsley said, now starting to worry. "You might want to start sleeping with one eye open tonight."

"I always do," he answered as if wondering why no one else did.

"Please, Sirius," Remus begged, panting for breath from holding Sirius down. "You might want to calm down."

"I want to kill him," Sirius snarled, still trying to go for Moody, his hand trying to go into his pocket for his wand, though it was hard now that Tonks had hold of his arm.

"Kingsley?" Arthur said anxiously. "Please go on before we all do something we might regret." And Kingsley obliged.

**But already, yet another head was emerging… and this head, gray as a smoky statue, was a woman's… **

"Bertha?" asked Remus curiously, as Sirius slowly started to calm down.

"Probably," said Arthur, shame filling him at the thought of what happened to that poor woman.

**Harry, both arms shaking now as he fought to keep his wand still, saw her drop to the ground and straighten up like the others, staring… The shadow of Bertha Jorkins surveyed the battle before her with wide eyes. **

**"****Don't let go, now!" she cried, and her voice echoed like Cedrics as though from very far away. "Don't let him get you, Harry - don't let go!" **

"He won't get Harry," Molly said nodding along with those words.

Sirius, who had finally gone limp in his friend's hands and had allowed them to push him back into his seat, then took back everything he ever said about Bertha. He gave her a silent thank you, hoping she heard it.

**She and the other two shadowy figures began to pace around the inner walls of the golden web, while the Death Eaters flitted around the outside of it… and Voldemort's dead victims whispered as they circled the duelers, whispered words of encouragement to Harry, and hissed words Harry couldn't hear to Voldemort. And now another head was emerging from the tip of Voldemorts wand… **

Sirius froze at that; suddenly feeling afraid at what he was about to hear. But he couldn't stop, he had to know…

"How far back will this thing go before it stops?" asked Remus, turning pale at the realization of who was coming now.

"It will go on indefinitely," guessed Kingsley, "At least until someone breaks the connection I mean…"

"Why? What's wrong?" Molly asked, noticing how terrible the two men look.

"There's only one person it could be now," Remus said taking a deep breath as Sirius was looking as though someone had hit him over the head with a frying pan.

"Who?" Tonks asked, before her eyes widened. "You mean…?" she asked, pointing at the pages and Remus nodded.

"What are you both…?" Arthur began, but Remus just shook his head. He had a feeling that he might not be able to hold back a flood of tears if he said her name.

**and Harry knew when he saw it who it would be… he knew, as though he had expected it from the moment when Cedric had appeared from the wand… knew, because the woman appearing was the one he'd thought of more than any other tonight…**

The room was silent, apart from some quiet sobs from Molly. But Sirius and Remus were staring at the pages with identical expressions of grief, knowing just how painful this must have been for Harry; how he would be able to see his parents again in such terrible circumstances.

"His mother," Tonks whispered.

It was too much for Molly, she let out a howl of sadness and pulled her handkerchief out to dap at her eyes.

"Lily," said Sirius in a quiet voice, tears forming in the corners of his eyes as Remus put his hand up to his face. Tonks leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder, and he took her hand for comfort, not caring that he was now allowing her so close. He needed her here…

**The smoky shadow of a young woman with long hair fell to the ground as Bertha had done, straightened up, and looked at him… and Harry, his arms shaking madly now, looked back into the ghostly face of his mother.**

Sirius smiled sadly. Though it was cruel that Harry was there in the first place, he at least was able to see them… even if it was just for a few minutes while fighting for his life, at least he could see his parents. Just to know that he did have a chance to speak with them, and know that they really did love him.

**"Your father's coming…" she said quietly. "He wants to see you… it will be all right… hold on…"**

Molly had tears in her eyes now at the sadness of the torn apart family. That was the mark of a real mother… even when everything looked at its worst, she was telling her son that he was going to be ok.

**And he came… first his head, then his body… tall and untidy haired like Harry, the smoky, shadowy form of James Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemort's wand, **

Sirius finally broke down in tears at those words. How he had longed to see James again and talk to him just once more. Though he knew it was terrible of him, he was jealous. Hearing about seeing Lily and James in Dumbledore's office was bad enough… but he felt sick with himself that he felt bitter and the raw jealousy. He knew that it was the last thing that he should've felt, and that he should be horrified instead…

But his selfish desire to see them caused him to wish that he had been there so that he could see their faces and speak to them one last time. It was all his fault and he knew it… no matter how many times they said it, and no matter who said it, he still blamed himself for their deaths.

**fell to the ground, and straightened like his wife. He walked close to Harry, looking down at him, and he spoke in the same distant, echoing voice as the others, but quietly, so that Voldemort, his face now livid with fear as his victims prowled around him, could not hear…**

**"When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments… but we will give you time… you must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts… do you understand, Harry?" **

"Once again, Voldemort was wrong," Arthur said sadly.

"About what?" Molly asked his softly, looking up at his shadowed face.

"The fact that his mother wasn't there to protect him," he answered back sorrowfully.

"Amazing parents," Kingsley said, almost in awe. "Even in death, they find a way to protect their son."

Sirius didn't say anything to that, he was just to full of grief to say a word.

**"****Yes," Harry gasped, fighting now to keep a hold on his wand, which was slipping and sliding beneath his fingers. **

**"****Harry…" whispered the figure of Cedric, "take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents…" **

**"****I will," said Harry, his face screwed up with the effort of holding the wand. **

"At least they were able to give him a burial," Remus stated grimly. He remembered after the first war how that there had been far too many people who had disappeared and were never found. And even when a body was recovered… they were unrecognizable. He glanced up at Molly and remembered her brothers… the only reason they knew that the remains they found were theirs was because they knew that they were there that night.

**"****Do it now," whispered his father's voice, "be ready to run… do it now…" **

**"****NOW!" Harry yelled; he didn't think he could have held on for another moment anyway - he pulled his wand upward with an almighty wrench, and the golden thread broke; the cage of light vanished, the phoenix song died - but the shadowy figures of Voldemort's victims did not disappear - they were closing in upon Voldemort, shielding Harry from his gaze – **

Molly was crying now; touched by how the Potters had been able to protect their only son even beyond the grave. How they never had the chance to be a family. It really was unbelievably that they had been forced so unfairly from their son-and then adding to that all of burden that was on Harry's shoulders. It just wasn't fair.

**And Harry ran as he had never run in his life, knocking two stunned Death Eaters aside as he passed; he zigzagged behind headstones, feeling their curses following him, hearing them hit the headstones - he was dodging curses and graves, pelting toward Cedric's body, no longer aware of the pain in his leg, his whole being concentrated on what he had to do – **

"Come on, Harry," Sirius whispered, praying that he could do that. "You're almost out of there."

**"****Stun him!" he heard Voldemort scream. **

**Ten feet from Cedric, Harry dived behind a marble angel to avoid the jets of red light and saw the tip of its wing shatter as the spells hit it. **

"Not bad kid," Moody said, impressed against his will. "Not bad at all."

**Gripping his wand more tightly, he dashed out from behind the angel – **

**"****Impedimenta!" he bellowed, pointing his wand wildly over his shoulder at the Death Eaters running at him. **

**From a muffled yell, he thought he had stopped at least one of them, but there was no time to stop and look; **

"Yes, just focus on getting out of there!" Molly almost shouted, they were almost there, she didn't think she could take any more stress from chapters like this.

**he jumped over the cup and dived as he heard more wand blasts behind him; more jets of light flew over his head as he fell, stretching out his hand to grab Cedric's arm… **

**"****Stand aside! I will kill him! He is mine!" shrieked Voldemort. **

"Didn't he just say that he wanted someone to stun him?" Tonks asked.

"If he just let them do something to stop him then he might not have gotten away," Moody shrugged. He was lucky that Sirius wasn't paying attention to his words, and only on the book.

**Harry's hand had closed on Cedric's wrist; one tombstone stood between him and Voldemort, but Cedric was too heavy to carry, and the cup was out of reach – Voldemort's red eyes flamed in the darkness. Harry saw his mouth curl into a smile, saw him raise his wand. **

"NO!" Sirius was close to losing what was left of his sanity.

**"****Accio!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the Triwizard Cup. It flew into the air and soared toward him. Harry caught it by the handle – **

The room let out a collective sigh of relief at those last five words, but Kingsley kept reading straight away.

**He heard Voldemort s scream of fury at the same moment that he felt the jerk behind his navel that meant the Portkey had worked - it was speeding him away in a whirl of wind and color, and Cedric along with him… They were going back.**

"Don't stop!" cried Molly. "Keep going!" Though she knew that Harry was alive, there was no way that he could come out of that horror without becoming scarred for life. She wished that he was here now so that she could hug him.

"That is the end of the chapter," he said, not at all disappointed to see the end of the chapter. As he let that sink in, he put the remainder of the book on the table and pulled out his wand to repair all the damage that had been done. Though even after it was put back together, it still looked extremely worn and battered.

"Thank Merlin," said Tonks, who was still holding tightly onto Remus. "I didn't know how much more I could take. This book is almost over right?"

"Only three more chapters," Kingsley nodded, he then looked to Remus and asked, "Do you want to read next?"

"No," he answered, his voice quivering slightly. He then took a deep breath and went on much calmer, "But I will."

"I'm just still blown away," Arthur said after a moment of quiet. "That he really did pull it off. He escaped. Not only did he overpower Voldemort, he managed to escape as well, despite the fact that he wanted him killed."

Most people nodded in agreement; everyone was an array of emotions now. The fear that had been felt for the last few chapters, faded slightly. But the one question that was on all their minds was _why?_ Why had those terrible things had to happen? Why did any of this have to happen?

After some time, Remus sighed as he took the broken book from the table and looked up the next chapter. "The sooner we finish, the sooner that we can mourn what happened," he said bitterly before he cleared his throat and read out, "**Chapter 35: Veritaserum**."

**(What do you think? I've been doing a lot of updating lately, and that has really made me feeling proud, but I'm afraid that I'm going back to college very soon, so I might not be able to update as much as I have been. And for the millionth time… if you want to know if I'm doing any other books besides these four, you have to wait until the last chapter. No sooner. So you can stop asking me that question, because it will not help get the story out any sooner.)**


	40. Veritaserum

**Chapter 39: Veritaserum**

After some time, Remus sighed as he took the broken book from the table and looked up the next chapter. "The sooner we finish, the sooner that we can mourn what happened," he said bitterly before he cleared his throat and read out, "**Chapter 35: Veritaserum**."

"Isn't that the truth serum?" asked Tonks in surprise. "What do they need that for?"

"To use it on the fake," Moody grumbled irritably. "Even though they found him too late to do any real good."

"At least he won't ever be able to hurt anyone anymore," Arthur reminded him softly. "And he won't ever be able to serve Voldemort again."

"Small comfort," he muttered under his breath.

**Harry felt himself slam flat into the ground; his face was pressed into grass; the smell of it**** filled his nostrils. He had closed his eyes while the Portkey transported him, and he kept them closed now. He did not move. **

Molly shook her head fearfully, remembering seeing how still he had laid there. She had been talking to Hermione, filled with worry at how long it was all taking and then suddenly both boys were there at the beginning of the maze.

They tried to fight their way through the thick crowd, and when they heard someone shouting out that he was dead, she had been sure that it had been Harry. That had truly been a terrible experience for all of them.

**All the breath seemed to have been knocked out of him; his head was swimming so badly he felt as though the ground beneath him were swaying like the deck of a ship. To hold himself steady, he tightened his hold on the two things he was still clutching: the smooth, cold handle of the Triwizard Cup and Cedric's body. He felt as though he would slide away into the blackness gathering at the edges of his brain if he let go of either of them. **

"Trauma is often like that," Kingsley said softly. He knew that you needed to hold onto something, to remind you that you weren't dead… that it hadn't all just been in your head… you needed something real…

**Shock and exhaustion kept him on the ground, breathing in the smell of the grass, waiting… ****waiting for someone to do something… something to happen… and all the while, his scar burned dully on his forehead…**

Sirius bit his lip in frustration , there had to be a way to stop from Harry's scar from hurting even though it had saved Arthur's life. The fact that his godson was connected with Voldemort through the scar, and that it hurt him was more than enough reason to wish that there was a way to sever that connection.

**A torrent of sound deafened and confused him; there were voices everywhere, footsteps, screams… He remained where he was, his face screwed up against the noise, as though it were a nightmare that would pass… **

"I wish that was just a dream," said Molly softly. Why did that devil have to come back? Why couldn't he just leave them all in peace?

"What was it like for the spectators?" asked Remus looking over at her. "What were you all thinking when you saw him return?"

Sirius didn't look up, even when Molly started to answer. He wasn't there in the stands, but he heard it all from the pumpkin patch…

"Madness," Molly said, clearly upset. "No one could see anything, but we could all hear things going on. Explosions, shouting… but then there was complete silence for ages and everyone wondered what had happened… it just didn't feel right, we didn't know if they had all been injured or what. And it just got worse when I noticed how pale Ron and Hermione had gotten. I didn't really time it, but it felt like forever in any case, Harry suddenly appears out of nowhere clutching the cup and one hand, and his, Cedric's, body in the other. He was there but he wasn't moving…" she wiped her eyes on her handkerchief. "For a second there we all though…"

Sirius shivered at that image, mostly because those kinds of thoughts had been haunting his mind.

**Then a pair of hands seized him roughly and turned him over. **

**"****Harry! Harry!" **

**He opened his eyes. He was looking up at the starry sky, and Albus Dumbledore was crouched over him. **

"Thank goodness," said Tonks, letting out a sigh of relief. "He's back and safe now."

Albus shut his eyes. Not yet… there was still one last battle that night…

**The dark shadows of a crowd of people pressed in around them, pushing nearer; Harry felt the ground beneath his head reverberating with their footsteps. **

**He had come back to the edge of the maze. He could see the stands rising above him, the shapes of people moving in them, the stars above. Harry let go of the cup, but he clutched Cedric to him even more tightly. He raised his free hand and seized Dumbledore's wrist, while Dumbledore's face swam in and out of focus. **

**"****He's back," Harry whispered. "He's back. Voldemort." **

'_Scared me half to death at those words,' _Albus thought. He couldn't believe how afraid he had been that night.

_*Flashback*_

_For a moment, it was as if everything else around him was falling away around him. This was not what was supposed to happen; the champion who touched the Cup was supposed to trigger the end of the maze enchantments, not be whisked back here in front of them…_

_That was when there were shouts going on around him, pointing to the two boys who were lying there, still as stone. He ran, almost flew to get there before anyone else did—by the time he got there, neither boy had moved a muscle…_

_'No,' he silently begged as terror tore at his heart. 'No… they can't be… don't be dead… please don't be dead…'_

_He crouched down besides them and seized Harry, perhaps a little too roughly in his desperation, and turned him over, "Harry! Harry!"_

_For a moment, nothing happened… he just laid there as limp as a rag doll, his face was as white as a sheet, his glasses askew, and blood dripping from an injured leg… but then his green eyes slowly cracked open and were squinting at him, as if having trouble making him out_

_A breath that he hadn't even realized that he was holding was released as he felt relief. He's alive… but what on earth had happened? It didn't look as though Harry could focus on him… and he was gasping for breath as though he was having trouble breathing…_

_Albus turned his head, searching for Madam Pomfrey over the heads of the pressing crowd to come over, but then Harry did something that stopped him dead in his tracks. He had let go of the cup, and instead clutched at his wrist like it was his lifeline._

_As if he hadn't even noticed the crowd pressing in around them, as though desperate to tell him something… what he said felt as if his whole world came tumbling down around him… he croaked out, "He's back… he's back. Voldemort."_

_Albus stared at him… to horrified to do anything else as those words echoed inside his head. "He's back… He's back. Voldemort."_

_No… this can't be… he didn't… he couldn't have… no… not again…_

_He felt as if he had been punched in the chest. Harry started gasping as if he'd run miles, he was having trouble just trying to hold his head up—as if every word was hurting him. He could see the truth before him… Harry wasn't in shock because of the maze's obstacles. He wasn't hurt and winded just because of some creature that had been hiding…_

_And he wasn't here because the cup would've… wait…_

_He turned and stared at the slightly glowing Triwizard cup… the cup! He recognized that blue light anywhere… it was a Portkey… but that could only mean… his eyes widened as realization him like an avalanche… they had been betrayed…_

_Someone here at Hogwarts had turned the cup into a Portkey and sent him to Voldemort…_

_"What's going on? What's happened?" cried a familiar voice behind him. Albus was too busy trying to grasp what was happening here to pay attention to Cornelius, who had come out of the crowd, who was looking around them in amazement. Harry had continued to hold onto his wrist desperately, as if afraid to let go, until his adrenaline seemed to have faded right before his eyes, and his hand slipped and hit the ground with a dull thud._

_*End of Flashback*_

He shook his head. Everything that had happened to Harry, both in this life and in the book, had happened because it was _his_ fault. He either had made a mistake, ignored something important, or had planned something that endangered Harry's life. Would he ever be able to ask for their forgiveness? He wouldn't deserve it at all, but he knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing that what he had done had affected everyone for the worst.

"That was probably the smartest thing he could do," said Arthur, "Harry was able to tell him what happened right away. Now that Dumbledore knows, he can raise the alarm and start planning a way to head Voldemort off."

"He sure messed up Voldemort's plans," Tonks grinned.

"If only he mentioned the Death Eater straight away," Albus said to himself softly, he could've found and stopped him without Harry almost getting killed again.

**"****What's going on? What's happened?" **

**The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared upside down over Harry; it looked white, appalled. **

**"****My God - Diggory!" he yelled. "Dumbledore - he's dead!" **

Sirius frowned at that. "Thank you for pointing out the obvious," he said quietly. What a way to honor Diggory's death… to pretend that it was all a tragic accident.

"Did he have to shout that out?" Tonks frowned, "His parents and friends are there!"

"He never did have much tact," Kingsley muttered darkly.

**The words were repeated, the shadowy figures pressing in on them gasped it to those around them… and then others shouted it - screeched it - into the night – **

**"****He's dead!" "He's dead!" "Cedric Diggory! Dead!" **

"That was awful," Molly muttered, "I can't tell you how terrible I felt." And it wasn't just because of the fact that Cedric died, she felt horrible about being relieved that it wasn't Harry. Arthur smiled in understanding, griping her shoulder—silently letting her know that it was only natural to feel that way.

**"****Harry, let go of him," he heard Fudge's voice say, and he felt fingers trying to pry him from Cedric's limp body, but Harry wouldn't let him go. Then Dumbledore's face, which was still blurred and misted, came closer. **

**"****Harry, you can't help him now. It's over. Let go." **

**"****He wanted me to bring him back," Harry muttered - it seemed important to explain this. "He wanted me to bring him back to his parents…" **

Molly groaned in pain. "The Diggory's!" she whispered. "They're going to see and…?"

"To be shown like that…" Arthur whispered, shaking his head. He had no idea how he would react to see one of his sons in that situation. He silently hoped that he never feel that pain.

"It was a good thing to do," Kingsley said with a small smile.

'_At least the Diggory's had something to bury,'_ Moody thought. It wasn't uncommon to never find one to bury in the past.

**"****That's right. Harry… just let go now…" **

"Poor kid," said Tonks shaking her head, "Can't begin to guess what's going through his head."

"Oh, I've got some ideas…" Kingsley sighed. "None of them good."

**Dumbledore bent down, and with extraordinary strength for a man so old and thin, raised Harry from the ground and set him on his feet. Harry swayed. His head was pounding. His injured leg would no longer support his weight. The crowd around them jostled, fighting to get closer, pressing darkly in on him - "What's happened?" "What's wrong with him?" "Diggory's dead!" **

**"****He'll need to go to the hospital wing!" Fudge was saying loudly. "He's ill, he's injured – ****Dumbledore, Diggory's parents, they're here, they're in the stands…" **

"Oh dear," Molly said as tears threatened to poor out again. She couldn't imagine how painful it was to lose a child. She couldn't begin to imagine how terrible it would be… she suddenly wished that she had all of her children here so that she could embrace them all in a hug and never let go.

**"****I'll take Harry, Dumbledore, I'll take him -" **

**"****No, I would prefer-" **

"I doubt considering what has just happened that he would want Harry out of his sight," said Arthur.

Albus looked down, shutting his eyes. He was right about that. Try as he might, those images of that night kept flooding his mind.

_*Flashback*_

_But then Fudge interrupted, pointing to their left, "Dumbledore, Amos Diggory's running... he's coming over… Don't you think you should tell him- before he sees-?" Cornelius started practically dragging him away by the arm, white all over and obviously unsure how to the handle the situation delicately. And Albus, knowing it was his duty as the Headmaster to inform Amos before he saw his dead son._

_He looked back to see that Alastor was now supporting Harry and said firmly to the boy, "Harry, stay here-"_

_But even as the crowd parted so that he could get to Amos, he couldn't help but feel uneasy as he left Harry there._

_He felt that he would rather have done anything but approach Amos as he fought his way over to him. He was chalk white by the time that they had reached him—as soon as he saw him, then he grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him slightly—a terrified look was in his eyes were bulging slightly as he panted, "D-Dumbledore, t-they're saying Ced… my son… my only son… that he's… tell me it's not true! TELL ME MY SON IS… he's not… is he…?" Amos almost choked out as he tried to look over his shoulder, as if he expected Cedric to be there telling him that he was alright…_

_Albus sighed, knowing that he had to do it._

_"I'm so sorry, Amos," Albus intoned gravely, gripping him by the shoulders tightly. "But Cedric truly is…"_

_But he didn't get to finish for Amos swayed alarmingly for a second, features slack in shock- then vicious sobs started racking his figure. "Where is he?" he demanded harshly, his face now wet with tears. "Where is my son?"_

_At that second, his wife came over, now calling out Cedric's name, trying to find him. Albus knew that they would never believe it until they saw Cedric for themselves._

_"I'm so sorry," Albus repeated, and pulled the couple over to where their son now laid. And so he gently led Amos through the crowd of whimpering and whispering spectators and ignoring whatever rubbish that Fudge was trying to say as he trailed behind them._

_Albus stopped dead, at the same time as the Diggorys—however it was for two different reasons. Cedric's parents let out cries of despair and grief before they collapsed next to their son's body, currently being protected by an equally mournful Professor Sprout who was now shouting for the crowd to leave already._

_But this did little to ease the fear in his pounding heart however. He looked around him, but Harry was nowhere to be seen, he clenched his fists in anxiety. He looked down at Mr. and Mrs. Diggory as they fell next to their son and pulled him back into their arms as they cried._

_He then turned to Pomona and whispered to her, "Pomona, please take the Diggorys up to the school. And remove—Cedric," the boy's name caught in his throat. "Please… Madam Pomfrey will help you. And send the students up as well. They all deserve a respectful distant right now. I will join you shortly, but I need to tend to a few serious matters first."_

_She nodded and wiped her eyes furiously. He then turned and pushed his way through the terrified throng before anyone else could say anything._

_His breathing grew hard and fast… he told Harry to stay… but he was injured—exhausted… he couldn't have left on his own._

_Which could only mean that someone took him. Another burst of panic. Albus cursed himself for letting the boy out of his sight after all this. At that moment, he almost ran into Severus. He stopped just before they collided._

_"Severus!" he said in relief._

_Severus looked up, almost startled. He had been lurking in a shadowy part of the castle, matched with his black robes—it was easy to miss him. "Headmaster?"_

_While Severus seemed calm enough, Albus knew him well enough to know that there was something wrong. Through the calm mask he always wore, he was able to see the unnerved look in his dark eyes…_

_It looked like… fear…_

_He remembered what Harry said not ten minutes ago and asked quickly, "Severus? I need you to tell me. Did he summon you?"_

_Albus didn't have to ask twice; Severus looked shocked, but his arm went automatically to grip the spot where the Dark Mark was burned into him. They both knew it was true…_

_"Yes," he spoke in barely more than a whisper. "Not that long ago… about half an hour ago, perhaps?" He then pulled back his sleeve for them both to see…_

_Though not the black that he knew it to be when Voldemort summoned them… it was clear that it had been burned dark not long ago._

_"Just what happened?" Severus demanded as he rolled down his sleeve to hide it. "The Dark Lord summons us tonight… and I just heard that Potter and Diggory…"_

_"I am afraid that Cedric Diggory is dead," Albus said mournfully. "Harry is still alive… I don't know the whole story, but he escaped Voldemort's clutches from what I understand. Harry brought Cedric's body back. The cup… the Triwizard Cup had been turned into a portkey to send the person who touched it to Voldemort. He's back, Severus. Lord Voldemort is back."_

_Severus turned very white, "Who?" he demanded._

_Albus bit his lower lip and shook his head helplessly. "I'm afraid I don't know. I honestly don't… but more importantly, Harry has now disappeared."_

_Severus opened his mouth and Albus when on, "The boy was injured and exhausted. He couldn't have left on his own… I'm afraid that there is someone working for Voldemort here in the castle Severus. And the one who put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire is the same one who took Harry… I'm sure of it."_

_"But who?" Severus repeated impatiently. "Who could do this?"_

_Albus shook his head… but stopped. A memory from only minutes earlier floated faintly through his mind…_

_"I'll take Harry, Dumbledore, I'll take him-"_

_Alastor…_

_Alastor Moody never referred to people by anything other than their surname. For as long as he knew Alastor Moody, he only ever called anyone by their surname… keeps him from getting to familiar with people. But he had been so focused on the Diggorys that he didn't realize it… he then realized with a stab of horror that Alastor had been acting different this… such as him drinking from flask… he only ever drank from it, but he had been drinking from it much more frequently than normal…_

_In fact, if Albus were to hazard a guess, he tended to swig its contents about every hour. His eyes widened in horror. Could it be…?_

_"Severus…" Albus began through numb lips. "After dinner last night… do you remember who asked to place the Cup in the maze?"_

_"Of course. It was Moody," Severus said at once._

_That only confirmed his fears. "And…" he said hurriedly, "You are certain that no one else had touched it before he took it into the maze?"_

_"No, I…" he suddenly stopped dead at what Albus was saying. "You don't mean…?"_

_"And Alastor offered to take Harry…" Albus whispered softly, panic gripping his heart. He looked to Severus and said, "We need to find Harry. Now. I believe that he may be in grave danger."_

_"But…" Severus began, but before he could finish, Minerva came tearing across the field to where they were standing, her expression pale and shaky. But Albus turned to her at once and gestured for her to follow._

_"Minerva," he said quickly, "Please tell me, did you see where Harry went? Did anyone take him?"_

_She paused, uncharacteristically fretful. "I- I saw… I saw Moody took him back to the school. But Albus—what's going on here? I thought that we had everything covered—that we didn't overlook any safety measure and…" but she suddenly noticed their pale expressions._

_He and Severus shared startled looks and they both turned to the castle. "Minerva, we need to hurry!" Albus called out at once. "We need to go to Professor Moody's office. Come with me." He then pulled out his wand and strode quickly across the field to the castle. Minerva and Severus were almost running behind to keep up with him._

_"Dumbledore, what's happening here?" Minerva demanded again gasping for breath._

_"Harry is in grave danger," Albus explained, fear still rising up. Every second they wasted was driving him crazy. "I believe Moody may be using this chance to try and kill Harry while everyone else's attention is drawn to Cedric."_

_At these words, his pace became swifter and longer, leaving both of them to sprint to keep up. They wasted no time in rushing through the Entrance Hall and up the stairs, and Minerva then cried out, "Kill? Moody? Dumbledore, what are you talking about?! You know Alastor as well as the rest of us do! He has been our friend for years and you think…?"_

_"Rather," Albus said, anger boiling in with the fear as they ran through a tapestry and down a shortcut to the third floor, "An imposter will try to kill Harry."_

_"What are you…?" Minerva began but Severus answered, "It seems that the one who was giving us all the trouble this year has been posing as none other than Moody."_

_Minerva nearly tripped at those words but caught herself in time._

_"If that's true," Albus said, "And I'm willing to bet that it is, then if Harry's alone with him…" he didn't dare say anymore, unable to think of it._

_But just as Minerva tried to answer, they could hear yelling from ahead just as they reached the third floor._

_"You're mad…" it was undoubtedly Harry's voice, and there was a trace of terror gracing his tone as he repeated louder, "you're mad!"_

_At those terrified words, Albus sprinted ahead, down the corridor with the other two teachers right behind him._

_"Mad, am I?" he heard Moody's voice shouting, indeed sounding quite made as he bellowed out, "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side!"_

_Albus could see the door to the office and raised his wand, "He is back, Harry Potter, you did not conquer him- and now- I conquer you!"_

_"Stupefy!" he roared, his anger going into that spell as the blinding flash of red erupted from the end of his and—then, with a great splintering and crashing, the office door exploded, blasting inward…_

_All three of them were standing in the doorway staring at the sight in front of them; Albus's arm still outstretched. The door was in splinters at their feet, slumped against the wall—the imposter was lying face-down—out cold._

_And there, slumped in a chair was Harry, staring at them, frozen in shock—looking small and scared. Albus's hand shaking and he had to tighten the grip of his wand to keep his hand steady. Albus was breathing hard as his anger rose, staring with hatred at the man at their feet. But the only thought that was going through his mind at the moment was, 'He's alive…'_

_*End of Flashback*_

And that was it. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to decide what to do. He knew what happened here… but did he really want to hear it all again? But before he came up with a good argument, Remus continued.

**"****Dumbledore, Amos Diggory's running… he's coming over… Don't you think you should tell him - before he sees -?" **

**"****Harry, stay here -" **

**Girls were screaming, sobbing hysterically… The scene flickered oddly before Harry's eyes… **

"Someone needs to get him out of there," Molly said, sounding close to sobbing as more memories came back. "He needs medical attention…"

"I don't think that will happen just yet," Sirius muttered thinking about what happened right after he left the field.

**"****It's all right, son, I've got you… come on… hospital wing…" **

**"****Dumbledore said stay," said Harry thickly, the pounding in his scar making him feel as though he was about to throw up; his vision was blurring worse than ever. **

"But dear, you need the hospital wing," Molly whispered. "Why you weren't taken there right away I don't know…"

Moody frowned. Why is it that Potter's scar, which had gone to a dull ache, is now pounding so badly? As he thought it over he realized that it was most likely due to Voldemort's anger… yeah, the perfect way to do any real damage to Voldemort—hit him in the ego. He could only imagine just how stunned and furious the walking snake must've been when the kid slipped out of his fingers yet again.

**"You need to lie down… Come on now**…"

**Someone larger and stronger than he was half pulling, half carrying him through the frightened crowd. Harry heard people gasping, screaming, and shouting as the man supporting him pushed a path through them, taking him back to the castle. Across the lawn, past the lake and the Durmstrang ship, Harry heard nothing but the heavy breathing of the ****man helping him walk. **

**"****What happened Harry?" the man asked at last as he lifted Harry up the stone steps. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. It was Mad-Eye Moody. **

"Damnit," Remus said paling, glancing up at them all, worry on each of their faces.

Mad-Eye looked particular murderous, a muscle going in his forehead at the mention of the fake. "I'm just glad that we'll get rid of him this chapter."

"This isn't good," Tonks muttered anxiously. "Harry doesn't know… he trusts Moody because he thinks it's the real one."

"How do you ever trust anyone, with all of this deception that going on around you?" Remus asked.

"You can't," Mad-Eye said, his eye looking at each of them in turn.

**"Cup was a Portkey," said Harry as they crossed the entrance hall. "Took me and Cedric to a graveyard… and Voldemort was there… Lord Voldemort…"**

**Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Up the marble stairs… **

**"****The Dark Lord was there? What happened then?" **

"And there's the proof," Moody said at once. "He gave himself away just there. He called Voldemort the 'Dark Lord' and only the Death Eaters call him that."

"Give the kid a break," Kingsley said. "It's a miracle that he's still alive, and he doesn't know you as well as we do."

"Hmph," he muttered back grudgingly.

**"****Killed Cedric… they killed Cedric…" **

**"****And then?" **

"Don't answer him," Sirius moaned. "Don't tell him anything…"

**Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Along the corridor… **

**"****Made a potion… got his body back…" **

**"****The Dark Lord got his body back? He's returned?" **

"Stop asking him for information," Molly hissed. "It's your fault that he's like this. How dare you…?"

"He's a Death Eater," Sirius reminded her. "They don't care about anyone but themselves."

**"****And the Death Eaters came… and then we dueled…" **

**"****You dueled with the Dark Lord?" **

"And won if you ask me," Sirius said proudly. "Any duel you can walk away from counts as a victory to me."

Moody looked up, briefly considering telling him that the kid could hardly walk after that… but he decided to let it drop for now.

**"****Got away… my wand… did something funny… I saw my mum and dad… they came out of**** his wand…" **

**"****In here Harry… in here, and sit down… You'll be all right now… drink this…" **

"Don't drink it," advised Remus quickly, thinking it was poison.

"Don't worry, he wants information first before he does anything," Sirius growled. "He'll save the murder attempts until after he gets what he wants."

"I don't think that his boss would be happy with that," Tonks muttered.

"It better not be the Veritaserum," said Molly darkly.

"No," Sirius said with certainty, "They're saving that for the Death Eater."

**Harry heard a key scrape in a lock and felt a cup being pushed into his hands. **

**"****Drink it… you'll feel better… come on, now. Harry, I need to know exactly what happened…" **

"Get your disgusting hands away from him," Sirius snarled.

**Moody helped tip the stuff down Harry's throat; he coughed, a peppery taste burning his throat. Moody's office came into sharper focus, and so did Moody himself… He looked as white as Fudge had looked, and both eyes were fixed unblinkingly upon Harry's face. **

"That means that it was only a Pepper-up potion then," said Tonks as Molly breathed another sigh of relief.

**"****Voldemort's back, Harry? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?" **

**"****He took stuff from his father's grave, and from Wormtail, and me," said Harry. **

**His head felt clearer; his scar wasn't hurting so badly; he could now see Moody's face distinctly, even though the office was dark. He could still hear screaming and shouting from the distant Quidditch field. **

Molly wasn't surprised, she remembered how everyone reacted to seeing Cedric's body, wondering what on earth happened in the maze…

**"****What did the Dark Lord take from you?" said Moody. **

"Like you don't know," Sirius hissed. "You sent him to him special delivery!"

**"****Blood," said Harry, raising his arm. His sleeve was ripped where Wormtail's dagger had torn it. **

Sirius's eyes narrowed, his fingers itching again. If he had his way he would've just squeezed out the life from that rat.

**Moody let out his breath in a long, low hiss. **

**"****And the Death Eaters? They returned?" **

"I'm sure that you already know," Arthur muttered.

"How could he not with that mark that I'm sure is on his arm?" Sirius said. Though, he couldn't help but wonder if he could've felt it while he was disguised as Moody.

**"****Yes," said Harry. "Loads of them…" **

**"****How did he treat them?" Moody asked quietly. "Did he forgive them?" **

"Only because he needed them," Tonks said folding her arms and leaning back in her seat. "Otherwise he would've killed them all and start over."

**But Harry had suddenly remembered. He should have told Dumbledore, he should have said it straightaway – **

"Dumbledore will figure something is wrong," said Arthur, if only to convince himself.

Albus nodded to himself, he was only relieved that he had been able to figure out who Moody had really been. He sighed in relief, now wishing that he was back in his office, trying to forget all this.

**"****There's a Death Eater at Hogwarts! There's a Death Eater here - they put my name in the ****Goblet of Fire, they made sure I got through to the end -" **

"Not the best time to remember," commented Tonks dryly. "He knows…"

"It's not his fault," Sirius snapped. "I like to see you do better."

Remus glared at him and Tonks held up her hands. "Whoa! I didn't mean it like that! I never said…"

"Never mind," Sirius said, hiding his face in his hand. "I'm sorry it's just…"

That was when something miraculous happened. Molly gave him a sad look, and reached over from her seat to grip his hand. He looked up, startled, but she smiled sadly and said, "We know… this is hard on all of us."

Arthur smiled at them, glad to see that the two of them were getting along. Though he highly doubted that the two of them will ever become friends… at least they have reached common ground.

**Harry tried to get up, but Moody pushed him back down. **

**"****I know who the Death Eater is," he said quietly. **

"And he's standing there talking to you," Moody whispered. "I'm sorry… did I say talking? I meant bragging."

"Don't know what he has to be so proud about," Tonks said darkly. "He just helped bring back someone who's going to be responsible for countless people's deaths. Nothing more…"

**"****Karkaroff?" said Harry wildly. "Where is he? Have you got him? Is he locked up?" **

"Harry," sighed Arthur gently shaking his head. And though he knew that there was no way that Harry could've known, they all knew now. And he was reading about what they knew was to happen… Molly was right, this was hard on all of them.

**"****Karkaroff?" said Moody with an odd laugh. "Karkaroff fled tonight, when he felt the Dark Mark burn upon his arm. He betrayed too many faithful supporters of the Dark Lord to wish to meet them… but I doubt he will get far. The Dark Lord has ways of tracking his enemies." **

"You know, this Voldemort guy just seems to grow on people doesn't he?" Mad-Eye asked. "This must be his idea of keeping in touch. Hope Karkaroff is still wearing his furs—looks like he may need them."

"I don't know whether to laugh or not," said Tonks.

"Just ignore it," Kingsley said, feeling some levels of pity for Karkaroff.

**"****Karkaroff's gone? He ran away? But then - he didn't put my name in the goblet?" **

**"****No," said Moody slowly. "No, he didn't. It was I who did that." **

Albus looked down, still furious with himself that he couldn't see what had been right in front of his eyes this whole time.

**Harry heard, but didn't believe. **

"Well, believe it kid," Mad-Eye snarled.

"At least he knows you now?" Tonks offered.

**"****No, you didn't," he said. "You didn't do that… you can't have done…" **

**"****I assure you I did," said Moody, and his magical eye swung around and fixed upon the door, and Harry knew he was making sure that there was no one outside it. At the same time, Moody drew out his wand and pointed it at Harry. **

"If he touches him…" Sirius threatened. He then hit himself in the head with his hand, unable to do anything to have stopped this.

**"****He forgave them, then?" he said. "The Death Eaters who went free? The ones who escaped Azkaban?" **

"Of course he did, he needs to build up his army before he punishes them," Sirius said bitterly.

**"****What?" said Harry. **

**He was looking at the wand Moody was pointing at him. This was a bad joke, it had to be. **

"Danger often comes from where it is least expected," said Tonks, once again, quoting one of Mad-Eye's favorite lines.

Moody looked into his flask and taking another quick gulp. "Constant vigilance…" he said simply. "Sooner or later it will become habit… you'll be less likely to be caught off guard.

"But they're kids," Molly whispered. "They shouldn't have to be worrying about Death Eaters, or war, or…"

Moody just looked at her, and they all understood. Whether they like it or not… this is happening.

**"****I asked you," said Moody quietly, "whether he forgave the scum who never even went to look for him. Those treacherous cowards who wouldn't even brave Azkaban for him. The faithless, worthless bits of filth who were brave enough to cavort in masks at the Quidditch World Cup, but fled at the sight of the Dark Mark when I fired it into the sky." **

"So it's not enough that he was behind that, he's been behind everything this year," Kingsley said grimly.

"Scum…" Moody said in disgust.

**"****You fired… What are you talking about…?" **

**"I told you Harry… I told you. If there's one thing I hate more than any other, it's a Death Eater who walked free. **

"Don't you twist Moody's sayings," growled Tonks and Mad-Eye smirked.

"It's amazing how what we say can be taken different ways," Arthur said.

**They turned their backs on my master when he needed them most. I expected him to punish them. I expected him to torture them. Tell me he hurt them, Harry…" Moody's face was suddenly lit with an insane smile.**

"Are they all like that?" asked Arthur, looking sick. "Do all Death Eaters think that they're better than the others by doing these acts?"

"Give or take," Sirius said dully. "You heard how proud they are two chapters ago to be Death Eaters."

"I don't get it," Tonks said, her nose wrinkling. "Even when you think you've won… you still lose."

"Being a Death Eater period is being a loser," Sirius agreed.

**"****Tell me he told them that I, I alone remained faithful… prepared to risk everything to deliver to him the one thing he wanted above all… you" **

**"****You didn't… it - it can't be you…" **

"Get your mind back in the game, Potter," Moody said firmly, "He's telling you all this…"

Sirius shot him a dirty look. "A game? You're acting like this is a game?!"

"What I meant was that he needed to pay attention instead of second-guessing himself," he snarled back.

"Sirius," Remus said. "It's ok… he doesn't mean anything by it."

**"Who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, under the name of a different school? I did. Who frightened off every person I thought might try to hurt you or prevent you from winning the tournament? I did. Who nudged Hagrid into showing you the dragons? I did. Who helped you see the only way you could beat the dragon? I did."**

"At least this Death Eater is stupid enough to tell you everything he did," muttered Sirius and looking briefly up to the ceiling.

"That's where you lose," Moody said. "Right when you think you've won… it's where you mess up."

**Moody's magical eye had now left the door. It was fixed upon Harry. His lopsided mouth leered more widely than ever. **

"He sounds even madder than you," Tonks said to Mad-Eye. "And that's hard to do!"

"Watch it," he muttered angrily. "That was a very bad year for me, I don't need you to tell me that the fake was still pretending to be me."

**"****It hasn't been easy, Harry, guiding you through these tasks without arousing suspicion. I have had to use every ounce of cunning I possess, so that my hand would not be detectable in your success. Dumbledore would have been very suspicious if you had managed everything too easily. As long as you got into that maze, preferably with a decent head start - then, I knew, I would have a chance of getting rid of the other champions and leaving ****your way clear. But I also had to contend with your stupidity. **

"Harry is not stupid," Sirius defended.

"I believe he is talking about Harry's nobility," Arthur said.

"Which is often mistaken for stupidity," Albus whispered to himself… personally, he called it stubbornness.

**The second task… that was when I was most afraid we would fail. I was keeping watch on you, Potter. I knew you hadn't worked out the egg's clue, so I had to give you another hint -"**

"It was Cedric, not you," Tonks countered at once.

"Wait for it…" Kingsley said, having a bad feeling where this was going.

**"****You didn't," Harry said hoarsely. "Cedric gave me the clue -" **

**"****Who told Cedric to open it underwater? I did. I trusted that he would pass the information on to you. Decent people are so easy to manipulate, Potter. **

The entire room growled and glared at the book.

**I was sure Cedric would want to repay you for telling him about the dragons, and so he did. But even then, Potter, even then you seemed likely to fail. I was watching all the time… all those hours in the library. Didn't you realize that the book you needed was in your dormitory all along? I planted it there early on, I gave it to the Longbottom boy, don't you remember? Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. **

"So he had been using everyone all this time…" Remus said in a stunned voice. "Everyone was just a pawn in this plan."

"And no one ever knew," Kingsley finished.

**It would have told you all you needed to know about gillyweed. I expected you to ask everyone and anyone you could for help. Longbottom would have told you in an instant. But you did not… you did not… You have a streak of pride and independence that might have ****ruined all. **

"Now that he gets from his mother," said Sirius somewhat proudly. "She believed that she could solve things on her own, and she hated to ask for help too. She didn't want to admit that she didn't have things under control!"

"Or to bother anyone else," Remus reminded him softly. "She hated pushing her problems onto other people."

**"****So what could I do? Feed you information from another innocent source. You told me at the Yule Ball a house-elf called Dobby had given you a Christmas present. I called the elf to**** the staffroom to collect some robes for cleaning. I staged a loud conversation with Professor McGonagall about the hostages who had been taken, and whether Potter would think to use gillyweed. And your little elf friend ran straight to Snape's office and then hurried to find you…" **

"He was watching Harry that much?" Tonks asked startled, she then sat back and shook her head. "You know, Parvati was right—that eye _is_ really creepy."

Mad-Eye's eye turned in its socket to glare at her. She noticed this and added, "Though it looks good on you!"

"I'll get you for this," he muttered evilly.

**Moody's wand was still pointing directly at Harry's heart. Over his shoulder, foggy shapes were moving in the Foe-Glass on the wall. **

"Good, Dumbledore's on his way," sighed Molly, though panic still in her heart. All of this in just one night? How could Harry not be traumatized by this? Or rather… another thought came to her that made her feel close to tearing up again. Who much trauma was he keeping from all of them?

**"****You were so long in that lake, Potter, I thought you had drowned. But luckily, Dumbledore took your idiocy for nobility,**

"It was not idiocy," growled Remus.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed firmly. "It was something that a Death Eater could never get! You lot don't care about anything but saving your own worthless hides."

**and marked you high for it. I breathed again. **

"**You had an easier time of it than you should have in that maze tonight, of course," said Moody. "I was patrolling around it, able to see through the outer hedges, able to curse many obstacles out of your way. I Stunned Fleur Delacour as she passed.**

"At least it wasn't anything worse than that," Remus said in relief.

**I put the Imperius Curse on Krum, so that he would finish Diggory and leave your path to the cup clear." **

**Harry stared at Moody. He just didn't see how this could be… Dumbledore's friend, the famous Auror… the one who had caught so many Death Eaters… It made no sense… no sense at all… **

"That's because it's not Moody," stated Moody irritably. Why couldn't they just hurry up and shut him up? Well, when they do, he's gonna enjoy every moment of it. God, he hoped it hurt…

"Well, he knows now," Arthur reminded him.

**The foggy shapes in the Foe-Glass were sharpening, had become more distinct. Harry could see the outlines of three people over Moody's shoulder, moving closer and closer. But Moody wasn't watching them. His magical eye was upon Harry. **

"Hurry and take him out," Sirius said at once, his breathing becoming harder and faster. Why didn't they hurry? If he hadn't been so busy gloating then he could've killed Harry and escaped!

**"****The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you Potter, and he so wanted to," whispered Moody. "Imagine how he will reward me when he finds I have done it for him. I gave you to him - the thing he needed above all to regenerate - and then I killed you for him. I will be honored beyond all other Death Eaters. I will be his dearest, his closest supporter… closer than a son…" **

"I doubt that," Moody said grumpily. "I highly doubt that Snake-face will be too please if he finds out that someone else killed Potter for him. Since Potter has now slipped through his fingers so many times, he may feel the need to prove that he can kill the boy himself, otherwise, he couldn't claim to be the 'greatest wizard alive'."

"Which he's not," Sirius said with finality. "Besides, Voldemort doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself. Don't know who Crouch thinks he's fooling."

"Himself most likely," Kingsley stated.

"That is really sad," said Arthur after a moment, "To have been craving affection so much that he is resorted to this… I can't stand the boy for what's he's done, but… even so I… I just don't know what to think."

"Oh, I know what to think about it," Sirius muttered. He had wanted to have a loving family his whole life. His own had been nothing but a disappointment from the start… that was when the Potter's came into his life. He could understand wanting your father's love and approval… to just hear your own father say _'You've done good'_ would've meant the world to him. But then again, he remembered the kind of man his own father was.

He bit back the snort of disgust as Remus went on.

**Moody's normal eye was bulging, the magical eye fixed upon Harry. The door was barred, and Harry knew he would never reach his own wand in time… **

**"****The Dark Lord and I," said Moody, and he looked completely insane now, towering over Harry, leering down at him, "have much in common. Both of us, for instance, had very disappointing fathers… very disappointing indeed. Both of us suffered the indignity, Harry, of being named after those fathers. And both of us had the pleasure… the very great pleasure… of killing our fathers to ensure the continued rise of the Dark Order!" **

"We get it, you both are low-life, murderous, self-centered, nutjob bastards!" Sirius called out loudly. "That's nothing to be proud of!"

**"****You're mad," Harry said - he couldn't stop himself- "you're mad!" **

"I couldn't agree more," Moody said. He then saw the looks on their faces as they looked up at him. His eye moved around to each of them. "What?" he demanded.

"Just that you're the last person to be calling someone else mad," Tonks said happily.

He looked over at her before he held up his staff. "You want to know how hard I can hit with this thing?"

"Not particularly," she said, smiling at him brightly.

**"****Mad, am I?" said Moody, his voice rising uncontrollably. "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Harry Potter, you did not conquer him - and now - I conquer you!" **

Sirius instinctively reached into his pocket for his wand—half ready to draw and defend—only to remember that he was only reading about it.

**Moody raised his wand, he opened his mouth; Harry plunged his own hand into his robes - **

**"****Stupefy!" There was a blinding flash of red light, and with a great splintering and crashing, the door of Moody's office was blasted apart – Moody was thrown backward onto the office floor. **

The entire room let out a loud and long sigh of relief.

"I hope it hurt him," Sirius mumbled darkly.

**Harry, still staring at the place where Moody's face had been, saw Albus Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and Professor McGonagall looking back at him out of the Foe-Glass. He looked around and saw the three of them standing in the doorway, Dumbledore in front, his wand outstretched. **

Sirius sighed. A tiny bit of his hatred for Dumbledore faded at those words.

**At that moment, Harry fully understood for the first time why people said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. The look upon Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Harry could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of ****power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat. **

"Merlin," Sirius said slowly, as he bit his thumbnail. He had seen Dumbledore disappointed in him before, and even irritated with some of the pranks that he had to put up with… but he had never seen Dumbledore like that and it gave him the chills just thinking about that.

Dumbledore knew why he was acting like that. There had been a Death Eater at Hogwarts the entire year, and who knew how often a student was alone with him? Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

Moody smirked slightly. Partly because that fake finally had what was coming to him, and partly because he knew there was more to this anger than meets the eye. Ever since Dumbledore cradled the infant in The Sorcerer's Stone, he has played the part of a surrogate father to the boy. With only the seed of a faint memory of his parents Potter had little support in fostering loyalty. The household of his aunt and uncle were in the least oppressive toward Potter. Dumbledore became that rock for him as the professor offered his house, Hogwarts, to Harry and to his destiny's education.

Dumbledore made great strides to protect Potter and to gain his trust. What do you know…? So even someone as calm as Dumbledore is capable of pure rage. That was good to know… this one moment brought made the old man seem more human than all the other books put together.

Though he doubted that's how the kid must be feeling towards the old man now…

He smirked. It was almost like he was listening to a parenting book.

**He stepped into the office, placed a foot underneath Moody's unconscious body, and kicked him over onto his back, so that his face was visible. Snape followed him, looking into the Foe-Glass, where his own face was still visible, glaring into the room. **

"The Foe Glass just given us proof that Snape is an enemy of this Death Eaters," Arthur said suddenly, looking up at Sirius's stubborn face.

"Well, that's a good sign right?" Tonks asked hesitantly.

Sirius just folded his arms and made a skeptical sound in his throat.

**Professor McGonagall went straight to Harry. **

**"****Come along, Potter," she whispered. The thin line of her mouth was twitching as though she was about to cry. "Come along… hospital wing…" **

Albus sighed. He knew how much Minerva cared for all her students… she must've been terrified.

**"****No," said Dumbledore sharply. **

"Why?" Molly demanded harshly. "After everything he's been through… why not let him go to the hospital!"

"It's because of everything he's been through that he needed to stay, Molly," Kingsley said softly. "If it had been you, wouldn't you like some answers?"

"Couldn't it have waited though?" she asked miserably.

"I think that Harry deserves to know what was going on," Arthur replied to her gently. "Better sooner than later in this case…"

**"****Dumbledore, he ought to - look at him - he's been through enough tonight -" **

**"****He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand," said Dumbledore curtly. **

"And he needs to know that that thing wasn't the real Mad-Eye Moody," Tonks said smiling at her mentor. "We wouldn't want him to think that it ruined your otherwise perfect record now would we?"

"You are this close to winding up in a bed in St. Mungo's," he threatened her softly.

**"****Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight,**** and why." **

"In the long run, I think that it was for the best," Kingsley agreed softly. "He's been through a lot, but he can at least understand why it had to happen this way without him always wondering."

**"****Moody," Harry said. He was still in a state of complete disbelief. "How can it have been Moody?" **

**"****This is not Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew - and I followed." **

"You can't trust anyone can you?" Moody said bitterly. "Looks like Weasley kid number six was right after all. About a Dark wizard fooling Dumbledore, but as usual, he guessed the wrong wizard."

Albus looked down in shame. He didn't have the ability to foretell the future, but he couldn't help but wonder how he could've missed the warning signs… the traitor had been right under their noses all this time.

**Dumbledore bent down over Moody's limp form and put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Moody's hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then he turned to Professors McGonagall and Snape. **

**"****Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. **

"Why?" asked Tonks confused.

"She's Crouch's elf," said Remus. "She would've been able to confirm that it was him."

"So he did know!" Sirius barked out.

"I think he only guessed it, Sirius," Remus stated.

"But how could he have guessed that it had been Crouch?!" he barked back.

"Think about it," Moody snapped. "Crouch Sr. pops up after months raving about his son and Bertha Jorkins. No one could make sense of it at the time—but after all this, I suppose it would take someone who knew both Crouch's and myself to put it together."

Since Sirius was struggling to come up with a retort, Remus went on before it got into another argument.

**Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here." **

"That's good," said Arthur bracingly, looking up to Sirius's pale face, "Harry will be glad to see you, Sirius."

Sirius tried to smile, but it came out looking like a grimace. He couldn't explain, even to himself, just what was going through his own head when he was brought up to wait in Dumbledore's office. His thoughts and feelings kept floating up and then slipping through his fingers like water. Slipping away before he could pin them down with words. He folded his fingers and leaned his chin on them as he put his elbow upon his knees—trying to think back.

**If either Snape or McGonagall found these instructions peculiar, they hid their confusion. **

Albus smiled. Minerva and Severus have worked with him long enough to know to just do what he asks them. They're far too used to the strange instructions he usually gives them.

**Both turned at once and left the office. Dumbledore walked over to the trunk with seven locks, fitted the first key in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of spell-books. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the second lock, and opened the trunk again. The spellbooks had vanished; this time it contained an assortment of broken Sneako-scopes, some parchment and quills, and what looked like a silvery Invisibility Cloak. Harry watched, astounded, as Dumbledore placed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys in their respective locks, reopening the trunk each time, and revealing different contents each time. **

"Useful if you want to travel light," Moody muttered needlessly.

**Then he placed the seventh key in the lock, threw open the lid, and Harry let out a cry of amazement. **

**He was looking down into a kind of pit, an underground room, and lying on the floor some ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in appearance, was the real Mad-Eye Moody. **

"That pit has helped to smuggle people out," he said proudly. He remembered the number of times that they had hidden people inside the trunk and then smuggled it right underneath Dark Witches and Wizards.

**His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing. Harry stared, thunderstruck, between the sleeping Moody in the trunk and the unconscious Moody lying on the floor of the office. **

"So glad that you noticed," he said in his sour voice. Not that he cared about how he looked—but it took his hair forever to grow back after that—even with magic.

**Dumbledore climbed into the trunk, lowered himself, and fell lightly onto the floor beside the sleeping Moody. He bent over him. **

**"****Stunned - controlled by the Imperius Curse - very weak," he said. **

Mad-Eye shook his head. Shameful. He had fought through countless battles, and here he gets outwitted by an Imperius Curse… and normally he was able to throw that off. Maybe he truly was getting old.

**"Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Harry, throw down the imposter's**** cloak - he's freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, but he seems in no immediate danger." **

Once again, a sigh of relief was let out. "I'm not dead yet you know!" he barked at them. "Stop acting like you don't know what happens!"

**Harry did as he was told; Dumbledore covered Moody in the cloak, tucked it around him, and clambered out of the trunk again. Then he picked up the hip flask that stood upon the desk, unscrewed it, and turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered onto the office floor. **

**"****Polyjuice Potion, Harry," said Dumbledore. "You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. ****For Moody never does drink except from his hip flask, he's well known for it. **

"Why do you do that?" Arthur couldn't help but ask him.

"It's easy to poison a drink," he grumbled as he glanced at his flask. He had to get a new one after that experience; he had refused to drink anything that belonged to that worthless excuse for a human being. "And it wouldn't be the first time that someone tried to slip some into my drink. You think that with all this Polyjuice stuff floating around we might've gotten a taste of what was happening," he finished.

"It's the bouncing ferret that did it, ya know?" Tonks explained. "Fake Moody won our trust, and demonstrated contempt for people who don't play fair so we assumed that he played fairly and was trustworthy. His disdain for Snape, Malfoy, and Karkaroff was very real, but not because he thought they were evil, but he was upset that they were 'walking around free' and had not tried to find Voldemort."

"Maybe you do use that head of yours once in awhile," Moody muttered.

Tonks frowned at him. "Why must you always try putting me down?"

"It's good for you, get used to it," he told her darkly.

**The imposter needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair…" Dumbledore looked down on the Moody in the trunk. "The imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done… on the hour… every hour… We shall see." **

"So here it is," Remus said, running a tired hand through his graying hair.

**Dumbledore pulled out the chair at the desk and sat down upon it, his eyes fixed upon the unconscious Moody on the floor. Harry stared at him too. Minutes passed in silence… **

**Then, before Harry's very eyes, the face of the man on the floor began to change. The scars were disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink. The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the color of straw. Suddenly, with a loud clunk, the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place; next moment, the magical eyeball had popped out of the man's face as a real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction. **

"Ugh," said Molly, making a face of disgust at the description.

**Harry saw a man lying before him, pale-skinned, slightly freckled, with a mop of fair hair. He knew who he was. He had seen him in Dumbledore's Pensieve, had watched him being led away from court by the dementors, trying to convince Mr. Crouch that he was innocent… but he was lined around the eyes now and looked much older… **

Sirius's balled his fists and sent a death glare at the book—having a wonderful daydream of tearing the book in half again.

**There were hurried footsteps outside in the corridor. Snape had returned with Winky at his heels. Professor McGonagall was right behind them. **

**"****Crouch!" Snape said, stopping dead in the doorway. "Barty Crouch!" **

"That must've been one heck of a shock," Arthur muttered with a shake of the head. "This was an ending that no one saw coming. I mean… how could you imagine someone you thought as dead, coming back like this?"

"Probably no one," Kingsley agreed.

**"****Good heavens," said Professor McGonagall, stopping dead and staring down at the man on the floor. **

**Filthy, disheveled, Winky peered around Snape's legs. Her mouth opened wide and she let out a piercing shriek. **

**"****Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?" **

"So she knew?" asked Tonks.

"Of course she knew," Sirius said bitterly. "How could she _not_ know? She lived in that house after all…"

**She flung herself forward onto the young man's chest. **

**"****You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!" **

**"****He is simply Stunned, Winky," said Dumbledore. "Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?" **

"And the truth will come out," said Sirius cruelly.

**Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid: the Veritaserum with which he had threatened Harry in class. Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall beneath the Foe-Glass, in which the reflections of Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall were still glaring down upon them all. Winky remained on her knees, trembling, her hands over her face. Dumbledore forced the man's mouth open and poured three drops inside it. **

"Oh, that's too bad," Sirius said, his tone sarcastic. "If a person drinks too much, it could kill them couldn't it?"

"Black, they needed him alive," Moody growled, however they could all detect the same hint of disappointment in his own tone. "They needed him to talk before they kill him."

**Then he pointed his wand at the man's chest and said, "Ennervate." **

**Crouch's son opened his eyes. His face was slack, his gaze unfocused. **

"So here's the moment where he blabs…" Tonks said.

"More like gloated," Sirius muttered in disgust.

**Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level. **

**"****Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked quietly. **

**The man's eyelids flickered. **

**"****Yes," he muttered. **

**"****I would like you to tell us," said Dumbledore softly, "how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?" **

"Which means that there are now two confirmed escapes from Azkaban," Tonks teased Sirius, who raised his eyebrows at her.

"That maybe true, but hey, I did it on my own, thank you," he retorted.

**Crouch took a deep, shuddering breath, then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice. "My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a**** last favor to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a ****draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."**

"His mother must have loved him very much," Molly whispered softly. Once again, she couldn't bring herself to hate the woman for smuggling her only son out of that prison. She most likely would've done the same if one of her sons had been imprisoned

"Yeah, most mothers do…" Sirius said, thinking of Lily for a second.

**Winky was shaking her head, trembling. **

**"****Say no more. Master Barty, say no more, you is getting your father into trouble!" **

"I guess she doesn't understand Veritaserum," said Molly sadly, wondering what the poor elf was going through.

"I doubt that she understands anymore than they do," Tonks said gloomily. "I mean… how could she know that he was there all this time?"

**But Crouch took another deep breath and continued in the same flat voice. **

**"****The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors. **

"Damn it," muttered Sirius, thinking back to seeing Crouch carrying his so-called-wife passed his cell.

"You couldn't have known, Sirius," Remus stated at once.

"I should've known that something was wrong," he muttered. "But I was too busy trying to keep myself sane to really pay attention."

**"****My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me." **

**The man's eyelids flickered. **

Albus shook his head, desperately wondering if Crouch felt any remorse at all for his mother. Did he truly love her and appreciate her sacrifice?

**"****And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" said Dumbledore quietly. **

**"****Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health.**

"It truly was a clever plan," Kingsley sighed. "No one ever suspected a thing."

"Please don't admire him, Kingsley," Sirius said darkly.

**Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master… of ****returning to his service." **

"Why would he want to?" Tonks asked completely baffled. "Go back to Voldemort? I'd pay to never join him!"

"Because he is insane," Sirius reminded her.

**"****How did your father subdue you?" said Dumbledore. **

**"****The Imperius Curse," Crouch said. ****"****I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and ****caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior." **

"Good behavior?" Sirius whispered under his breath. "Of course he was under good behavior! He was under the Imperius Curse! How else was he supposed to act?"

"Barty Crouch actually used the Imperius Curse on his own son…?" Molly whispered, not having the slightest clue to what to think.

"Keeping him under his thumb like the dog he is," Moody whispered so softly that no one could hear him. He shook his head. "How else is he supposed to keep someone like him under control?" he asked. "He should've been grateful that his mother got him out."

**"****Master Barty, Master Barty," sobbed Winky through her hands. "You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble…" **

**"****Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" said Dumbledore softly. "Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?" **

"Someone did," Arthur said softly, thinking of Bertha.

**"****Yes," said Crouch, his eyelids flickering again. "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. **

"So that's why she had the Memory Charm placed on her," said Remus nodding slowly as Molly sniffled. "Because she found out the truth."

"I hate Crouch even more than I thought I could," growled Sirius.

"But how did she…?" Tonks began but Remus answered it for her.

**She came to the house with papers for my father's signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. **

Albus shook his head—knowing that curiosity finally got the better of Bertha. And ended up costing her life in the process.

**My father arrived home. She confronted him. **

"Why would she do that?" Sirius demanded. "She should've known that he would've done something about it! I mean, you think back to all the times that she went around asking people about their secrets, and them cursing her, she would've picked it up that maybe it's not a good idea?"

**He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently." **

"That bastard," growled Sirius yet again.

**"****Why is she coming to nose into my masters private business?" sobbed Winky. "Why isn't she leaving us be?" **

"I wish she did," Sirius sighed. "Might've saved us all this trouble."

"Now don't blame her for all of this," Arthur said. "It wasn't her fault."

He waved his hands, "Yeah, I get it…"

**"****Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup," said Dumbledore. **

"Oh, right…" Tonks said gloomily. "I almost forgot all about that."

"Well, here's the answer straight from the rat's mouth," Mad-Eye growled.

**"****Winky talked my father into it," said Crouch, still in the same monotonous voice. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end. **

Molly bit her lip, understanding what Winky was saying… but a part of her couldn't help but agree with Moody. If he was this dangerous then why let him out with other people? Maybe if Crouch had tried to get to know his son, let him know that he did care about him, then maybe his son could've changed for the better.

**"****It was carefully planned. My father led me and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know. **

"And that's why he didn't show up for the Quidditch game," Tonks muttered with a nod of her head.

"Because there was already someone there," Kingsley agreed.

**"****But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times when I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seemed outside his control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front of me, a wand sticking out of a boys pocket. **

"So he took Harry's wand," Arthur summarized.

"Harry," groaned Remus. "He should never allow even the very tip of his wand to stick out. It's mostly because Muggle's could notice, but that's how most wands are stolen."

"He learned the hard way," Tonks sighed.

**I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden." **

**"****Master Barty, you bad boy!" whispered Winky, tears trickling between her fingers. **

**"****So you took the wand," said Dumbledore, "and what did you do with it?" **

"Had a twisted idea of fun with it," Moody growled. Yeah, his idea of shooting up the Dark Mark in the sky wasn't his idea of a good time.

**"We went back to the tent," said Crouch. "Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had never suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles. **

"Sport…" Arthur hissed, still disgusted that they would treat Muggles as nothing more than animals that they hunted.

**The sound of their voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand. I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her.**

Remus laughed darkly.

"I think that I missed the joke, Remus," Sirius muttered, casting an anxious look at his friend.

"I'm not laughing because I think it's funny," Remus answered. "I'm laughing because I remember what it said before don't you? It was as though someone invisible were trying to hold her back. Back during the ninth chapter?"

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" he asked grumpily.

"So that's why she wasn't able to move easily," mused Kingsley.

**She pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried**** to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky. **

"So there really was _'someone invisible'_ dragging on Winky that night," Tonks said, also recalling what Remus was saying. "And she truthfully said that she was_ 'seeing no one'_ even though he was there with her."

"Again I ask," Sirius repeated in annoyance. "This cheers me up how?"

"Just pointing things out that seem obvious now," Remus stated.

**"****Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells everywhere. One of the spells came ****through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both Stunned. **

"So that is also why Crouch continued looking in the bushes after Winky was found," Arthur muttered.

"Because he knew his son had to be there somewhere," Sirius finished angrily.

**"****When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes**** where she had been found and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let ****me escape." **

"Crouch Senior does seem every bit as ruthless as he has been portrayed," Arthur said sadly.

"I still think that it was a stupid idea on his part," Sirius muttered. "Now he had no one to keep an eye on his kid."

"But it did a good idea of drawing the attention off himself by pushing it onto Winky," Kingsley reminded him.

Sirius just snorted in distaste.

**Winky let out a wail of despair. **

**"****Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then… and then…" **

"Oh, no," Sirius groaned, knowing what he was about to say.

**Crouch's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. "My master came for me. **

"So Voldemort went to the Crouch's house?" Moody said, his eyebrows raised.

"No one deserves that," Remus said sadly, "Not even Barty deserved that."

"That's not the kind of house guest I'd want," Tonks said nervously.

**"****He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. **

"And that's what happened," Remus sighed.

"Wormtail again…" Sirius said, his eyes narrowing, his anger growing.

"Poor woman," Moody sighed. He didn't even want to think of the methods used to break that poor woman's mind.

**She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant - perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door." **

"Imagine that," Tonks whispered. "A quiet evening at home… someone at the door… and when you open it…"

"Ok," Molly called loudly, waving her hands up to get Tonks to stop. "I got it! Please don't say it!"

**The smile spread wider over Crouch's face, as though recalling the sweetest memory of his life. **

"What a sad life that must've been," Moody said shaking his life.

**Winky's petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She seemed too appalled to speak. **

**"****It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. **

"Back in October, Crouch Senior was certainly looking very odd," Tonks said looking green. "But we had no idea Voldemort was a _'house guest.'_"

Moody supposed that sharing your house with Voldemort would make anyone sick.

**And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years. **

**"****And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" said Dumbledore. **

**"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. **

"And that is sad," Remus sighed.

"Not much of ambition in my opinion," Sirius hissed. Really, your life's ambition is to become the slave of a murderer? Well, Crouch Jr. sure went and broke his parent's hopes and dreams of having a good job.

**He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter. Ensure he reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first -"**

"Me," Mad-Eye growled, drumming her fingers on the arms of the chairs in suppressed anger.

**"****You needed Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore.****His blue eyes were blazing, though his voice remained calm. **

**"****Wormtail and I did it. We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion.**

Moody smirked. Of course… if he was going, he was going to make as much noise as possible before anyone had the pleasure of taking him from this world.

**We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins.**

Albus, show had been in a kind of haze for the last few pages, had opened his eyes. He couldn't help but wonder… Crouch Jr. said he kept Moody alive. Was this originally part of the plan? If not, then maybe that's what Voldemort meant when he said _'one more death' _in chapter 1. However, if it was part of the plan, then who else has died?

He sighed as she shook his head. Maybe he was reading too much into this.

"Of course!" cried Arthur, hitting his forehead with his fist. "I should've realized something was wrong from the start."

"It's not your fault," Mad-Eye growled. "If I had kept them busy for a few minutes longer, you would've found them. Damn old age… nothing but a pain."

"He was a good actor," said Tonks through a grimace. "No one had a clue until it was too late."

**Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients ****were easy. I stole boom-slang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it." **

"And who would question that, Moody is suspicious of everyone, especially if there's an ex-Death Eater," Tonks said with a shrug.

Mad-Eye glared at her, though he couldn't deny that was true.

**"****And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?" said Dumbledore. **

**"****Wormtail returned to care for my master, in my father's house, and to keep watch over my father." **

Another thing that Fudge had ruined; Albus ran his fingers through his hair again as he thought about that. Barty Crouch confessed that Pettigrew was alive, while Minerva and Severus where witnesses to hearing about Wormtail—all proof of his faked death and Sirius's innocence. Albus shook his head… if Fudge had listened, then maybe Sirius wouldn't still be trapped inside this house.

**"****But your father escaped," said Dumbledore. **

**"****Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. **

"Should've figured out that something was going on when he stopped coming," Arthur said, shaking his head.

"How could you figure out who was staying in Crouch's house?" Sirius demanded. "Who could've dreamt this was all going on?"

**But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban. **

"Why not go to the Ministry?" Molly asked in confusion. "It had to be closer, and he could've gotten more head."

"Like Fudge would believe him," Sirius said sourly. "He'd think that Crouch was losing his mind and put him in St. Mungo's."

"And even if he did," Arthur added, "I doubt that Fudge would've done anything. He probably would've just hushed it all up.

**"My master sent me word of my father's escape. **

Mad-Eye snorted as he remembered the eagle owl back from chapter 28. So it really had been carrying that order from Voldemort.

**He told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and watched. I used the map I had taken from Harry Potter. The map that had almost ruined everything."**

"Harry saw Barty crouch on it and thought he meant Senior," Sirius nodded. Damn, why didn't he ever think that might be a problem in the future?

**"****Map?" said Dumbledore quickly. "What map is this?" **

"Something else Dumbledore didn't know about Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs…" Tonks grinned at Remus and Sirius.

"Looks like we've been found out," Sirius sighed.

"Sirius, I think that he is already aware about the map thanks to the last book," Remus reminded him.

"Oh, right," he sighed.

"At least he didn't confiscate the thing," Mad-Eye pointed out.

"If he did, I'd never forgive him," Sirius said stubbornly.

**"****Potter's map of Hogwarts. Potter saw me on it. Potter saw me stealing more ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Snape's office one night. He thought I was my father. We have the same first name. I took the map from Potter that night. I told him my father hated Dark wizards. Potter believed my father was after Snape. **

"Hard not to," Sirius said. "Though now that you mention it, why would anyone want to go after that overgrown bat?"

"Sirius, please," Remus smiled softly as he licked his thumb and turned the page.

**"****For a week I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father." **

"H-he just admits it like that?" stuttered Molly in shock. She couldn't believe that someone could do something like that. "He killed his own father and felt nothing for it?"

"I thought that we were all already aware that the guy is nuts," Sirius said. "After everything that he did, do you really think that he felt any remorse for anything he's done?"

"Yeah, but…" she said softly but Arthur just shook his head, "It's alright, Molly. There's nothing that we can do about it anymore."

**"****Noooo!" wailed Winky. "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you saying?" **

"Oh, poor Winky," Molly whispered, wondering what was going through the poor thing's mind. And she was already in a fragile state as well…

"Why did Dumbledore even bring her down there?" Tonks asked heatedly. "He hasn't even asked her anything and he's forcing her to listen."

"I think it was to confirm what Crouch was saying," Kingsley told her.

"Well, it was a cruel way to do it," Tonks said firmly.

**"****You killed your father," Dumbledore said, in the same soft voice. "What did you do with the body?" **

"How can he be so calm?" Arthur croaked in astonishment.

"I am calm about most things," Albus whispered. Someone had to be after all, even if what he was listening to was making him sick to his stomach.

**"****Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I had the map with me. I watched Potter run into the castle. He met Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come. **

"He used almost everyone to get what he wanted," Remus repeated what they were all thinking.

"We were nothing but tools to him," Moody growled, his eyes darkening. "Too bad that he never figured out that he was the biggest tool of them all."

**"****Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body.**** Watched the map. When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my father's body. He became a bone… I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin." **

Mad-Eye privately wondered to himself sarcastically, _'Do boarhounds like bones? Nifflers probably don't.'_

"Please tell me that it's not still there," Molly begged, wishing that Remus didn't read out that particular description on top of everything else that happened that night.

"No," said Kingsley quickly. "I remember Dumbledore telling me about that. They got it out and transfigured it back so that they could give it a proper burial."

"Well, that's good I guess," Sirius muttered.

**There was complete silence now, except for Winky's continued sobs. Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight…" **

**"****I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch. ****"****Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards." **

"Too bad that isn't what happened," Sirius muttered, feeling a vindictive bit of satisfaction to what happened to that bastard.

**The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky wailed and sobbed at his side.**

"That poor elf," sighed Tonks sadly, her dark blue hair matching her mood. "I hope that she's gonna be ok. That's got to mess with you head."

"And that's the end of this chapter," Remus sighed in relief. As he rubbed his tired eyes, he put the book down on the table.

"That's horrible," said Molly after a moment of quiet, "That's all just so… so…" she couldn't find the words to describe just how sickened she was.

"We all feel the same, Molly," Remus sighed. "But at least this book is almost over. "Only two more chapters."

"Hmm," was all Mad-Eye said; a very strange look in his eyes.

"Whose turn is it to read next?" Tonks asked, not at all disappointed that this horrible book was almost done.

Without a word, Sirius reached over and took the book. "Two more…" he whispered to himself before he read out louder, "**Chapter 36: The Parting of the Ways**."

**(Ok. First I'd like to thank all the support the last couple of days. I really didn't mean to stop, but it's hard writing each chapter. Most of my inspiration has been used up and I'm having such a hard time trying to think of ideas. But there will be two more chapters along with the epilogue. And if you want to know about book five, you have to wait until the epilogue ok? So please stop asking me about it.)**


	41. The Parting of the Ways

**Chapter 40: The Parting of the Ways**

Without a word, Sirius reached over and took the book. "Two more…" he whispered to himself before he read out louder, "**Chapter 36: The Parting of the Ways**."

Here it was. So this was the chapter when the government shoved their heads so far up their arses that they couldn't see anything happening around.

"That doesn't sound good at all," Tonks muttered anxiously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Most likely it's when Fudge decides that it would be easier to believe that Harry and Dumbledore are lying and forget that he has a duty to the public," said Remus. He was certain he was correct, but it didn't stop him from hoping he wasn't right.

"Oh, I'm willing to be that your right there," Sirius muttered, remembering how Fudge acted when he came storming into the hospital wing. He was sure that scene and his temper tantrum was going to be shown.

"I still can't believe that he's that stupid," Tonks whispered. "How could anyone actually think that they're making something like this up?"

"You just said it didn't you?" Moody stated. "He's an idiot."

**Dumbledore stood up. He stared down at Barty Crouch for a moment with disgust on his face. **

They all had similar looks on their faces and Sirius made gagging noises before he braved on.

**Then he raised his wand once more and ropes flew out of it, ropes that twisted themselves around Barty Crouch, binding him tightly. He turned to Professor McGonagall.**

**"****Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Harry upstairs?"**

**"****Of course," said Professor McGonagall. She looked slightly nauseous, as though she had just watched someone being sick. **

"I'm right behind you professor," Tonks whispered, feeling green herself.

**However, when she drew out her wand and pointed it at Barty Crouch, her hand was quite steady.**

"Braver than any lion," said Remus simply.

Moody couldn't help but smirk. Personally, he wondered if she would've given in to even a slight desire to hurt Crouch Jr. for all the harm he's done. It's a shame that she didn't think to take off a few limbs before Fudge came in.

**"****Severus" - Dumbledore turned to Snape - "please tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here; we need to get Alastor Moody into the hospital wing. Then go down into the grounds, find**** Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. **

"He's gonna regret that," Kingsley sighed, knowing full well how that ended up.

**Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if he needs me."**

**Snape nodded silently and swept out of the room.**

**"****Harry?" Dumbledore said gently.**

**Harry got up and swayed again; the pain in his leg, which he had not noticed all the time he had been listening to Crouch, now returned in full measure. He also realized that he was shaking. **

"The adrenaline has obviously worn off," observed Kingsley.

"And everything that has happened to him that night is starting to sink in," Arthur finished for him sadly.

**Dumbledore gripped his arm and helped him out into the dark corridor.**

**"****I want you to come up to my office first. Harry," he said quietly as they headed up the**** passageway. **

"He needs the hospital wing!" cried Molly furiously.

"Molly," Arthur said at once, "We all know that. But it's important for Dumbledore to learn what happened. He needed Harry to tell him everything before Harry might forget something critical."

"How could he ever forget this?" Tonks asked incredulously.

Molly huffed, knowing that he was right, but she couldn't help but feel angry at them all for that.

**"****Sirius is waiting for us there."**

"That's," Sirius muttered, remembering what happened next… he felt that he was losing his mind as he was forced to wait in that office without the slightest clue to what was happening.

**Harry nodded. A kind of numbness and a sense of complete unreality were upon him, but he did not care; he was even glad of it. He didn't want to have to think about anything that had happened since he had first touched the Triwizard Cup. **

"Can you blame him?" Tonks whispered, "I'd be having nightmares for years after something like that."

**He didn't want to have to examine the memories, fresh and sharp as photographs, which kept flashing across his mind. Mad-Eye Moody, inside the trunk. Wormtail, slumped on the ground, cradling his stump of an arm. Voldemort, rising from the steaming cauldron. Cedric… dead… Cedric, asking to be returned to his parents…**

**"****Professor," Harry mumbled, "where are Mr. and Mrs. Diggory?"**

"Oh," Molly whispered, she had forgotten about them. She couldn't begin to imagine just how much pain they both must've been.

**"****They are with Professor Sprout," said Dumbledore. His voice, which had been so calm throughout the interrogation of Barty Crouch, shook very slightly for the first time. **

Albus shook his head sorrowfully. Whenever something happens to his students, he can't help but feel it's his responsibility… even if they already left school he can't forget the students he once had. Cedric was one of his students… and he took it almost as painfully as the Diggory's did.

"Albus takes the safety of his students very seriously, and very personally," explained Remus grimly, thinking back to all the security measures that the headmaster put up when he came to Hogwarts.

**"****She was Head of Cedric's house, and knew him best."**

"Poor Pomona," Tonks whispered. That was a job she knew she would never want to do. Where do you start? What do you say?

**They had reached the stone gargoyle. Dumbledore gave the password, it sprang aside, and ****he and Harry went up the moving spiral staircase to the oak door.**

**Dumbledore pushed it open. Sirius was standing there. His face was white and gaunt as it had been when he had escaped Azkaban. **

"Sounds like you were worried," Remus asked in a whisper.

"Jeez, you think?" Sirius retorted darkly.

**In one swift moment, he had crossed the room.**

**"****Harry, are you all right? I knew it - I knew something like this - what happened?"**

**His hands shook as he helped Harry into a chair in front of the desk.**

**"****What happened?" he asked more urgently.**

"Sirius!" Molly said. "Don't push him."

"Like you wouldn't do the same thing?" he snapped back, raising the book up so that he wouldn't have to look at anyone.

**Dumbledore began to tell Sirius everything Barty Crouch had said. Harry was only half listening. So tired every bone in his body was aching, he wanted nothing more than to sit here, undisturbed, for hours and hours, until he fell asleep and didn't have to think or feel anymore.**

Once again, Albus felt the familiar pangs of guilt. He was sorry that he had to force Harry to relive it, but he had to.

**There was a soft rush of wings. Fawkes the phoenix had left his perch, flown across the office, and landed on Harry's knee.**

"Fawkes," sighed Tonks lovingly.

**"'****Lo, Fawkes," said Harry quietly. He stroked the phoenix's beautiful scarlet-and gold plumage. Fawkes blinked peacefully up at him. There was something comforting about his warm weight.**

Albus smiled, glad that Fawkes was able to offer some forms of comfort.

**Dumbledore stopped talking. He sat down opposite Harry, behind his desk. He was looking at Harry, who avoided his eyes. Dumbledore was going to question him. He was going to ****make Harry relive everything.**

"Why couldn't he have waited?" asked Molly grimly, "Just let him sleep for a little while… but to have him tell him everything right away?"

"Couldn't be helped, Molly," Kingsley sighed. "He needed to know everything."

**"****I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze Harry," said Dumbledore.**

**"****We can leave that till morning, can't we, Dumbledore?" said Sirius harshly. He had put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Let him have a sleep. Let him rest."**

"You know, it's always strange to hear you and Sirius agreeing with each other on something," Remus whispered.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at him. "Watch Professor Moony. I know where you live."

**Harry felt a rush of gratitude toward Sirius, but Dumbledore took no notice of Sirius's words. He leaned forward toward Harry.**

**Very unwillingly, Harry raised his head and looked into those blue eyes.**

Albus remembered that night as Harry sat there. Those sad green eyes… it was almost too painful to watch… he remembered the description that Harry gave Hagrid before Buckbeak was to be executed. He had seen that exact same look in Harry's eyes that night… to feel that helpless was worst to watch than anything.

**"****If I thought I could help you," Dumbledore said gently, "by putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened."**

Albus sighed unhappily. He wanted to let the poor boy sleep and forget it all, but he hoped that Harry understood.

**The phoenix let out one soft, quavering note. It shivered in the air, and Harry felt as though a drop of hot liquid had slipped down his throat into his stomach, warming him, and strengthening him.**

"Fawkes truly is something special…" Arthur said with a smile.

Albus bite back a laugh. Yes, Fawkes is special and Fawkes knew he was special. Such a majestic creature… one that makes the world seem a little brighter.

**He took a deep breath and began to tell them. As he spoke, visions of everything that had passed that night seemed to rise before his eyes; he saw the sparkling surface of the potion that had revived Voldemort; he saw the Death Eaters Apparating between the graves around them; he saw Cedric's body, lying on the ground beside the cup.**

"What a thing to do to a kid," Tonks muttered bitterly.

Sirius raised the book a little higher to block everyone from his view again—shame now filling his insides at the reminder that he failed to protect that same boy.

**Once or twice, Sirius made a noise as though about to say something, his hand still tight on Harry's shoulder, but Dumbledore raised his hand to stop him, and Harry was glad of this, because it was easier to keep going now he had started. **

"It's usually like that," said Remus quietly. "The sooner that you get it off your chest, the better it is. It would only make it feel like you're repeating everything if you keep asking questions."

"Easy for all of you to say," Sirius snapped darkly.

**It was even a relief; he felt almost as though something poisonous were being extracted from him. It was costing him every bit of determination he had to keep talking, yet he ****sensed that once he had finished, he would feel better.**

"He doesn't have to carry that burden around on his own," Kingsley said.

"How can he not?" Moody asked softly with a roll of his eyes. After all, it happened to him, not the others… he doubt that they would ever understand what had been going on in that kid's mind that night… even with these books.

**When Harry told of Wormtail piercing his arm with the dagger, however, Sirius let out a vehement exclamation and Dumbledore stood up so quickly that Harry started. Dumbledore walked around the desk and told Harry to stretch out his arm.**

Sirius remembered how interested that he had been there and stopped for a moment, briefly wondering why.

**Harry showed them both the place where his robes were torn and the cut beneath them.**

**"****He said my blood would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's," Harry told Dumbledore. "He said the protection my - my mother left in me - he'd have it too. And he was right - he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face."**

"There's a nightmare," Tonks shuddered at the thought of Voldemort touching her face.

**For a fleeting instant, Harry thought he saw a gleam of something like triumph in ****Dumbledore's eyes. **

"What?" asked Molly, her glare becoming even sharper. "What's this?!"

"Triumph?" Remus repeated as he pushed the book away from Sirius's face so that he could see the words himself. "What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure," Kinsley said slowly, frowning at that.

"I thought that I was just seeing things," Sirius muttered, having remembered seeing that look in Dumbledore's face. His face darkened… what did that old man know that the rest of them didn't?

Almost as if he could sense Sirius's thoughts, Albus sighed unhappily. He did have a vague idea that Voldemort had unwilling united Harry and his destines closer together, bonding them even more than they already were. He was certain that it had to do with the blood sacrifice. Now Lily's sacrifice ran in Riddle's veins as well and now Harry had a chance at survival since he was a…

He shook his head, refusing to admit this even though he knew it was the only possibility.

**But next second Harry was sure he had imagined it, for when Dumbledore had returned to his seat behind the desk, he looked as old and weary as Harry had ever seen him.**

**"****Very well," he said, sitting down again. "Voldemort has overcome that particular barrier. ****Harry, continue, please."**

Moody looked at the book curiously. What does Dumbledore mean by _'that particular barrier'_? How many barriers have the old man set up, how and why?

"So, does the blood protection no longer work?" asked Molly wide-eyed.

"I don't know," Sirius said, though he sounded angry. "If that's the case, then what was the point in sending Harry back there?! Oh, I can't wait to get my hands on that old…" he then started making violent hand gestures as if he was imagining strangling Dumbledore.

Remus, once again, put a calming hand on his friend's shoulder. Sirius took several deep breaths before he picked up the book brutally and went on his an angry tone.

**Harry went on; he explained how Voldemort had emerged from the cauldron, and told them all he could remember of Voldemort's speech to the Death Eaters. Then he told how ****Voldemort had untied him, returned his wand to him, and prepared to duel.**

"Even though we know what happened," Kingsley muttered; imagining a scrawny four-teen year old dueling with such a powerful, dark wizard, "It still sounds unbelievable."

"Too bad that's the problem here," Moody grunted.

**But when he reached the part where the golden beam of light had connected his and Voldemort's wands, he found his throat obstructed. He tried to keep talking, but the memories of what had come out of Voldemort's wand were flooding into his mind. He could****see Cedric emerging, see the old man, Bertha Jorkins… his father… his mother…**

Remus and Sirius looked down at the floor and both looked ready to start shedding more tears at those last four words. Words that were so simple… but meant so much… caused so much pain…

"I wouldn't know what to say there," said Arthur turning the attention away from the two men.

"What _could_ you say?" Tonks whispered miserably.

**He was glad when Sirius broke the silence.**

**"****The wands connected?" he said, looking from Harry to Dumbledore. "Why?"**

**Harry looked up at Dumbledore again, on whose face there was an arrested look. "Priori Incantatem," he muttered.**

"Why would he act like that?" Moody asked himself softly. This didn't sound like the Dumbledore he knew… just what was going through that brilliant mind of his? Just what did he know…?

**His eyes gazed into Harry's and it was almost as though an invisible beam of understanding shot between them.**

A muscle was going in Sirius's forehead at that and suddenly felt another strong surge of anger towards Dumbledore.

**"****The Reverse Spell effect?" said Sirius sharply.**

**"****Exactly," said Dumbledore. "Harry's wand and Voldemorts wand share cores. Each of them contains a feather from the tail of the same phoenix. This phoenix, in fact," he added, and he pointed at the scarlet-and-gold bird, perching peacefully on Harry's knee.**

Albus finally cracked a smile. He had a feeling that might explain it. Fawkes seemed to have taken a liken to Harry and, likewise, Harry seemed to have found a strong sense of comfort from him.

**"****My wand's feather came from Fawkes?" Harry said, amazed.**

**"****Yes," said Dumbledore. "Mr. Ollivander wrote to tell me you had bought the second wand, the moment you left his shop four years ago."**

"What are the odds?" Molly asked in wonder.

But Moody was looking thoughtful. Now that was a bit unusual…

**"****So what happens when a wand meets its brother?" said Sirius.**

"They do not work properly," said Remus at once as if they had asked him the question. "A brother wand will not kill the owner of the other wand…"

"Remus?" Arthur asked softly and Remus blinked, as if forgetting that they were reading a book.

"Sorry," he muttered embarrassed, and he turned red when he heard Tonks giggling.

**"****They will not work properly against each other," said Dumbledore. "If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands to do battle… a very rare effect will take place. One of the wands will force the other to regurgitate spells it has performed - in reverse. The most recent first… and then those which preceded it…"**

"Wow," Tonks said in amazement. "So does that mean that Harry and Voldemort can never really duel if they use their own wands? So it—like—pointless for them to fight each other because they can't really do any damage to the other?"

"It's a possibility," Kingsley muttered softly, "But that's hard to say for sure. Right now, hardly anyone knows that Harry and Voldemort have twin wands… so it's impossible to say what will happen in the future."

"It's like Harry was predestined for that wand," Arthur said softly. "Or is it because of his link to Voldemort… I really don't know how this is happening here…"

'_Well, I think that it's obvious that Fawkes is no ordinary bird,' _Moody thought to himself._ 'However, the more we learn, the more I think that there's a piece to this puzzle that we're missing here_.'

He thought about the twin wands. Is this some kind of sign? A miracle? Or is there something to this thing that was called _fate_? He never really believed that they were destined for something. But he did know that there was no such thing as coincidences.

When Potter entered the wandmaker's shop, looking so much like his dad, Ollivander knew right away who he was. Potter had just met Malfoy, and was feeling more out of place and worried than before. Mr. Ollivander obviously knew how important Potter was (who didn't) so, maybe Ollivander thought if Potter had a special wand, it would give him some confidence. After all, there were plenty who refused to believe that Lord Voldemort was gone for good. Presumably, Ollivander would have known about the Priori Incantatem spell; perhaps he helped the choice, allowing Potter something else against Voldemort that could be useful for Potter, if they were confronted again.

But that theory was something he highly doubted possible.

But just now, Dumbledore said that right after Potter left the shop, Ollivander sent him a note saying that Potter bought the other wand with a Fawkes feather as a core. This fact raises a few questions in itself. Why tell Dumbledore? Had Dumbledore contacted Ollivander to find out what wand Potter got? There was probably an agreement to inform Dumbledore who it was that bought each of Fawkes' feather wands when the wands were first made—but was that just idle curiosity? Dumbledore told the Order that he made his decisions with Potter with regard to the years ahead because he was convinced Voldemort would survive and come back to kill Potter. Did Dumbledore think, in his perfectly outlined plan, that he could help the outcome by giving Potter the brother to Voldemort's wand and asking Ollivander to do so, but without letting Potter know?

Dumbledore took several measures to make his plan work. With the wand having such an important role in the wizarding world, it would be reckless of him not to have thought about it and taken action. "The wand chooses the wizard…" but did Dumbledore, Ollivander, Potter or the wand actually do the choosing?

He rubbed his forehead, briefly wondering if he was just reading too deeply into Dumbledore's nature. With the old timer in the hall, he couldn't ask him… but he couldn't help but wonder just how much was he pulling the strings.

**He looked interrogatively at Harry, and Harry nodded.**

**"****Which means," said Dumbledore slowly, his eyes upon Harry's face, "that some form of Cedric must have reappeared."**

"It's almost like he knew this was going to happen…" Sirius said darkly.

"He's trying to put pieced together, Sirius," Kingsley reminded him. "He's trying to get a clearer picture of everything so that he could figure out how it all happened."

"Keep telling yourself that," Sirius said stubbornly, but kept going.

**Harry nodded again.**

**"****Diggory came back to life?" said Sirius sharply.**

**"****No spell can reawaken the dead," said Dumbledore heavily.**

'_No,'_ thought Albus miserably. That was a lesson that he learned a long time ago… yet, it was something that he couldn't help but wish for as well…

**"All that would have happened is a kind of reverse echo. A shadow of the living Cedric would have emerged from the wand… am I correct, Harry?"**

**"****He spoke to me," Harry said. He was suddenly shaking again. "Th… the ghost Cedric, or whatever he was, spoke."**

**"****An echo," said Dumbledore, "which retained Cedric's appearance and character. I am guessing other such forms appeared… less recent victims of Voldemort's wand…"**

**"****An old man," Harry said, his throat still constricted. "Bertha Jorkins. And…"**

Sirius stopped for a second, his breathing painful but he went on forcefully, feeling as if his heart was being torn in two.

**"****Your parents?" said Dumbledore quietly.**

**"****Yes," said Harry.**

**Sirius's grip on Harry's shoulder was now so tight it was painful.**

"Sorry," muttered Sirius softly. Most of them thought that he was apologizing for squeezing Harry's shoulder, but Remus looked at him and knew that he was really apologizing for trusting Wormtail. He was trying to say how sorry he was for letting this happen.

Remus sighed. He knew that despite everything they said, everything that they will say… Sirius would never stop blaming himself for James and Lily's deaths. He knew that until he heard it straight from his best friend's mouth in the afterlife, or wherever it was you went when you died, he would never forgive himself.

**"****The last murders the wand performed," said Dumbledore, nodding. "In reverse order. More would have appeared, of course, had you maintained the connection. Very well, Harry, these echoes, these shadows… what did they do?"**

**Harry described how the figures that had emerged from the wand had prowled the edges of the golden web, how Voldemort had seemed to fear them, how the shadow of Harry's mother had told him what to do, how Cedric's had made its final request.**

"I'm glad that he did," Tonks said sadly. "It was the least that could be done for Cedric to make sure that he got a proper burial…"

'_Instead of the snake,' _she added in an afterthought, but couldn't bring herself to say that out loud.

**At this point Harry found he could not continue. He looked around at Sirius and saw that he had his face in his hands.**

Sirius shook his head—trying to force those dormant feelings down again. He cried enough because of these books, and he didn't want to cry anymore.

**Harry suddenly became aware that Fawkes had left his knee. The phoenix had fluttered to the floor. It was resting its beautiful head against Harry's injured leg, and thick, pearly tears were falling from its eyes onto the wound left by the spider. The pain vanished. The skin mended. His leg was repaired.**

"While that is a relief," Molly sighed, "It would be better to take him down to the hospital wing as soon as he could."

And also to let her and the others know that he was alive. She, Bill, Ron, and Hermione were going crazy not knowing where he was—and she thought that Madam Pomfrey was going to lose it and curse them if they didn't leave her alone. And then the door suddenly opened and there was Dumbledore leading Harry, and a large black dog with them.

Of course she couldn't have cared less about the dog, the only thing she was focused on was the pale, shaking boy that Dumbledore was supporting.

**"****I will say it again," said Dumbledore as the phoenix rose into the air and resettled itself upon the perch beside the door. "You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight Harry. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. **

"That's an understatement if I ever heard one," Arthur muttered, with a tone of awe.

Albus agreed with a nod, his hand going up to his face. He knew he couldn't keep the truth hidden from the boy for much longer, but he couldn't bring himself to take the risk of telling him now. If Voldemort was trying to force his way into Harry's mind, then telling him would only serve to put the boy in even more danger. He knew better than anyone that you shouldn't underestimate Voldemort. He recalled the first war when no one took him seriously at first until he started building an army.

He tried to force them into the back of his mind, but his memories of that night were flooding up inside him before he could stop himself.

_*Flashback*_

_Neither of them said another word as they reached his office. As he knew, there was Sirius was standing there. His face was white and gaunt as it had been when he had escaped Azkaban. As soon as he saw Harry, he almost sprinted across the room to Harry. He put his hands on his shoulder and demanded, "Harry, are you all right? I knew it - I knew something like this - what happened?"_

_His hands were shaking as he led his godson away to the chair before he turned accusingly towards him. "What happened?"_

_Albus sighed as he told Sirius everything that Barty told them downstairs. Every word his spoke only seemed to make Sirius look more ghost-like if possible. He was only vaguely aware of when Fawkes flew past him to Harry's knee, to comfort him._

_"'Lo, Fawkes," he heard Harry mumble as he began to stroke his feathers. Albus didn't disturb them as he continued filling Sirius in on everything. Once he was finished, Sirius looked ready to faint; but then Albus went back to his desk and sat down. Harry wasn't looking at him, and he knew that he was aware of what he was about to do._

_"I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze Harry," he asked softly._

_Harry wasn't the one who answered, but Sirius in a harsh voice, as if unable to believe that he was asking this. "We can leave that till morning, can't we, Dumbledore?" He had put a hand on Harry's shoulder, as he glared accusingly at him. "Let him have a sleep. Let him rest."_

_He ignored him as he looked at Harry. He then leaned forward towards him. With a sigh, Harry looked up into his eyes. He could see his green orbs looking at him almost blankly—he never looked so lost and confused as he did now. This helplessness that showed in them was as bad as seeing Cedric's eyes this evening._

_He said very gently, "If I thought I could help you," Harry didn't react at all, but he could tell that he was listening to every word he said, "by putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it."_

_He had wanted to do nothing more than that… but at the same time, he knew that it was crucial that he know every detail from tonight. Postponing it would only make it worse… "But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you."_

_He paused for a fraction of a second; hoping that Harry knew that he meant every word. "I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened."_

_For a few moments, Harry didn't say a word. But then Fawkes seemed to understand for he let out just a single soft, quavering note. It shivered in the air, and everyone in the room felt something warm and comforting inside them—giving them strength. Harry sat up a little straighter and took a deep breath._

_And he listened:_

_"Me and Cedric both got to the cup at the same time, we decided to take it together… but as soon as we touched it… we were transported somewhere else. We figured out that the cup had been a portkey… but we didn't know where we were, only that we were far away from the castle. I mean, we couldn't even see the mountains that were around the castle anymore."_

_"And where were you?" he asked softly._

_"A… a graveyard," he stuttered. "It was a dark graveyard… I don't remember to many details about it except that there was an old house on a hill."_

_Albus frowned. There was something strange about that._

_"We didn't know if this was supposed to be part of the task… we pulled out our wands but nothing happened for a few minutes. And then… he came…"_

_"He?" Sirius asked sharply._

_Harry hesitated for a moment before he whispered out, "Wormtail… with Voldemort."_

_Sirius's pale face suddenly grew red with fury._

_"And then?" Albus asked._

_Harry began to shake again. "He said… he said… to 'k-kill the spare.'"_

_Albus closed his eyes in pain, but he had to keep going. "I didn't recognize Wormtail at first…" Harry went on. "He was wearing a hood… so I couldn't see his face. But he was carrying some robes with him and I thought that it was a baby or something at first… but that was when my scar started to hurt. It hurt so badly that I couldn't see anything… and then I heard Voldemort… give the order."_

_He stopped for a moment, taking another deep breath, "When I opened my eyes…"_

_He didn't say anything, but Albus didn't need him to. He watched as Harry hands clasped together in his lap and was staring down at them, as though determined to look at anywhere else but at him. "He—Wormtail—then grabbed me and tied me to a headstone… it read… Tom Riddle…"_

_Sirius looked confused but Albus understood. Voldemort's Muggle father. "He then left me there and left for a moment. I tried to pull free, but I couldn't even move. And Voldemort had this huge…" he gulped, "Snake… I don't think that I would've been able to escape with it there watching me. But then Wormtail, he put what I thought was the baby down and went to go and get a giant cauldron. I can't explain how I knew, but I just somehow knew that I didn't want to see what was inside it. I just knew that whatever was in there… couldn't be a good thing. The snake—Nagini—I think he called it, came over and was circling the headstone where I was tied… almost like it was impatient…"_

_Albus kept listening, suddenly remembering the last time Harry was in here, telling him about the dream he had with Voldemort and the snake. It all suddenly made sense to him now._

_"He came back with the cauldron, and it was the biggest cauldron I've ever seen and he began working on a potion," Harry said._

_Sirius opened his mouth, his hand still tight on Harry's shoulder, but Albus held his hand up, determined to get the whole story before he asked questions._

_Harry took several calming breaths and went on, "I don't know what it was… but it began not only to bubble, but to send out fiery sparks, as though it were on fire. Steam was pouring out… however Wormtail seemed to be going slow because Voldemort, the thing in the robes, told him to hurry."_

_He gulped again and said, "Then it was ready…"_

_Once more, Sirius opened his mouth, but Albus shot him a warning look._

_"Wormtail had bent down and picked up what was in the bundle, and I saw what it was," Harry was shivering, as though the thought of whatever was in those robes was haunting his mind's eye. "I wish I never did. It was the most horrible creature that I had ever seen in my life. It looked—it looked like…" he seemed to be having trouble trying to describe it. "It looked… kinda like a human baby… but it was… slimy, and burnt… it didn't have hair and the skin was… looking like it was rubbed raw… until it was just a red-black…"_

_Sirius's nose wrinkled in disgust, and Albus felt sick to his stomach thinking of it._

_"The thing seemed almost helpless," Harry croaked out, "Because Wormtail had to pick it up and put it into the cauldron. I remember hearing it hiss before it sank in… I silently begged that the creature would drown as Wormtail raised his wand and shouted out the words… I think he said… 'Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!' or something like that."_

_Albus froze at this. He never heard of such sorcery like this before._

_"That was when the ground at my feet had cracked and dust rose into the air before falling into the cauldron. The surface of the water hissed and it turned blue. At this point, Wormtail pulled out a dagger and sobbed out, 'Flesh of the servant willingly given you will revive your master.'"_

_He gulped, "He then held up his right hand, and…"_

_No one said a word, trying to digest what Wormtail had done._

_"I had my eyes shut," he muttered, determined not to say what happened, "And I heard him add it to the cauldron to. That was when the potion had turned a blood red. I could hear Wormtail crying in pain, but it wasn't until I felt his breath on my face did I know that he was right in front of me. He choked out the words, 'B-blood of the enemy… forcibly taken… you will… resurrect your foe.'There wasn't anything that I could do to stop him. I was tied to the grave as he raised the dagger and pressed the point into my right arm. I could feel my blood seeping down as Wormtail pulled out a vial and caught a few drops of it…"_

_At those words Albus stood up so quickly that he startled Harry. But he didn't pay much attention to that—not even hearing Sirius swearing at the top of his lungs. He just hurried around the desk, "Show me your arm, Harry," he said firmly, but softly at the same time. He had to see it… he had to know…_

_Harry pulled back the sleeve of his robes, and there was the still bleeding cut, just below his elbow._

_"He said my blood would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's," Harry told him hurriedly. "He said the protection my - my mother left in me - he'd have it too. And he was right - he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face."_

_Albus stared at it… then…_

_He looked back into the green eyes for a moment. There was still hope. But now… he sighed as he slowly turned back to his desk. There was hope… he knew, or had guessed that Harry's tragic fate would be death eventually. However he kept that information from Harry to avoid causing him anxiety from all the pressure. The triumph he felt inside him was now due to the discovery that Harry might not have to die since Voldemort taking his blood would keep his mother's sacrifice alive! However…_

_"Very well," he said, sitting down again. "Voldemort has overcome that particular barrier. Harry, continue, please."_

_Harry looked back down at Fawkes and seemed to be speaking more to the phoenix, than him. "Once he was done with me, he turned back to the cauldron, with my blood this time, and poured it in. The red potion had turned white and Wormtail fell to his knees and cried as he held the bleeding stump of an arm to him. The potion in the meantime was sending sparks everywhere. But still nothing happened…"_

_Albus bit his lip._

_"Finally, white steam appeared and covered everything like a thick fog so that I couldn't see anything that wasn't within a foot of me. And then… I saw him."_

_He was now shaking so badly that it was causing Fawkes to shake on his knee._

_"Through the mist, I could see him rising out of the cauldron…" Harry gulped. "Then he told Wormtail to show him his arm…"_

_Sirius was now also starting to shake—but in anger. "He showed him the Dark Mark… and he touched it. I… I don't remember what he said word-for-word…"_

_"Just tell us as much as you can remember," Albus said gently._

_"He… he wondered how many would show up," he whispered croakily. "How many would be too afraid to come or stay away." He continued talking to Fawkes, so Albus was unable to see into his mind, but he was almost afraid to see it._

_"He talked about his father for a minute, telling him that he was a Muggle and that he used to live in that village…"_

_Albus now knew where all this took place. The town where Tom Riddle Sr. had grown up and lived until his death. Little Hangleton._

_"He kept talking about getting revenge on his father for that name…"_

_Albus nodded; understanding that the reason he hated Muggles so dearly was because of his anger towards his father…_

_"And then the Death Eaters all came in," he went on, Sirius's breathing hitched and Albus felt as if his heart was being squeezed._

_"And what happened then?" he asked softly, not surprised that he was whispereing._

_Harry didn't seem to be able to speak. It was as if the words were caught in his throat and he was shaking worse than ever. Sirius looked like he wanted to say something, but Fawkes let out a single note. Harry's shaking stopped slightly and he continued speaking to him, "They all stood in a circle around us. I couldn't see their faces, but Voldemort called them by name."_

_Albus didn't think he needed to guess who they were._

_"He gave a speech," Harry went on. "He said… it was like he was disappointed in them. He asked, how could they believe I could not rise again. They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? Those were the words I think he said. After that, he said that he always awards his helpers and gave Wormtail a silver hand."_

_Sirius was grinding his teeth together. Albus was frowning. That wasn't good for Wormtail._

_"What else?" Albus pressed on. Harry sighed. "He talked to Lucius Malfoy. He was there. And it turns out that he was one of the Death Eaters at the World Cup and ran when he saw the Dark Mark."_

_"I see," Albus whispered softly._

_"He said that he was going to give him the lead spot of M-Muggle-torture," he stuttered on the last part and Albus's eyes turned hard. A person to keep a close watch on…_

_"He also talked a little bit about the Lestrange," at this he finally looked up and they both shared a silent understand. Obviously remembering what they talked about, "he said that they will be honored beyond their dreams. The dementors will join us… they are our natural allies… and he talked about the giants. He said, 'we will recall the banished giants…'"_

_"Who else?" Sirius asked, and Albus knew that he was making notes as he was._

_"Macnair," he went on wearily. "The one who tried to execute Buckbeak. Voldemort said that he'll 'have better victims soon.' There was also Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott… though he didn't talk to them so much. Then he went on saying that there were six Death Eaters missing. Three were dead, one to cowardly to return and he'll pay…"_

_Albus thought of Karkaroff; he better be warned as soon as possible. Though, with the Dark Mark, he would know sooner than anyone else that he was back. And with all the other Death Eaters he turned in, would also know that he wouldn't be welcomed back._

_"And then there was one who left forever and that he'll be killed."_

_'Severus,' he thought worriedly._

_"And finally, his most faithful servant, Crouch," he stopped there for a moment, "Was at Hogwarts."_

_Sirius started cursing again._

_"He—Voldemort—also went on explaining to the Death Eaters what happened to him," Harry went on. "He said… t-the night that he tried to kill me, my… my mother stopped him."_

_His eyes looked rather watery, but he kept going a little quicker—"And that because of that, he couldn't touch me. But…"_

_"But now he can," Albus finished for him softly._

_Harry nodded. "And then he went into this long speech. He said, 'I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost… but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know… I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal - to conquer death.'"_

_Albus stared. What did that mean? He had long since theorized about Voldemort creating a Horcrux… but… is it possible that he created more than he dreamt?_

_"He talked about how his experiments had kept him alive, even though when the curse rebounded, it should've," Harry spoke. "He talked for some time, 'I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself… for I had no body, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of a wand…'"_

_Albus now knew that here was the proof that he needed._

_"He then talked about how he hid in Albania, expecting his Death Eaters to come and find him. But no one came. The Death Eaters weren't happy about that."_

_'I should think not,' he thought. "Do you remember what he said, Harry?"_

_"He could possess others," he shuddered. "He didn't go where other people were, because of the Aurors lurking everywhere. But he mostly possessed animals—snakes he said. But he went on to say that his possession of them always shortened their lives."_

_Of course, if even a human body isn't made to handle that kind of stress. How could a snake last long?_

_"He then mentioned Quirrell," Harry spoke quietly._

_"Who?" Sirius barked._

_"One of his servants who tried to steal the Sorcerer's Stone four years ago," Albus explained without looking at him. "Voldemort had possessed him to get into the school… he's dead now. Most likely because of the possession. Now, what else did he say?"_

_"That he found him and how he used him to try and get the stone but was… stopped," Harry said, not looking at Sirius. Albus knew that he didn't want to talk about it anymore than he did. "And that he died when he left his body. When he did, he was as weak as ever so he was forced to return to Albania after that. Just when he gave up hope that anyone would find him, Wormtail did."_

_A deep growl was sounding from Sirius's throat._

_"Wormtail had found him with the help of rats… but he stopped at an inn for some food one night, and…"_

_"And he found Bertha Jorkins," Albus finished softly. He remembered what Ludo had said. The last time anyone saw Bertha was when she left an inn with a man. Now he knew… it had been Peter._

_"Wormtail brought Bertha Jorkins to him. And that was how he found out about the tournament," Harry said. "You heard it from—Crouch downstairs. How he found out about Crouch's son still alive and at his father's house; he broke the Memory Charm that Crouch put on her and… and…" he gulped and said shakily, "He said that he damaged her beyond repair."_

_Albus closed his eyes in pain. "And he killed her."_

_"Yes," Harry mumbled softly._

_Albus put his hand up to cover his eyes, fighting the pain of hearing what happened to Bertha. They were all quiet for a minute before Harry grudging went on. "Wormtail brought him back to this country and had been able to take care of him so that he had been able to return to… to a sort of body of his own…"_

_The creature that he had seen tonight… really Tom… were you that desperate to cling to life, that you were willing to return as such a form?_

_Harry trailed off here and Albus looked to see that he was shaking worse than ever. "Spells of his own invention he said with help from Nagini—the snake," he added and he nodded. "He said, 'A potion concocted from unicorn blood, and the snake venom Nagini provided… I was soon returned to an almost human form, and strong enough to travel.' He knew that the stone was destroyed but with the information he got from Bertha Jorkins, he came up with a new plan."_

_"The tournament," Sirius said angrily. "But why you?"_

_"I think he said, 'it was an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight - I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand. Flesh given by a servant… so he had Wormtail. Bone from the father… so that was why they went to where he was buried… but he said that he wanted my blood because the protection my mother gave me, he'd have it to," Harry said, now sounding angry. Not that Albus blamed him. That protection was Lily's final gift to her son… it was meant for him and him alone… and the idea that Voldemort had taken such a selfless sacrifice for his own use was like trampling over something sacred. He didn't blame Harry one bit for being furious at that…_

_"He talked about how he used Bertha Jorkin's information to get to his servant to get my name into the Goblet of Fire. Crouch made sure that I won in the maze by clearing most of the challenges out of my way." As if he just remembered something, he looked up at him and said, "Before you stunned Crouch's son earlier, he told me that he stunned Fleur in the maze, and used the Imperius Curse on Viktor so that he could… take care of… Cedric." The name seemed painful to say and Albus's eyes softened._

_"Miss Delacour and Mr. Krum are both safe and sound," he assured him. "They were pulled out of the maze—stunned, but nevertheless, both are alive and well."_

_Harry nodded in relief and continued, "Voldemort said that he wanted to prove to his Death Eaters that he was the stronger one…"_

_"What do you mean?" Sirius demanded at once._

_"He… he had Wormtail untie me… and duel me."_

_Sirius was staring at him. Albus's breath had just got painful._

_"Are you serious?" Sirius whispered. Harry had hugged himself tightly, as though he was cold—or as if he was trying to stop himself from trembling. Choosing not to answer the question, he said as if no one had said anything, "Wormtail untied me… and gave me back my wand. I thought about running for it… but…"_

_Of course not… he could barely walk with that injured leg… surrounded on all sides by Voldemort and his Death Eaters? That would just be suicidal._

_"He was toying with me," Harry croaked out, shutting his eyes as if ashamed. "He made me bow to him… it was like he was playing a game."_

_Albus felt as if his heart was breaking, and Sirius's face was so red that he thought that he would explode. But Albus didn't look at anything but that trembling form… he didn't need to look inside his mind to know what that shaking was from. He had seen it multiple times from the victims of Death Eaters… the aftereffects of the Cruciatus Curse. He had to fight the urge to be sick… no one deserved that… much less a child. He wasn't sure how many times that Voldemort had used it on Harry, but he knew it had to have been at least twice. If he knew Tom as well as he thought he did, then there was no way that he would've stopped so easily… especially for all the times that Harry had stopped him. He was almost afraid to hear more._

_"I didn't know what to do," Harry croaked out, and Albus could see that Harry was skipping over details. "I… I was just so… helpless… I knew that I was going to die…" he saw Sirius's hand tighten on his shoulder as he also began shaking horribly._

_Albus didn't know what to say or do… he wouldn't at all be surprised if the boy broke down completely and started to cry. But he just kept going on as though he couldn't help himself, "I just… I faced him and… I just cried out the first spell that came into my head. Expelliarmus… and he used it… Avada Kedavra… but… I don't know what happened, but the wands… connected I guess."_

_"Connected?" Albus repeated softly._

_"A jet of green light from Voldemorts wand just as a jet of red light blasted from mine," he explained, "And when they met in midair there was a deep gold light connecting them…"_

_He trailed off here, as though unable to go on._

_Sirius broke the silence._

_"The wands connected?" he said, looking from Harry to him. "Why?"_

_Harry looked up at him, and Albus was able to get just a brief look to confirm what he was told. He saw the events play out inside Harry's mind… the terrible memory of the ritual used to revive Voldemort, and the pieces of the speech that Harry hadn't been able to remember._

_He saw the terrible torture that he had been forced to… how Voldemort seemed to take pleasure in hurting a child… his fists tightened in suppressed rage. But to his greatest surprise, saw that Voldemort had also attempted to try and force Harry to play along with the help of the Imperius Curse, but… he fought him off?_

_Unbelievable… no one had ever been able to pull that off before. Albus stared at him, as Harry stared back, unaware that he was seeing into his memory. And then he saw the moment where the wands connected… which confirmed his thoughts._

_"Priori Incantatem," he muttered._

_His eyes gazed into Harry's and it was almost as though an invisible beam of understanding shot between them. He had seen Harry make the choice… to try and defend himself even if it meant his death… a pride that he never felt before surged up inside him… that is a hard decision to make, even if in the moment it seems the most obvious thing in the world._

_That was more than he ever did… more he ever could do._

_"The Reverse Spell effect?" said Sirius sharply, bringing him back to the matter at hand._

_"Exactly," he answered and then he explained where the cores of the two wands came from._

_"My wand's feather came from Fawkes?" Harry gasped, amazed._

_"Yes," he answered. "Mr. Ollivander wrote to tell me you had bought the second wand, the moment you left his shop four years ago."_

_"So what happens when a wand meets its brother?" Sirius asked._

_"They will not work properly against each other," he explained. "If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands to do battle… a very rare effect will take place. One of the wands will force the other to regurgitate spells it has performed - in reverse. The most recent first… and then those which preceded it…"_

_It is based mostly on will and determination… he looked interrogatively at Harry, and he nodded._

_"Which means," he said slowly, his eyes still upon Harry's face, "that some form of Cedric must have reappeared."_

_Harry nodded again, before he looked back down at the floor so that he was unable to see anything more._

_"Diggory came back to life?" said Sirius sharply._

_"No spell can reawaken the dead," he sighed heavily. "All that would have happened is a kind of reverse echo. A shadow of the living Cedric would have emerged from the wand… am I correct, Harry?"_

_"He spoke to me," he croaked out, and shaking again. "Th… the ghost Cedric, or whatever he was, spoke."_

_"An echo," he explained, "which retained Cedric's appearance and character. I am guessing other such forms appeared… less recent victims of Voldemort's wand…"_

_"An old man," he croaked. "Bertha Jorkins. And…"_

_"Your parents?" he guessed quietly._

_"Yes," said Harry so softly that he could barely hear him. Sirius was now hiding his face in his other hand, and Albus strongly suspected that he was fighting tears._

_"The last murders the wand performed," he said, understanding. "In reverse order. More would have appeared, of course, had you maintained the connection. Very well, Harry, these echoes, these shadows… what did they do?"_

_For a moment, he wasn't sure that Harry was going to be able to answer, but thankfully, Fawkes chose that moment to rub his head against Harry's pale hand. Harry took a shuddering gasp, and continued speaking Fawkes, "We were suddenly lifted into the air and being carried away… with our wands still connected. The Death Eaters were all screaming for orders… but Voldemort told them not to do anything until he commanded them."_

_Yes, of course he would want that… his pride was on the line and he wouldn't want his Death Eaters lose to a child again._

_"That's when light came shining out and it was like we were in a golden web—or a cage I guess. Then I heard singing…" Harry said, still talking to Fawkes, and now stroked his feathers. "I heard it before… phoenix song."_

_'Yes, Fawkes's song…' Albus thought. Both wands have a phoenix tail feather as the core. However, all phoenix songs were unique. It had been his very own Fawkes that he heard… no wonder Harry felt a strong comfort here now._

_"It was as if it was speaking to me," Harry went on, gently stroking the phoenix's feathers, "As if telling me not to break the connection… and… I don't know what made me do it…"_

_'His instincts no doubt,' Albus thought._

_"I didn't know what was going to happen… but Voldemort was trying to push the light down to my wand… i-it suddenly g-got so hot…" Harry stuttered, his hands twitching for a moment. It was then that Albus saw that there were very slight burns on his hands… and his anger starting growing again…_

_"It felt that my wand would break if it touched… I knew I'd never survive without it and I just… concentrated on pushing back…"_

_Albus's breathing stopped… did that mean that he overpowered Voldemort? Apparently his will overpowered Tom's, he looked at Sirius and he was showing various degrees of panic, anxiety and tension, he had a feeling that it would only get worse once the spells were brought forth._

_"It… the light connected I guess. That was when I heard screams coming from the wand…" Harry said thinking it over. Albus's eyes darkened… Harry's screams. "Then… it was like the ghost of the hand came out… Wormtail's new hand. Then there were more screams… and then… Cedric…"_

_"His shadow one could say," Albus said softly._

_Harry could only shrug. "He slowly came out of the wand and then talked to me… he told me to hang on…" his lower lip trembled a little. "His voice… sounded like it came from far away. I think… I think Voldemort was afraid of him."_

_Albus wasn't surprised. After all, Tom had always feared death._

_"After that, the old man appeared… I remember now… I saw him in a dream," Harry mumbled. "He was killed by Voldemort over the summer."_

_Frank Bryce… Albus now discovered what had happened with poor Frank. But now also grateful towards the man for helping Harry as he did…_

_"He then told me to keep fighting," Harry said softly. "And then Bertha Jorkins came out. She said that I shouldn't let him get to me… to keep fighting. That was when she and the others were pacing around the inner walls of the web. They kept telling me that I was going to be ok… and that I could take him. I couldn't hear what they said to Voldemort though."_

_Albus had a few ideas—and none of them had kindness or mercy…_

_"That was when…" Harry said, but seemed to choke. He didn't need to say it._

_"Your mother?" he asked softly. Harry's face was down so he couldn't see anything, but his emotional voice gave away what he was feeling. "She said… she said that my dad wanted to see me… she told me that it was going to be alright… that was when he came…"_

_Sirius looked so close to breaking down at the mention of his best friend._

_"He said that when the connection was broken, they'll be able to give me time to run to the Portkey and that it will take me back to Hogwarts. That was when Cedric gave me his last… request," Harry finished._

_He fell silent at those words. He sighed before finally looked back up at Sirius, only to see that his face was back in his hands. Fawkes had left his knee and was now repairing his injured leg, and thick, pearly tears were falling fast; a tiny bit of color returned to his pale face._

_Albus watched him for a short time before he spoke up just as Fawkes retook his usual perch by the door. "I will say it again. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight Harry. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it - and you have now given us all we have a right to expect."_

_His eyes darkened as they feel onto the cabinet where his Pensieve was being kept. His thoughts now dangerous close to telling him about the prophecy… he blinked firmly, dispelling that idea at once. He couldn't tell him now… not after all this. There was still time to postpone it for a little longer…_

_"You will come with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace…" he turned to Sirius and asked, "Sirius, would you like to stay with him?"_

_Predictably, Sirius nodded and transformed back into the great black dog and walked with them out of the office, accompanying them down a flight of stairs to the hospital wing. Harry no longer had to lean on him, but he still rocked slightly from side to side as he walked, one hand resting reassuringly on Sirius's back._

_*End of Flashback*_

He shook his head, unable to listen anymore and pushed himself up from the wall and quietly made his way down the hallway. But… he paused for a second when he heard Sirius's voice once again.

**You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it - and you have now given us all we have a right to expect. You will come with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace… Sirius, would you like to stay with him?"**

Of course he wanted to! Sirius rolled his eyes. How could he want to ever let the kid out of his sights after hearing everything that happened?

**Sirius nodded and stood up. He transformed back into the great black dog and walked with Harry and Dumbledore out of the office, accompanying them down a flight of stairs to the hospital wing.**

**When Dumbledore pushed open the door Harry saw Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione grouped around a harassed-looking Madam Pomfrey. **

"What were you doing during all this?" asked Remus in surprise.

"Running around like maniacs trying to find him and make sure that he was alright," she told him bitterly. "We'd had to fight our way through the crowds to get to the front of the maze, but by the time that we got there, Harry was gone. We thought for sure that he would be in the hospital wing if he wasn't in the medical tent so we went up there but he wasn't there…" Molly's voice trailed off as she remembered the fear they all felt as they ran around, trying to figure out what was going on.

**They appeared to be demanding to know where Harry was and what had happened to him.**** All of them whipped around as Harry, Dumbledore, and the black dog entered, and Mrs. Weasley let out a kind of muffled scream.**

**"****Harry! Oh Harry!"**

**She started to hurry toward him, but Dumbledore moved between them.**

Molly huffed, having felt a little angry that he had stopped her from hugging him, though now hearing it all she could understand.

**"****Molly," he said, holding up a hand, "please listen to me for a moment. Harry has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If he would like you all to stay with him," he added, looking around at Ron, Hermione, and Bill too, "you may do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."**

"At least he won't have to repeat it," said Tonks gently. "I don't think that he could've taken it a second time."

"I suppose," Molly sighed, "But it was so hard to just sit there with no idea to what had happened that night."

**Mrs. Weasley nodded. She was very white. She rounded on Ron, Hermione, and Bill as though they were being noisy, and hissed, "Did you hear? He needs quiet!"**

The smiled at her and she turned a little red.

"Sounds like you're the only one who's making any noise," Moody pointed out and she shut him a dark look.

**"****Headmaster," said Madam Pomfrey, staring at the great black dog that was Sirius, "may I ask what -?"**

Sirius smirked.

**"****This dog will be remaining with Harry for a while," said Dumbledore simply. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained. **

Remus raised his eyebrows and glanced at Sirius who grinned back. "I don't know about that," he said with a little smile. "I know many words to describe you Padfoot, but well trained isn't one of them."

"Hey, I can be on good behavior if I put my mind to it," he smirked back.

For the first time all day, Remus let out a chuckle, briefly thinking of all the times they used to poke fun at each other.

**Harry - I will wait while you get into bed."**

**Harry felt an inexpressible sense of gratitude to Dumbledore for asking the others not to question him. It wasn't as though he didn't want them there; but the thought of explaining it all over again, the idea of reliving it one more time, was more than he could stand.**

"I don't blame him," Arthur said grimly. It's hard enough to just think about it… but to repeat it over one more time would be too much for anyone.

**"****I will be back to see you as soon as I have met with Fudge, Harry," said Dumbledore. "I would like you to remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the school." He left.**

Albus sighed, he had never viewed Harry Potter as he did now. He was fast asleep before he even finished his potion. Without his glasses, sleeping, he looked so much younger… almost as if he was a small child.

**As Madam Pomfrey led Harry to a nearby bed, he caught sight of the real Moody lying motionless in a bed at the far end of the room. His wooden leg and magical eye were lying on the bedside table.**

They heard a deep growl and could see Mad-Eye with his normal eye shut tightly as the magical one spun around like a top—a muscle was going in his temple, and the fist gripping the staff looked ready to break it in half.

Clearing his throat, thinking that it would be best that he kept going before Moody broke something, Sirius read out—wanting to get this stupid chapter over with already.

**"****Is he okay?" Harry asked.**

**"****He'll be fine," said Madam Pomfrey,**

"Well, that's was a relief," she said to her mentor. "To hear that you hadn't dropped dead after that."

"I'll take a lot more than that to kill me off," he said, his eye glaring at her and jabbing the top of his staff into her side. "So stop sounding so disappointed alright?"

"Who said I was disappointed?" she winced as she rubbed her ribs. "Must you always resort to violence?"

"I dunno, not be quiet," he snapped grumpily.

"Would it kill you to lighten up?" she asked softly. "You really shouldn't be so negative all the time."

"And you shouldn't get your hopes up for nothing," he retorted softly.

**giving Harry some pajamas and pulling screens around him. He took off his robes, pulled on the pajamas, and got into bed. Ron, Hermione, Bill, Mrs. Weasley, and the black dog came around the screen and settled themselves in chairs on either side of him. Ron and Hermione were looking at him almost cautiously, as though scared of him.**

"No," Molly sighed, having a good idea to what was going on inside their heads… for she had felt the exact same way… "They were scared of what might've happened to him."

**"****I'm all right," he told them. "Just tired."**

**Mrs. Weasley's eyes filled with tears as she smoothed his bed-covers unnecessarily.**

It was hard… to see a boy that she had grown to love as if one of her own go through so much misery in his short life. She had no idea what had happened, but she knew that the boy had obviously been suffering as he looked at them through those glazed-over eyes. It was painful to see…

**Madam Pomfrey, who had bustled off to her office, returned holding a small bottle of some purple potion and a goblet.**

**"****You'll need to drink all of this. Harry," she said. "It's a potion for dreamless sleep."**

"I think that he could use those every night," Tonks muttered. "I know I would've."

**Harry took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. He felt himself becoming drowsy at once. Everything around him became hazy; the lamps around the hospital wing seemed to be winking at him in a friendly way through the screen around his bed; his body felt as though it was sinking deeper into the warmth of the feather mattress. Before he could finish the potion, before he could say another word, his exhaustion had carried him off to sleep.**

**Harry woke up, so warm, so very sleepy, that he didn't open his eyes, wanting to drop off again. The room was still dimly lit; he was sure it was still nighttime and had a feeling that he couldn't have been asleep very long.**

"Just a couple hours," Molly sighed. "It didn't last long."

"But those are supposed to last up to eight hours," Kingsley said puzzled.

"Well, I think that he would've slept the whole night if a certain idiot didn't come barging in and wake the whole castle up," Sirius grumbled.

"An idiot?" Moody repeated. "You mean Fudge?"

"You were there!" Sirius repeated. "Didn't you wake up?"

"I was out of it until morning," he muttered angrily. "I'd love to see you after being trapped inside a trunk for nine months."

"Ok, ok," Arthur said quickly, waving his hands at them both. "I'm sure that we'll be done with this chapter soon. Let's finish this before we get into any arguments."

The two of them shot him an annoyed look but Sirius obliged and continued.

**Then he heard whispering around him.**

**"****They'll wake him if they don't shut up!"**

"A little late for that," Sirius said, giving the book the thumbs down as if to prove his point.

**"****What are they shouting about? Nothing else can have happened, can it?"**

"Now what?" Tonks asked exasperated. "What else happened?"

'_Nothing good,'_ Sirius said, thinking of what that moron of a Minister did to his ticket of freedom.

"Whoever it is, it can't be good," Remus sighed, his hand going through his graying hair.

**Harry opened his eyes blearily. Someone had removed his glasses. He could see the fuzzy outlines of Mrs. Weasley and Bill close by. Mrs. Weasley was on her feet.**

**"****That's Fudge's voice," she whispered. "And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"**

"Oh, I hope she gave him a piece of her mind," Sirius muttered hopefully. He would've loved to have heard every word that she said to him as she chewed him out.

**Now Harry could hear them too: people shouting and running toward the hospital wing.**

**"****Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva -" Cornelius Fudge was saying loudly.**

"Oh," Tonks winced again. "They're talking about Crouch huh?"

"Yep," Sirius muttered simply. "He's trying to excuse what he let happen."

**"****You should never have brought it inside the castle!" yelled Professor McGonagall. "When ****Dumbledore finds out -"**

"Well, her attitude towards the Ministry seems to have changed since the first book," Sirius answered with a grin. "Good for her."

**Harry heard the hospital doors burst open. Unnoticed by any of the people around his bed, all of whom were staring at the door as Bill pulled back the screens, Harry sat up and put his glasses back on.**

**Fudge came striding up the ward. Professors McGonagall and Snape were at his heels.**

"So that was when he woke up," Molly muttered with a small shake of the head. Had she known…

**"****Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded of Mrs. Weasley.**

**"****He's not here," said Mrs. Weasley angrily. **

"Yeah Mrs. W!" Tonks called gleefully, grinning from ear to ear. "Look at you standing up to the Minister! Guess after dealing with Fred and George, a Minister is trivial huh?"

Molly just gave her a sharp look, but as they all began to laugh, the traces of a smile were twitching the corners of her mouth.

**"This is a hospital wing. Minister, don't you think you'd do better to -"**

**But the door opened, and Dumbledore came sweeping up the ward.**

"How does he always know?" Sirius asked incredulously. No matter what was happening inside the castle, no matter who it was, he always seemed to be the first one to know. Then again, with all the shouting that those two were doing, he supposed that it would be hard to miss them… unless you were deaf.

**"****What has happened?" said Dumbledore sharply, looking from Fudge to Professor McGonagall. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you - I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch -"**

"No point now," Moody said, knowing full well that the only thing left in that room was an empty shell.

**"****There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that!"**

"Just like that…" Remus stated in disgust, sharing a sad look with Sirius. "Just one action may ruin so many lives…"

"And because of his own refusal to take responsibility for his actions," Kingsley added, "It's going to ruin countless more."

**Harry had never seen Professor McGonagall lose control like this. There were angry blotches of color in her cheeks, and a hands were balled into fists; she was trembling with fury.-**

"I don't think I want to see that happen," said Tonks with a shudder. "I mean she's scary enough when she's telling you off for breaking some school rules. But here she sounds like she's about ready to breathe fire and tear Fudge's head off."

"I wish she did," Sirius whispered, remembering the look on his former teacher's face. She was something terrifying to see… he took several steps backwards until he remembered that she was angry at Fudge.

**"****When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," said Snape, in a low voice; he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. "He insisted on summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch -"**

"I still cannot believe that he brought one of those creatures into a castle!" Molly called out furiously. "One that is full of children for crying out loud!"

"In his defense he said that it was for his protection," Kingsley said with his usually deep and calm voice skeptical and disgusted.

"From what?" Sirius demanded loudly. "Kids? Oh, yeah, they're really dangerous now aren't they?"

**"****I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" McGonagall fumed. "I told him you would**** never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but -"**

"I should think not," Albus whispered to himself, his fist curling in anger at the horrible thought of any of those specters near his students.

**"****My dear woman!" roared Fudge, who likewise looked angrier than Harry had ever seen him, "as Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous -"**

"You mean to tell me that we have this guy for a leader of the whole Britain wizarding world?" Tonks asked disbelievingly. "I think even an first-year could do better than him."

"This should be enough proof for everyone that we're doomed," Moody muttered.

**But Professor McGonagall's voice drowned Fudge's.**

**"****The moment that - that thing entered the room," she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, "it swooped down on Crouch and - and -"**

"It preformed the kiss so he won't be able to tell anyone what happen," Arthur said, also wishing that he could've yelled at Fudge for doing something so stupid—they lost the only person who could've given them proof.

"So, all they have to go on is what Dumbledore asked him and what Harry saw?" Kingsley sighed.

"That's about it," Sirius said bitterly.

"And you wonder why we're screwed," Moody grumbled.

**Harry felt a chill in his stomach as Professor McGonagall struggled to find words to describe what had happened. He did not need her to finish her sentence. He knew what the dementor must have done. It had administered its fatal kiss to Barty Crouch. It had sucked his soul out through his mouth. He was worse than dead.**

"What happens to that person?" Molly asked softly. "Do they just… what—disappear?"

Suddenly, Sirius started to shiver as if cold and she remembered how close he had been to sharing that same fate. "Sorry," she quickly apologized.

"That's basically it," Remus answered darkly. "You just—cease to exist." He then put a hand on Sirius's arm at that point.

**"****By all accounts, he is no loss!" blustered Fudge. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths'."**

"His testimony, which could have prove my innocence, is what I would call a loss, you idiot," said Sirius disdainfully. "Oh, I am going to make sure that he pays hell for all this."

**"****But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," said Dumbledore. He was staring hard at Fudge, as though seeing him plainly for the first time. **

Albus's eyes narrowed. The reason for that was because he didn't think that Fudge would allow something like that to happen. He knew that the blundering Minister has done a lot of things, but to allow this to happen? He might as well become a Death Eater because, at the moment, he is Voldemort's greatest ally.

**"****He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."**

**"****Why he killed them? Well, that's no mystery, is it?" blustered Fudge. "He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"**

"Which he bloody well was!" shouted Sirius angrily. "It's not our faults that you have a brick for a brain and can't understand something that simple!"

"So this is where he pretends that everything is fine," Tonks sighed. She could understand that it was out of fear but how could he pretend everything was peaceful when Voldemort was back?

**"****Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Those peoples deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body."**

"Hope he had a heart attack," Sirius muttered under his breath hopefully.

**Fudge looked as though someone had just swung a heavy weight into his face. Dazed and blinking, he stared back at Dumbledore as if he couldn't quite believe what he had just heard. He began to sputter, still goggling at Dumbledore.**

**"****You-Know-Who… returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore…"**

"What a first-class idiot," Sirius scoffed.

"Makes me wonder how long he'll be acting like this until he's forced to accept that he's back," Kingsley wondered.

"Hopefully, it'll be before something tragic happens," Arthur prayed.

**"****As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you," said Dumbledore, "we heard Barty Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of**** Azkaban, and how Voldemort - learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins - went to free him from his father and used him to capture Harry. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort to return."**

Moody shook his head. First, Fudge refuses to investigate the links between the disappearances, he likes dealing with Dementors, and now destroys evidence about Voldemort's return—not to mention no trial for Crouch Junior… yep, the wizarding world is screwed.

**"****See here, Dumbledore," said Fudge, and Harry was astonished to see a slight smile****dawning on his face, "you - you can't seriously believe that You-Know-Who - back? Come now, come now… certainly, Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders - but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore…"**

"Since when as Dumbledore ever lied over something like this?" Tonks asked, "Who could make something like this up?"

"He just doesn't want to believe it and it's easier to believe that everyone else is wrong and he's right," Remus said angrily.

**"****When Harry touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, he was transported straight to Voldemort," said Dumbledore steadily. "He witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all to**** you if you will step up to my office."**

"Like he'll believe it even if he does," Sirius said dubious.

**Dumbledore glanced around at Harry and saw that he was awake, but shook his head and said, "I am afraid I cannot permit you to question Harry tonight."**

"I think the last thing that Harry wants is to be questioned by this guy," Tonks said, rolling her eyes.

**Fudge's curious smile lingered. He too glanced at Harry, then looked back at Dumbledore, and said, "You are - er - prepared to take Harry's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?"**

"What the hell does he mean by that?" Sirius asked, though he already knew the answer. "He was all friendly with him before…"

"The paper…" Moody sighed, rubbing a sore spot on his head. "He knows that he can talk to snakes now."

"I still can't believe that they're causing all this trouble because Fudge is afraid of the truth," Molly spat. "They're writing all this horrible articles and calling him a liar! For goodness sake, he's a teenage boy!"

"It's sad…" Kingsley sighed. "But ironic…"

"What is?" Remus asked him, wondering what he meant, but Kingsley either ignored him, or was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't answer.

But Albus knew… he didn't have to have Kingsley say anything to understand. The sad thing was that it is those who seize power who tend to be more afraid of change. And the irony is that those who hold the most power tend to become more bigoted than anyone else. He sighed, and finally worked up the courage to leave.

He quietly headed down the staircase and into the darkness just as they were starting to pick up reading again.

**There was a moment's silence, which was broken by Sirius growling. His hackles were raised, and he was baring his teeth at Fudge.**

"Bite him!" Tonks grinned, hoping that Sirius had done just that.

"Oh, it was on my mind," he muttered, remembering how much he longed to rip his face off when he accused Harry of lying.

**"****Certainly, I believe Harry," said Dumbledore. His eyes were blazing now. **

"He's starting to sound angry again," Arthur muttered.

"Oh, he did get very angry not long after that," Molly shivered, remembering how it felt as if there was an ancient power radiating off him as he stared down Fudge, who seemed to shrink away in fear.

**"I heard Crouch's confession, and I heard Harry's account of what happened after he touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."**

"Even with all that proof…" Arthur shook his head, "He refuses to believe it."

**Fudge still had that strange smile on his face. Once again, he glanced at Harry before answering.**

**"****You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic ****murderer, and a boy who… well…"**

"Oh, so this really is the moment that he starts to think that Potter's insane," Moody said lightly.

"How can you be so calm?" Molly demanded harshly.

"Just stating a fact," he answered coolly.

**Fudge shot Harry another look, and Harry suddenly understood.**

**"****You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr. Fudge," he said quietly.**

"Was it that obvious?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

"He scared us too," Molly muttered, she had thought that he was still sleeping, and suddenly hearing his voice startled her.

**Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill all jumped. None of them had realized that Harry was awake.**

"How could you expect anyone to sleep through all that shouting?" Tonks asked her in confusion.

"Those sleeping potions are supposed to be really powerful," she muttered embarrassed.

"Yes, but any amount of noise will be enough to wake them," Arthur reminded her with a little smile.

**Fudge reddened slightly, but a defiant and obstinate look came over his face.**

"Embarrassed that he reads that garbage?" Sirius muttered. "I'd be more embarrassed believing that crap."

**"****And if I have?" he said, looking at Dumbledore. "If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the boy very quiet? A Parselmouth, eh? And having funny turns ****all over the place -"**

"That doesn't mean anything," growled Remus.

Moody shook his head. Looks like Poison Pen Skeeter has succeeded in her mission—she has destroyed Potter's credibility with the Minister of Magic, plus who knows how many others.

**"****I assume that you are referring to the pains Harry has been experiencing in his scar?" said Dumbledore coolly.**

**"****You admit that he has been having these pains, then?" said Fudge quickly. "Headaches? ****Nightmares? Possibly - hallucinations?"**

"He is not having hallucinations," Sirius hissed, though it was hard to tell what he said because his teeth were grinding together. "Nor is he lying!"

**"****Listen to me, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, taking a step toward Fudge, and once again, he seemed to radiate that indefinable sense of power that Harry had felt after Dumbledore had Stunned young Crouch. "Harry is as sane as you or I. **

Sirius raised his eyebrows at that last line.

"Well that's not exactly a good argument," Tonks said with a trace of a smile. "I mean, Fudge is already insane with fear, and Dumbledore's the farthest thing from normal that I've ever met… well aside from you Mad-Eye."

"Watch it," he growled at her. "He was just making a point."

**That scar upon his forehead has not addled his brains. I believe it hurts him when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling particularly murderous."**

**Fudge had taken half a step back from Dumbledore, but he looked no less stubborn.**

"Of course not," Tonks responded with a sigh. "That would be too easy now wouldn't it?"

**"****You'll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I've never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell ****before…"**

"Maybe that's because no one has survived the killing curse before," said Remus with a smack to the face. "So you can't really use that as a reasonable argument."

"Harry's scar is one of a kind," Arthur agreed with a dull nod. "But it's not his fault that it hurts him…"

**"****Look, I saw Voldemort come back!" Harry shouted. He tried to get out of bed again, but Mrs. Weasley forced him back. "I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy -"**

"Bad idea," muttered Arthur, "Fudge's just as bigoted as Malfoy."

"Maybe that's because he's already in Malfoy's pocket book?" Moody suggested. "So I doubt that he's going to take that well."

"Well, Harry's temper sometimes causes him to forget about details like this," said Sirius with a small smile.

"I wonder where he got that from," said Remus grinning.

**Snape made a sudden movement, but as Harry looked at him, Snape's eyes flew back to Fudge.**

**"****Malfoy was cleared!" said Fudge, visibly affronted. "A very old family - donations to excellent causes -"**

"Because that disguises his murderous habits," said Arthur disgustedly, with a touch of sarcasm in his dark tone.

**"****Macnair!" Harry continued.**

**"****Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!"**

"Yeah, that just makes everything better," huffed Tonks. "So because he's working for the Ministry now doesn't make him a Death Eater. Just what kind of little bubble did you live in?"

**"****Avery - Nott - Crabbe - Goyle -"**

**"****You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" said Fudge angrily. **

"And are still rotten to the core!" cried Sirius loudly and obviously.

"He would rather things appear to be peaceful then except the truth," Arthur said shaking his head.

"Well, he can try and explain that to the people when Voldemort moves out into the open," Moody muttered.

**"You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! For heavens sake, Dumbledore - the boy was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year too - his tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them - the boy can talk to snakes. Dumbledore, and you still think he's trustworthy?"**

"He's been telling the truth; it's not his fault that unbelievable things happen around him," Sirius hissed. "It's your fault that you're too stubborn to listen!"

Remus bit his lip—still not understanding why Harry was able to speak to snakes at all.

**"****You fool!" Professor McGonagall cried. "Cedric Diggory! Mr. Crouch! These deaths were not the random work of a lunatic!"**

"You tell him, McGonagall!" cried Sirius with a cheer. "Slap him awake!"

**"****I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Fudge, now matching her anger, his face ****purpling. **

"Because you gave the one person who could be evidence the kiss," Tonks cried out, now going in full circle.

**"It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!"**

**Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had always thought of Fudge as a kindly figure, a little blustering, a little pompous, but essentially good-natured. **

They all raised their eyebrows at each other.

"Really Harry?" Tonks asked.

"Well, that's all Harry has ever seen of him," Molly offered.

"Fudge's been trying to suck up," Moody smirked. "He most likely thought that being on good terms with the Boy Who Lived, it would make him look better."

"What a terrible thing to do," Molly huffed.

**But now a short, angry wizard stood before him, refusing, point-blank, to accept the prospect of disruption in his comfortable and ordered world - to believe that Voldemort could have risen.**

**"****Voldemort has returned," Dumbledore repeated. "If you accept that fact straightaway Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation. The first and most essential step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the dementors -"**

"Great idea," Sirius said darkly. "I'm all for that one."

**"****Preposterous!" shouted Fudge again. "Remove the dementors? I'd be kicked out of office for suggesting it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night because we know the dementors are standing guard at Azkaban!"**

"Easy for you to say," Sirius hissed. "You didn't have to live with them."

"Sirius," Remus said soothingly.

**"****The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, Cornelius, knowing that you have put Lord Voldemort's most dangerous supporters in the care of creatures who will join him the instant he asks them!" said Dumbledore. **

"Too late now," Moody stated, remembering the outbreak.

"Yes," Tonks said smugly. "And if you had been willing to listen a few months ago to all this, then we might've been able to stop that from happening."

**"****They will not remain loyal to you, Fudge! Voldemort can offer them much more scope for their powers and their pleasures than you can! With the dementors behind him, and his old supporters returned to him, you will be hard-pressed to stop him regaining the sort of power he had thirteen years ago!"**

"You think he would've learned from what Voldemort did during the first war…" Arthur sighed. Those things couldn't be trusted!

**Fudge was opening and closing his mouth as though no words could express his outrage.**

**"****The second step you must take - and at once," Dumbledore pressed on, "is to send envoys to the giants."**

"Yet again, it's too late to do anything about it now," Kingsley sighed.

**"****Envoys to the giants?" Fudge shrieked, finding his tongue again. "What madness is this?"**

"Well, looking at how everything seems to be falling into Voldemort's lap, I think that it makes a lot of sense!" Remus stated.

**"****Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late," said Dumbledore, "or Voldemort will persuade them, as he did before, that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!"**

"Which is a lie, but they will still believe him," muttered Remus. "They won't have much of a choice in the matter. It's that, or continue to live in exile."

**"****You - you cannot be serious!" Fudge gasped, shaking his head and retreating further from Dumbledore. "If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants - people hate them, Dumbledore - end of my career -"**

"Is that all you care about?" growled Kingsley, rubbing his eyes in irritation. "Aren't the people supposed to be the top priority?"

"He was made Minister to serve the public," said Molly scathingly, "Not himself. He should care more about the safety of innocent citizens than his career."

"Good luck with that," Moody said doubtfully.

**"****You are blinded," said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any - and see what that man chose to make of his life! **

"That is a very good argument," Sirius nodded. "Good luck trying to think of a comeback for that."

"Good for those pure-blood mania's out there as well," Remus nodded. "Show them that being pure-blood isn't what it's cracked up to be."

**I tell you now- take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act - and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!"**

"I can't believe that Dumbledore said that he was terrible at Divination," Tonks smirked. "That sounds like his future alright. This is basically what he will be remembered as at this rate."

"There's a tragedy," Arthur said sarcastically.

"He deserves it," Sirius muttered, licking the tips of his fingers and flipping the page.

**"****Insane," whispered Fudge, still backing away. "Mad…"**

"The only insane thing is how he is acting," Arthur said softly, reminded of how when his sons were little and would throw a tantrum… though, thankfully, they grew out of it.

**And then there was silence. Madam Pomfrey was standing frozen at the foot of Harry's bed, her hands over her mouth. Mrs. Weasley was still standing over Harry, her hand on his shoulder to prevent him from rising. Bill, Ron, and Hermione were staring at Fudge.**

"It was a terrible thing to watch," Molly said bitterly. "Screaming and carrying on like that… especially in front of children!"

**"****If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I - I shall act as I see fit."**

"And that is what happened," Kingsley muttered simply. "Dumbledore couldn't just stand by and do nothing…"

"Yeah, that's Fudge's job," Sirius muttered.

**Dumbledore's voice carried no hint of a threat; it sounded like a mere statement, but Fudge bristled as though Dumbledore were advancing upon him with a wand.**

"I wish he did," muttered Sirius snapped, thinking to how calm the old man was. How could he be so calm when he was dealing with the thick-headed Ministry.

Kingsley smiled a little sadly and said, "I'm afraid that, though it would make us feel better, it wouldn't be particularly wise to give the Ministry anymore reasons to be angry."

**"****Now, see here, Dumbledore," he said, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me -"**

"Work against you!" Remus cried out, feeling that he was slowly losing his mind listening to this. "They were handing him useful information and he was turning it all away. How is that working against them?"

**"****The only one against whom I intend to work," said Dumbledore, "is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."**

"I guess not," Moody commented.

"Yeah, he sure seems to be on Voldemort's side if you ask me," Sirius muttered in disgust.

**It seemed Fudge could think of no answer to this. He rocked backward and forward on his small feet for a moment and spun his bowler hat in his hands. Finally, he said, with a hint of a plea in his voice, "He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't be…"**

"Deny it all you want, that won't change anything," Moody stated softly, with a trace of amusement.

**Snape strode forward, past Dumbledore, pulling up the left sleeve of his robes as he went. He stuck out his forearm and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled.**

Sirius growled at the mention of a Death Eater even being allowed inside the castle.

**"****There," said Snape harshly. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. **

"Like dogs," Moody stated bored. "I'm surprised that they didn't bring him his slippers and a newspaper for him."

**This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff's too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."**

"Well, that's one less Death Eater that we have to worry about," said Remus softly, folding his hands together and resting his chin against them.

"Can you blame him?" Arthur whispered. "He's not going to be too popular with all the people that he ratted out."

**Fudge stepped back from Snape too. He was shaking his head. He did not seem to have taken in a word Snape had said. He stared, apparently repelled by the ugly mark on Snape's arm, then looked up at Dumbledore and whispered, "I don't know what you and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."**

Moody shook his head. This was not good. With Fudge questioning the way Dumbledore is running the school. And he knew that it was specifically because of Dumbledore that Voldemort could not take over the school last time. Dumbledore's great wisdom ends up pitting him against the increasingly foolish, power-hungry Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Fudge doesn't have the power to oppose a wizard as highly respected as Dumbledore… yet.

"Is that why he put Umbridge up there?" Tonks asked.

"To have her keep an eye on Dumbledore and try to strip his power from him," Remus stated softly.

"Good luck with that," Arthur declared under his breath.

**He had almost reached the door when he paused. He turned around, strode back down the dormitory, and stopped at Harry's bed.**

**"****Your winnings," he said shortly, taking a large bag of gold out of his pocket and dropping it onto Harry's bedside table. "One thousand Galleons. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but under the circumstances…"**

"Like that matters," growled Molly. She didn't want to believe that You-Know-Who would come back anymore than he did, but she better…

**He crammed his bowler hat onto his head and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The moment he had disappeared, Dumbledore turned to look at the group around Harry's bed.**

**"****There is work to be done," he said. "Molly… am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?"**

"Can't leave it up to Fudge now can we?" Arthur asked and Molly have a rather bitter laugh as she took his hand.

**"****Of course you can," said Mrs. Weasley. She was white to the lips, but she looked resolute. "We know what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."**

"I like my job though," said Arthur, as if it was an odd idea not to be fond of Muggles.

"We know you do dear," said Molly patiently, patting his hand. "And that's what's important."

**"****Then I need to send a message to Arthur," said Dumbledore. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."**

**"****I'll go to Dad," said Bill, standing up. "I'll go now."**

Molly winced at the reminder that her two oldest children having joined the Order.

"They are adults now, Molly," Arthur whispered, having known her so well that he didn't have to guess to know what she was just thinking of. "They are old enough to choose what they want."

"I know," she muttered, feeling her throat close up at the thought of what could happen to them. "But that doesn't mean that I'm happy that my sons will be risking their lives."

**"****Excellent," said Dumbledore. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry -"**

"He does," Moody answered for him.

**"****Leave it to me," said Bill.**

**He clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder, kissed his mother on the cheek, pulled on his cloak, and strode quickly from the room.**

**"****Minerva," said Dumbledore, turning to Professor McGonagall, "I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also - if she will consent to come – Madame Maxime."**

"To try and convince the giants to join our side," said Remus. "They're both half-giant and that would give them an advantage."

"Cute," Tonks cooed. "I'll be like an extended date…"

"You have a twisted idea of romance don't you?" Moody asked her with an annoyed growl.

**Professor McGonagall nodded and left without a word.**

**"****Poppy," Dumbledore said to Madam Pomfrey, "would you be very kind and go down to Professor Moody's office, where I think you will find a house-elf called Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for her, and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby will look after her for us."**

"You mean he left her there in that room all that time?" Molly gasped. "Oh, that poor thing… to see that…?"

"I have a feeling that she's through with Butterbur, and has moved on to Firewhisky," Moody stated.

"Is it too much to ask that you show some sympathy?" Tonks snapped.

**"****Very - very well," said Madam Pomfrey, looking startled, and she too left.**

**Dumbledore made sure that the door was closed, and that Madam Pomfrey's footsteps had died away, before he spoke again.**

**"****And now," he said, "it is time for two of our number to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius… if you could resume your usual form."**

**The great black dog looked up at Dumbledore, then, in an instant, turned back into a man.**

**Mrs. Weasley screamed and leapt back from the bed.**

"That had to be a nasty little shock for you, eh, Molly?" Sirius asked her grinning.

She shot him a dirty look. "You almost gave me heart failure! And I made sure to have a talk with my son for this…"

"I think that it would've been best for everyone if no one else knew," Arthur told her. "Also, I'm not sure how they could've explained this."

She didn't answer, but she looked away, unable to think of a comeback for that. Sirius smirked a little wider as he continued in a shriek, that sounded a little too much like Molly's voice.

**"****Sirius Black!" she shrieked, pointing at him.**

**"****Mum, shut up!" Ron yelled. "It's okay!"**

Sirius snorted at as Molly put her hands on her hips and glared at him, a faint blush on her cheekbones.

**Snape had not yelled or jumped backward, but the look on his face was one of mingled fury and horror.**

"I wonder why?" Remus stated mockingly, half-expecting another duel to happen.

**"****Him!" he snarled, staring at Sirius, whose face showed equal dislike. "What is he doing here?"**

**"****He is here at my invitation," said Dumbledore, looking between them, "as are you, Severus. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other."**

"As if that would ever happen," muttered Sirius. He wouldn't trust Snape no matter what anyone said. He couldn't ever trust someone who bears the mark of a murderer.

**Harry thought Dumbledore was asking for a near miracle. Sirius and Snape were eyeing ****each other with the utmost loathing.**

"They always do" Remus sighed wearily before he glanced at Sirius and asked, "Are you two never going to grow up?"

"Probably not," stated Sirius. "What do you want from me?"

"Just to be able to sit in a room without worrying that the two of you will kill each other," he answered gently.

**"****I will settle, in the short term," said Dumbledore, with a bite of impatience in his voice, "for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth do not stand united, there is no hope for any us."**

**Very slowly - but still glaring at each other as though each wished the other nothing but ill - Sirius and Snape moved toward each other and shook hands. They let go extremely quickly.**

"I felt dirty just touching his hand," Sirius shivered.

"Sirius, you're acting like a kid," groaned Remus. Sirius ignored Remus and just went on.

**"****That will do to be going on with," said Dumbledore, stepping between them once more. "Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher - the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there."**

"Definitely getting the Order back together as soon as possible," commented Kingsley lightly. "You know, it's amazing how quickly he took charge."

"Speed is very important when it comes to stopping Voldemort," said Remus grimly. "Luckily, we had a heads-up warning."

**"****But -" said Harry.**

**He wanted Sirius to stay. He did not want to have to say goodbye again so quickly.**

Sirius felt that familiar feeling of guilt inside, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little warmth inside at hearing that Harry wanted him to stay… he also wanted to stay with him, but he knew that he had no choice at the time. At least he was able to get to know him last summer and over Christmas.

**"****You'll see me very soon. Harry," said Sirius, turning to him. "I promise you. But I must do what I can, you understand, don't you?"**

He hoped that Harry could understand that he didn't leave because he wanted to…

**"****Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah… of course I do."**

"Poor kid," said Tonks sadly. "After this, I think that he probably needed someone there."

Sirius frowned. They always say that sacrifices must be made during war, but why was it that all the sacrifices seem to be made from a teenage boy? Not one bit of this was fair.

**Sirius grasped his hand briefly, nodded to Dumbledore, transformed again into the black dog, and ran the length of the room to the door, whose handle he turned with a paw. Then he was gone.**

**"****Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready… if you are prepared…"**

**"****I am," said Snape.**

**He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely.**

"To go back to his master," Sirius stated venomously, though quietly enough that they couldn't hear.

**"****Then good luck," said Dumbledore, and he watched, with a trace of apprehension on his face, as Snape swept wordlessly after Sirius.**

"To spy on Voldemort for us," Remus said, a pointed look to Sirius. "I know that you both don't like each other…"

"Understatement," he interrupted.

Remus smiled tiredly, but went on as if he hadn't said a word, "Dumbledore is having him risk his life every minute…"

"And you trust him?" growled Sirius.

"No one really likes Severus," Kingsley sighed, "But we have to trust him. Dumbledore does… and I trust his judgment."

Sirius still looked skeptical, but didn't seem eager to go on with this argument and continued reading, knowing that they were almost finished.

**It was several minutes before Dumbledore spoke again.**

**"****I must go downstairs," he said finally. "I must see the Diggorys. Harry - take the rest of your potion. I will see all of you later."**

**Harry slumped back against his pillows as Dumbledore disappeared. Hermione, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley were all looking at him. None of them spoke for a very long time.**

"I didn't know what to say," Molly muttered. She had been shaken up by Sirius's appearance… but just sitting there, watching Harry stare up at the ceiling like a lifeless doll… it was painful to see. She didn't know how to make all the pain inside him go away…

**"****You've got to take the rest of your potion Harry," Mrs. Weasley said at last. Her hand nudged the sack of gold on his bedside cabinet as she reached for the bottle and the goblet. "You have a good long sleep. Try and think about something else for a while… think about what you're going to buy with your winnings!"**

"Probably not the best thing to say, Molly," Arthur sighed.

"I know that now," she muttered, "I just…" she didn't know how to finish her sentence.

"I wonder what he ever did do with that money," Tonks said curiously.

"If it had been me, I'd probably just get rid of it," Sirius sighed. That money only served as a reminder of that night, and Harry had more than enough gold so he didn't need it.

**"****I don't want that gold," said Harry in an expressionless voice. "You have it. Anyone can have it. I shouldn't have won it. It should've been Cedric's."**

"Oh, that's not good," Tonks said, biting her thumb in worry. He's gonna blame himself for Cedric's death.

**The thing against which he had been fighting on and off ever since he had come out of the maze was threatening to overpower him. He could feel a burning, prickling feeling in the inner corners of his eyes. He blinked and stared up at the ceiling.**

Molly felt tears burning her own eyes, wishing that she could somehow take this pain that he was in from him.

**"****It wasn't your fault. Harry," Mrs. Weasley whispered.**

**"****I told him to take the cup with me," said Harry.**

"He couldn't have known what would happen when he offered," Remus whispered.

"But that wasn't his fault, I hope that he understands that," said Molly quietly.

"Survivor's guilt," said Kingsley sadly, "Of course, he's too young to have to deal with that, especially without a parent to help him through it."

**Now the burning feeling was in his throat too. He wished Ron would look away. Mrs.**** Weasley set the potion down on the bedside cabinet, bent down, and put her arms around Harry. He had no memory of ever being hugged like this, as though by a mother. **

Molly felt tears in her eyes as Remus and Sirius both looked as if they had been struck. This was almost too painful to hear, and they wanted to quit now… but Sirius saw that there was only a couple more paragraphs and read on as quickly as possible.

**The full weight of everything he had seen that night seemed to fall in upon him as Mrs. Weasley held him to her. His mother's face, his father's voice, the sight of Cedric, dead on the ground all started spinning in his head until he could hardly bear it, until he was screwing up his face against the howl of misery fighting to get out of him.**

Molly couldn't help herself; tears were falling down her cheeks at that. She knew that he was hurting, she could feel it as she held him, how he was trying so hard to keep it all inside.

"That's not healthy," Arthur whispered, his face very pale. "Keeping all that inside…"

"He's gonna explode if he does that," Tonks said, also looking pretty miserable by this point.

**There was a loud slamming noise, and Mrs. Weasley and Harry broke apart. Hermione was standing by the window. She was holding something tight in her hand.**

Molly remembered that, but at the moment, she honestly couldn't have cared less.

**"****Sorry," she whispered.**

**"****Your potion, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley quickly, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.**

**Harry drank it in one gulp. The effect was instantaneous. Heavy, irresistible waves of dreamless sleep broke over him; he fell back onto his pillows and thought no more.**

Sirius sighed, glad that this was just about over. "One chapter down… one to go," he declared. They all stared at the book, except for Moody, who was looking up at the ceiling with his normal eye, while the magical one continued to spin around. So this was it…

They all looked around at each other… wondering who would get the last chapter.

**(Almost there. One more chapter to go and then the epilogue! Finally, I can't believe that this is almost over! Now who do you want to see read the last chapter?)**


	42. The Beginning

**Chapter 41: The Beginning**

So here it was… the final chapter.

They were all looking down at the battered book in hesitation. Finally, they were almost at the end… the only person who didn't seem to be bothered that this was the last chapter was Mad-Eye, who was examining his flask once again in a bored way. As if he thought that there were other things he should be doing right now.

Sirius glanced at the book anxiously and suddenly he grabbed it back—unable to take this silence any longer. "How bad can it be?" he demanded harshly as he flipped the book over to the back. "I want to get this all over with! It's not like anything bad could happen in the last couple weeks of this year right?"

"Famous last words," Moody muttered softly under his breath.

Sirius just shot him an annoyed look and opened it to the very last chapter. He briefly stared at the unusual picture of a giant beetle on a leaf before he heard his mouth say, "**Chapter 37:** **The Beginning**."

"But isn't it the end of the book?" Tonks asked startled.

"It probably means that it's the _'beginning'_ of the next war," Arthur spoke up grimly.

"More than likely," Moody agreed darkly. Though, he preferred to think of it as _'The Beginning of the Ministry's stupidity…'_ but he supposed that it could go either way.

**When he looked back, even a month later, Harry found he had only scattered memories of the next few days. It was as though he had been through too much to take in any more. The recollections he did have were very painful. **

"If he had an easy time dealing with all that, I'd be really worried about him," Arthur said in a quiet voice. How could anyone actually be able to deal with all of this and not lose their mind?

**The worst, perhaps, was the meeting with the Diggorys that took place the following morning.**

"That had to be an awful experience," Tonks sighed, trying to think of what that would be like if she had to face the family of a dead friend. While she knew that it was most likely in her job description, she couldn't help but hope that she never had to do it. "I can't imagine what I'd say to them."

"Sometimes it doesn't take words," Moody grunted at her. She looked up to see the deaden look in his normal eye. That's right… he'd been on the force longer than most… he must've had to speak to the families of other Auror's more than once. Suddenly, she felt her admiration for her favorite mentor rise.

**They did not blame him for what had happened; on the contrary, both thanked him for returning Cedric's body to them. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview. Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be beyond tears.**

Sirius's own voice seemed to catch in his throat and it was all he could do to continue in a steady tone that so that no one could notice.

**"****He suffered very little then," she said, when Harry had told her how Cedric had died. "And after all, Amos… he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy." When they got to their feet, she looked down at Harry and said, "You look after yourself, now."**

"I guess that was about all she could say," Arthur said, wondering what he would say to someone if he had just lost one of his sons. He prayed that would never happen. The pain of a parent losing their child… that had to be more painful than a knife in the heart.

And judging from the sniffles that were coming from Molly, he guessed that she felt the same way.

**Harry seized the sack of gold on the bedside table.**

**"****You take this," he muttered to her. "It should've been Cedric's, he got there first, you take it -"**

But they all knew that she wouldn't take it.

**But she backed away from him.**

**"****Oh no, it's yours, dear, I couldn't… you keep it."**

"I don't think they would want the reminder of their son's death, I doubt a thousand galleons would be much of a consolation for their loss," said Molly thickly. "Just looking at that money would only serve as a reminder of what they lost."

"That's probably why he wants to give it away," said Kingsley. "I doubt that Harry would want it after all this."

"Then what did he do to it?" Tonks asked in confusion. "Did he just get rid of it?"

"Most likely," Remus stated. "It's not like he needed it anyway. But I do hope that the Diggorys will remember Harry's generosity and good intentions."

"I doubt that they're too forgiving for just claiming that their son was killed in an accident," Moody said.

**Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower the following evening. **

"And who wants to bet that they'll be bugging him on what happened in the maze?" Sirius asked bitterly.

"Oh, I doubt that Dumbledore would let that happen," Arthur said. And sure enough…

**From what Hermione and Ron told him, Dumbledore had spoken to the school that morning at breakfast. He had merely requested that they leave Harry alone, that nobody ask him questions or badger him to tell the story of what had happened in the maze. **

"Well, at least they're leaving him alone," Molly said relieved.

**Most people, he noticed, were skirting him in the corridors, avoiding his eyes. Some whispered behind their hands as he passed. He guessed that many of them had believed Rita Skeeter's article about how disturbed and possibly dangerous he was. **

"In that case they're disturbed for reading that garbage," Sirius muttered venomously to himself. Really… Harry Potter disturbed and dangerous?

**Perhaps they were formulating their own theories about how Cedric had died. He found he didn't care very much. He liked it best when he was with Ron and Hermione and they were talking about other things, or else letting him sit in silence while they played chess. **

"It's easier to forget the bad things when you've got something to distract you," Kingsley said knowingly. "I don't think that telling them what happened is something that he was ready to talk about yet."

"I'm sure that having his friends nearby had helped as well," Arthur said soothingly.

**He felt as though all three of them had reached an understanding they didn't need to put into words; that each was waiting for some sign, some word, of what was going on outside Hogwarts - and that it was useless to speculate about what might be coming until they knew anything for certain. **

"Too bad that no one knows anything for certain," Moody muttered. Especially with having an idiot like Fudge in charge.

**The only time they touched upon the subject was when Ron told Harry about a meeting Mrs. Weasley had had with Dumbledore before going home.**

**"****She went to ask him if you could come straight to us this summer," he said. "But he wants you to go back to the Dursleys, at least at first."**

"I wish that I knew about his home life," Molly muttered angrily. "I never would've let him go back to that house otherwise."

"Nothing that we can do about it now," Remus sighed. "But we can do what we can to ensure that he doesn't go back again."

**"****Why?" said Harry.**

"It's because of the blood protection isn't it?" Molly then asked. "That is why Dumbledore placed Harry there in the first place right?"

"The blood wards," Remus confirmed. "Normally, that would've been a genius way to protect Harry. If only the Dursleys…"

"If only those bastards had any human empathy," Sirius snapped. "They have no souls."

"But didn't Dumbledore say that Voldemort overcome that particular barrier?" Tonks asked, remembering what it said in the last chapter. "Doesn't that mean that he could get through now?"

"I doubt it," Kingsley spoke up after thinking it over. "Voldemort is able to touch Harry now, but I don't think that he would be able to hurt him at Privet Drive… they're probably supported by something else too."

When Sirius continued to look cross, Kingsley added, "I am merely stating a fact. I'm not implying that Harry should go back there."

"I hope not," he said darkly, but went back to the book without another word to Kingsley.

**"****She said Dumbledore's got his reasons," said Ron, shaking his head darkly. "I suppose we've got to trust him, haven't we?"**

Sirius snorted. Oh, he had trusted the old man and look where it got him. His godson was stuck living in a literal hell for his whole childhood. How could he ever forgive himself for this?

**The only person apart from Ron and Hermione that Harry felt able to talk to was Hagrid. As there was no longer a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, they had those lessons free. **

"When is that new?" Moody asked. "It's been like that for years."

"I think that it would've been great to have you teach for that last week," Tonks smirked. "You can show them all just how important it is not to get shoved into a magical trunk."

He sent a dirty look her way that clearly told her to shut up or else. She held up her hands in a _'just kidding' _way and fell silent. She knew that his experience in the trunk was nothing but humiliation for him.

**They used the one on Thursday afternoon to go down and visit Hagrid in his cabin. It was a bright and sunny day; Fang bounded out of the open door as they approached, barking and wagging his tail madly.**

"Ah, Hagrid," Remus smiled. "He's always good for company."

**"****Who's that?" called Hagrid, coming to the door. "Harry!"**

**He strode out to meet them, pulled Harry into a one-armed hug, ruffled his hair, and said, "Good ter see yeh, mate. Good ter see yeh."**

"I'm already starting to cheer up," Tonks laughed.

**They saw two bucket-size cups and saucers on the wooden table in front of the fireplace when they entered Hagrid's cabin.**

**"****Bin havin' a cuppa with Olympe," Hagrid said. "She's jus' left."**

Tonks smirked. That was just too cute. Hagrid deserved to have someone…

**"****Who?" said Ron curiously.**

**"****Madame Maxime, o' course!" said Hagrid.**

"Awww," Tonks cooed, clasping her hands together. "They made up. Isn't that sweet?"

**"****You two made up, have you?" said Ron.**

**"****Dunno what yeh're talkin' about," said Hagrid airily, fetching more cups from the dresser. **

"Sure he doesn't," Sirius laughed.

"Be nice," Remus chuckled.

"Yeah," Arthur laughed. "If a man doesn't want to talk about his love life then that's his business."

**When he had made tea and offered around a plate of doughy cookies, he leaned back in****his****chair and surveyed Harry closely through his beetle-black eyes.**

**"****You all righ'?" he said gruffly**

"I'd be surprised if he was," Arthur said, his smile fading a little.

**"****Yeah," said Harry.**

"He was always such a bad liar," Tonks sighed.

"A habit that you would think he grew out of by now," Sirius agreed. He must've gotten that honesty from Lily… she couldn't lie either.

**"****No, yeh're not," said Hagrid. "Course yeh're not. But yeh will be."**

"I hope so," Sirius added in an undertone. If Harry never had to go near Voldemort again would be too much to hope for… but Sirius couldn't help it.

**Harry said nothing.**

**"****Knew he was goin' ter come back," said Hagrid, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up at him, shocked. "Known it fer years Harry. Knew he was out there, bidin' his time.**

"Maybe we should have him for Minister," Remus said, half joking.

"I'd take him over Fudge any day," Tonks laughed. "Though, if he were in charge, he'd make owning a dragon legal."

"Or worse," Moody said, his magical eye rolling in its socket.

"Well, it would be exciting," Arthur chuckled lightly.

**It had ter happen. Well, now it has, an' we'll jus' have ter get on with it. We'll fight. Migh' be able ter stop him before he gets a good hold. **

"That was very deep for Hagrid," said Molly. She never really noticed it, but Hagrid was rather observant and gives very good advice most of the time. If only he could learn to keep a secret.

"I still say that it's optimistic thinking," Moody grunted. "You shouldn't get your hopes up."

"You are the most negative person I've ever met," Tonks grumbled.

**That's Dumbledore's plan, anyway. Great man, Dumbledore. 'S long as we've got him, I'm not too worried."**

Moody's magical eye looked up to the hall and saw that the old man was gone. He shook his head. The fact was that the Headmaster may be a great wizard… but he's still mortal. That wasn't going to change…

**Hagrid raised his bushy eyebrows at the disbelieving expressions on their faces.**

**"****No good sittin' worryin' abou' it," he said. "What's comin' will come, an we'll meet it when it does. **

"Very wise words," Arthur stated.

"Kinda hard not to worry about it though," Tonks sighed. "You know what's coming and nothing you can do can stop it. It makes me feel so helpless."

"That's just what war is," Kingsley sighed. "Hopefully, we can stop him before it gets out of hand."

**Dumbledore told me wha' you did. Harry."**

**Hagrid's chest swelled as he looked at Harry.**

**"****Yeh did as much as yer father would've done, an' I can' give yeh no higher praise than that."**

"True that," Sirius smiled proudly, the ache in his chest seemed to lessen slightly at those words.

**Harry smiled back at him. It was the first time he'd smiled in days. "What's Dumbledore asked you to do, Hagrid?" he asked. "He sent Professor McGonagall to ask you and Madame Maxime to meet him - that night."**

**"****Got a little job fer me over the summer," said Hagrid. "Secret, though. I'm not s'pposed ter talk abou' it, no, not even ter you lot. **

"And for once he's doing it," said Molly, remembering how terrible he had been at keeping the stone secret.

"But I doubt that he'll be able to keep that all quiet forever," Sirius added with a little smirk.

**Olympe - Madame Maxime ter you - might be comin' with me. I think she will. Think I got her persuaded."**

"Ooh," said Tonks cheekily, "Go Hagrid, tell us how you intend to persuade her!"

"You really should learn to keep that big mouth of yours shut," Mad-Eye yawned and she sent him a furious glare.

**"****Is it to do with Voldemort?"**

**Hagrid flinched at the sound of the name.**

**"****Migh' be," he said evasively. "Now… who'd like ter come an' visit the las' skrewt with me? I was jokin' - jokin'!" he added hastily, seeing the looks on their faces.**

"That's a bad joke, Hagrid," Molly muttered with a shiver of those horrible monsters.

**It was with a heavy heart that Harry packed his trunk up in the dormitory on the night before his return to Privet Drive. He was dreading the Leaving Feast, which was usually a cause for celebration, when the winner of the Inter-House Championship would be announced. He had avoided being in the Great Hall when it was full ever since he had left the hospital wing, preferring to eat when it was nearly empty to avoid the stares of his fellow students.**

"Can't blame him for that," Moody said, far too used to having people looking at him like he was some kind of monster. Ingrates… he dedicated his life to protecting people like them.

**When he, Ron, and Hermione entered the Hall, they saw at once that the usual decorations were missing. The Great Hall was normally decorated with the winning House's colors for the Leaving Feast. Tonight, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table. Harry knew instantly that they were there as a mark of respect to Cedric.**

"As they should be," said Arthur sadly.

"Most of them are still too young to be thinking like that though," Molly whispered. "It's just…" she couldn't find the right words to express what was going on in her head.

"We all know, Molly," Arthur said in a kind voice.

"But that's just how the world is," Kingsley finished for them.

**The real Mad-Eye Moody was at the staff table now, his wooden leg and his magical eye back in place. He was extremely twitchy, jumping every time someone spoke to him. **

"One word," he warned Tonks, who was looking up at him. "And it'll be the last thing you ever say."

"I wasn't going to say anything," Tonks answered truthfully. Not able to find the heart to tease him at the moment.

**Harry couldn't blame him; Moody's fear of attack was bound to have been increased by his ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk. Professor Karkaroff's chair was empty. Harry wondered, as he sat down with the other Gryffindors, where Karkaroff was now, and whether Voldemort had caught up with him.**

"Not yet," Moody stated casually, as if wondering if it was going to rain tonight. "It's impressive that he hadn't yet. But there's only so much longer that he can go."

"You sound real torn up about it," Sirius asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Just the true," he shot back.

**Madame Maxime was still there. She was sitting next to Hagrid. They were talking quietly together. Further along the table, sitting next to Professor McGonagall, was Snape. His eyes lingered on Harry for a moment as Harry looked at him. His expression was difficult to read. He looked as sour and unpleasant as ever. Harry continued to watch him, long after Snape had looked away.**

'_I'd love to know how his talk with his master went,'_ Sirius thought to himself bitterly. How could that snake go back to an even bigger snake and fool him into thinking that he was on his side without meaning anything?

**What was it that Snape had done on Dumbledore's orders, the night that Voldemort had returned? And why… why… was Dumbledore so convinced that Snape was truly on their side? **

"That's what I want to know," Sirius couldn't help but say.

**He had been their spy, Dumbledore had said so in the Pensieve. Snape had turned spy against Voldemort, "at great personal risk." **

**Was that the job he had taken up again? Had he made contact with the Death Eaters, perhaps? Pretended that he had never really gone over to Dumbledore, that he had been, like Voldemort himself, biding his time?**

"All good points," Sirius said eagerly, glad that someone was on his side when it came to Snape.

"Enough, Sirius," Remus said softly. "We're almost done now aren't we?"

Sirius glanced up. "Fine," he muttered sourly.

**Harry's musings were ended by Professor Dumbledore, who stood up at the staff table. The Great Hall, which in any case had been less noisy than it usually was at the Leaving Feast, became very quiet.**

**"****The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year."**

"The end of one hell of a year," Tonks couldn't help but add.

"I don't see how it could get any worse," Arthur said.

**He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall.**

The room turned solemn once more.

"Can you blame them?" Tonks muttered, her lower lip quivering. "I never met Cedric, but I feel like I lost a really good friend here."

"Cedric was just one of those people that were hard not to like," Remus sighed, remembering how talented and kind that young man had been. It truly wasn't fair that his life was cut down before it even had a chance to really get started.

**"****There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."**

"I second that," Moody stated, holding up his flask and the others couldn't help but smile at him.

**They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."**

**Harry caught a glimpse of Cho through the crowd. There were tears pouring silently down her face. **

"The poor girl," Molly whispered. "She must be taking this so hard."

**He looked down at the table as they all sat down again.**

**"****Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. **

"All true," Kingsley said nodding. "From what we've read about him, he did seem like that kind of person…"

**His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."**

"This won't go down well," muttered Sirius under his breath.

"Better that he come out and tell them the truth than have the Ministry tell them a disgusting lie first," Tonks snapped.

**Harry raised his head and stared at Dumbledore.**

**"****Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."**

"Oh, I'm sure that this went down well," Remus sighed. The Ministry was going to be furious with this.

**A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence.**

"I knew it," said Sirius, rolling his eyes high at the ceiling. "I can see that the Ministry just doesn't like letting go of its habit of keeping secrets."

"It's a bad habit of theirs," Moody agreed solemnly. "And in the end, it's the rest of us who have to suffer for it.

**"****The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so - either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. **

Sirius couldn't help but glance up at Molly at that last part—though thankfully, she didn't notice.

**It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."**

"Hear, hear," said most of the room in agreement.

Kingsley frowned. He could tell that Dumbledore was already showing signs that people bad been trying to hush up the whole incident. Wonder what was said when he and Fudge had their _'little talk'_ about how the school is being run.

**Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now… or almost every face. Over at the Slytherin table Harry saw Draco Malfoy muttering something to Crabbe and Goyle. Harry felt a hot, sick swoop of anger in his stomach. **

"I don't blame him," Arthur frowned. "This is showing nothing but disrespect for Cedric."

"Why should he care?" Sirius snapped. "He's planning on joining the Death Eaters too. Guess he's practicing showing no remorse or sympathy for others. Besides, he must've already heard from 'Daddy dearest' on what happened. He doesn't need to hear it a second time."

"That's harsh, Sirius," Remus told him.

"But the truth," Sirius answered back firmly. "That's what he wants to be… a low-life, murdering Death Eater like his father." He then shook the book out with such force that he was reducing the book back to scattered pages and Remus sighed, getting used to his friend's destructive behavior.

**He forced himself to look back at Dumbledore.**

**"****There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedrics death," Dumbledore went on. "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter."**

"I bet Harry's thrilled about that," said Sirius sarcastically.

"It's like he's drawing attention to him," Molly said with a frown. "He doesn't need that."

"I doubt that's what it's about," Arthur said in a gentle way. "Listen…"

**A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in Harry's direction before flicking back to face Dumbledore.**

"Probably wondering about Potter's part in Diggory's death," Moody declared.

**"****Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor him."**

"See?" Arthur asked. "I think that he wanted them to remember that a madman, a murderer, or a liar wouldn't have done that."

Everyone smiled at that, though it was also a bit forceful. Sirius suddenly wished that he had a glass so that he could toast as well.

**Dumbledore turned gravely to Harry and raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured his name, as they had murmured Cedric's, and drank to him. **

"I doubt all the school would toast him," said Remus.

"Like he wants it," commented Sirius.

**But through a gap in the standing figures. Harry saw that Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and many of the other Slytherins had remained defiantly in their seats, their goblets untouched. Dumbledore, who after all possessed no magical eye, did not see them.**

"Oh, I think he did," Kingsley said angrily. "But there were more important things to worry about."

**When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened - of Lord Voldemorts return - such ties are more important than ever before."**

"Good luck," Moody stated. So long as this anger between the four Houses existed, then there were no chances of Hogwarts being able to stand together.

**Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table. Krum, Harry saw, looked wary, almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore to say something harsh.**

"I can imagine how bad he must've been feeling," Arthur said, his anger fading once again. "He knows that he attacked Cedric."

"But it wasn't his fault," Molly said thickly.

"That won't stop him from felling miserable that the last thing that Diggory saw from him was him cursing him," Moody sighed. "But you're right… it wasn't Krum's fault."

**"****Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. **

"Yeah, they kinda grew on me," Tonks said with a nod. "And I never even met them."

**I say to you all, once again - in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemorts gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. **

"Well, you're right about that," Sirius barked. "He _is_ very good at that."

**We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.**

"Easier said than done," Kingsley said, knowing how prejudice can be. He wasn't sure why it was like this… but anything that a human didn't know or understand, they tend to fear.

**It is my belief - and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken - that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. **

'_You can say that again,'_ Molly thought miserably, her brother's faces flashing in her mind's eye.

Kingsley shook his head. Just like famous tyrants, Voldemort uses bigotry, intolerances, and social discord to keep everyone under his control. Voldemort is a bully who uses his own half-blood status as a model for creating an enemy.

**A week ago, a student was taken from our midst. Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."**

"He is good with words," Remus said.

"At least a lot better at them than I am," Sirius admitted. "Not that that's saying much…"

"Those were words that needed to be said," Remus stated. "Particularly since they will return home and face an onslaught of propaganda, contradicting everything that happened there."

**Harry's trunk was packed; Hedwig was back in her cage on top of it. He, Ron, and Hermione were waiting in the crowded entrance hall with the rest of the fourth years for the carriages that would take them back to Hogsmeade station. It was another beautiful summer's day. **

"Which makes it hard to believe what happened really happened," Tonks whispered.

**He supposed that Privet Drive would be hot and leafy, its flower beds a riot of color, when he arrived there that evening. The thought gave him no pleasure at all.**

"I don't blame him," Sirius hissed, once again growing angry at the thought of the Dursleys.

**"'****Arry!"**

"I wonder who that could be?" Tonks said, looking up and a tiny smile now returning.

"A certain part-Veela lady," Sirius laughed.

**He looked around. Fleur Delacour was hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Beyond her, far across the grounds Harry could see Hagrid helping Madame Maxime to back two of the giant horses into their harness. **

"Cute," Tonks cooed. "Hagrid's being a real gentleman here."

**The Beauxbatons carriage was about to take off.**

**"****We will see each uzzer again, I 'ope," said Fleur as she reached him, holding out her hand. "I am 'oping to get a job 'ere, to improve my Eenglish."**

"Sure she was," Sirius laughed, remembering the description she had when she was looking at Bill.

**"****It's very good already," said Ron in a strangled sort of voice. **

"Oh, he's hopeless," Tonks muttered and Molly couldn't help but nod along with her. She needed Ron to remember that beauty wasn't just on the outside.

**Fleur smiled at him; Hermione scowled.**

"At least she has the decency to keep her opinions to herself when it comes to love," Molly sighed.

**"****Good-bye, 'Arry," said Fleur, turning to go. "It 'az been a pleasure meeting you!"**

**Harry's spirits couldn't help but lift slightly as he watched Fleur hurry back across the lawns to Madame Maxime, her silvery hair rippling in the sunlight.**

"And he's even made new friends," Tonks said happily.

**"****Wonder how the Durmstrang students are getting back," said Ron. "D' you reckon they can steer that ship without Karkaroff?"**

"He thinks Karkaroff would actually deign to do work?" asked Moody, his eyebrows disappearing into his grizzled hair. "Really Weasley? You heard what he's really like all year haven't you?"

**"****Karkaroff did not steer," said a gruff voice. "He stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork."**

"Really?" Sirius asked in mock surprise. "He didn't do anything and let kids do all the work? Jeez, I had no idea."

"Enough with the sarcasm," Moody barked in annoyance. "We get it. Karkaroff never did a thing on his own in his life."

"You just don't know how to have fun do ya?" Sirius asked, but he went on anyway.

**Krum had come to say good-bye to Hermione. "Could I have a vord?" he asked her.**

**"****Oh… yes… all right," said Hermione, looking slightly flustered, and following Krum through the crowd and out of sight.**

"Ohhh!" Tonks gasped in excitement. "Now what? Think he'll confess his feelings to her?"

"Don't get to excited," Remus chuckled. "They're still young."

**"****You'd better hurry up!" Ron called loudly after her. "The carriages'll be here in a minute!"**

"Now he's jealous," Molly sighed. "Really Ron…"

**He let Harry keep a watch for the carriages, however, and spent the next few minutes craning his neck over the crowd to try and see what Krum and Hermione might be up to. They returned quite soon. Ron stared at Hermione, but her face was quite impassive.**

"I wonder what it was about," Sirius laughed. "It must've been something good."

**"****I liked Diggory," said Krum abruptly to Harry. "He vos alvays polite to me. Alvays. Even though I vos from Durmstrang - with Karkaroff," he added, scowling.**

"Sure sounds like Krum's not so proud of Karkaroff," Kingsley said.

"Who would be?" Moody asked. "Sounds more like he's embarrassed about his sorry excuse for a Headmaster."

"Would most of the Durmstrang students feel the same way, or are most of them like Malfoy?" Tonks asked. "They all sound like nice people… hey… maybe we could work out a trade—Krum for Draco?"

Sirius snorted. "Now that would be a trade I'd do any day!"

**"****Have you got a new headmaster yet?" said Harry**

**Krum shrugged. He held out his hand as Fleur had done, shook Harry's hand, and then Ron's. Ron looked as though he was suffering some sort of painful internal struggle. **

"Don't tell me he's still angry at him?" Molly sighed. After all that's happened, he's still jealous?

**Krum had already started walking away when Ron burst out, "Can I have your autograph?"**

Molly sighed and shook her head. She'll never understand that boy… but the room burst out laughing.

"What's he gonna do with it? Sell it to the highest bidder?" Tonks asked with a laugh.

**Hermione turned away, smiling at the horseless carriages that were now trundling toward them up the drive, as Krum, looking surprised but gratified, signed a fragment of parchment for Ron.**

**The weather could not have been more different on the journey back to King's Cross than it had been on their way to Hogwarts the previous September. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. **

Moody sighed. He couldn't help but remember that storm which accompanied the fake Moody's entrance at the beginning of the year. It was truly foreboding of what was to come. Unfortunately, it looks like the wizarding world is going to see much stormier times ahead.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione had managed to get a compartment to themselves. Pigwidgeon was once again hidden under Ron's dress robes to stop him from hooting continually; Hedwig was dozing, her head under her wing, and Crookshanks was curled up in a spare seat like a large, furry ginger cushion. Harry, Ron, and Hermione talked more fully and freely than they had all week as the train sped them southward. **

"It's easy to forget with friends around," Remus whispered to himself, remembering how easily he had been able to forget about his own _'furry little problem'_ whenever he was with his three best friends. The only other time that he was able to forget was when he and Tonks…

He froze, his face burning and his lips tingled. He beat those feelings down, refusing to look at anything but the floor. He could sense her—just two seats away—he just couldn't take it. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to shove Sirius out of his way and snog the girl. Breathing hard, he tried to focus only on the reading…

**Harry felt as though Dumbledore's speech at the Leaving Feast had unblocked him, somehow. It was less painful to discuss what had happened now. **

"Well, that's a good sign," Molly said soothingly.

"Yeah, but he's got a long way to go if he wants to get over something like that," Moody declared. "Trauma isn't healed nearly as easily as flesh wounds."

**They broke off their conversation about what action Dumbledore might be taking, even now, to stop Voldemort only when the lunch trolley arrived.**

**When Hermione returned from the trolley and put her money back into her schoolbag, she dislodged a copy of the Daily Prophet that she had been carrying in there. Harry looked at it, unsure whether he really wanted to know what it might say, **

"There's nothing in there, don't worry," Moody barked in disgust.

"It's only going to be for so long that they can keep the truth hidden," Arthur said.

"And when it finally leaks out, they're gonna have a lot of angry and scared people to answer to," Tonks nodded. "I wouldn't want to be in their shoes at that moment…"

**but Hermione, seeing him looking at it, said calmly, "There's nothing in there. You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying you won the tournament. They didn't even mention Cedric. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."**

"Really?" Sirius asked with heavy sarcasm in his tone. "No… he wouldn't!"

"That's just wrong," Arthur said, his eyes narrowed and his face furious. "The Minister shouldn't have so much control over the press."

"I think that the fact that he's trying to interfere at Hogwarts the worst part," Tonks said. "I mean, you can't get rid of Dumbledore."

"He can't," Remus said. "Unless Fudge can catch him doing something illegal, you need all 12 governors to vote him out—Fudge can't do that alone. And most of the governors are on Dumbledore's side."

"However, we already know that the governors can be influenced," Kingsley reminded them.

**"****He'll never keep Rita quiet," said Harry. "Not on a story like this."**

"Yes," Remus said. "And I can't figure it out. No one's heard from her since that article about Harry being deranged… if you don't count that one in the Quibbler. Just what is going on with her?"

"I said it before; someone must have some dirt on her," Moody smirked. Oh, he hoped that they would hear about that.

**"****Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," said Hermione in an oddly constrained voice. "As a matter of fact," she added, her voice now trembling slightly, "Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her."**

"What?" Molly demanded. "What did she find out?"

Sirius, now eager for that answer too, went on quickly.

**"****What are you talking about?" said Ron.**

**"****I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be coming onto the grounds," said Hermione in a rush.**

"Oh, this is gonna be good," Moody smirked, looking even crazier than before. "Just what kind of dirt did you get on her, Granger?"

**Harry had the impression that Hermione had been dying to tell them this for days, but that she had restrained herself in light of everything else that had happened.**

"Why?" Sirius asked grinning. "I'm sure that it would've cheered everyone up!"

**"****How was she doing it?" said Harry at once.**

**"****How did you find out?" said Ron, staring at her.**

**"****Well, it was you, really, who gave me the idea Harry," she said.**

**"****Did I?" said Harry, perplexed. "How?"**

**"****Bugging," said Hermione happily.**

Moody raised an eyebrow. Does this mean that all those bug hints throughout the book actually meant something?

"But I thought that those kind of bugs don't work around Hogwarts," Arthur said, looking proud that he remember that.

"They can't," Kingsley said. So what's going on here?

**"****But you said they didn't work -"**

**"****Oh not electronic bugs," said Hermione. "No, you see… Rita Skeeter" - Hermiones voice trembled with quiet triumph - "is an unregistered Animagus. She can turn -"**

Sirius's jaw dropped as he read out the last sentence.

**Hermione pulled a small sealed glass jar out other bag. "- into a beetle."**

"You're kidding," said Arthur not sure whether to be pleased at the fact Rita was getting her due, or amazement that Hermione discovered something like this.

**"****You're kidding," said Ron. "You haven't… she's not…"**

"You took the words out of my mouth, Ron," Tonks said, a wide grin on her face as she shook her head incredulously. "How the hell…?"

**"****Oh yes she is," said Hermione happily, brandishing the jar at them.**

**Inside were a few twigs and leaves and one large, fat beetle.**

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sirius cried out, looking up at Remus. "That means that she stole our idea!"

"That is impressive," Kingsley said. "Becoming an illegal Animagus… this would explain a lot."

"I'm more impressed that Hermione figured it out," Remus said with a laugh.

"You think that she keeps Rita for a pet now?" Sirius asked, unable to finish asking the question without a snort due to the fact that he laughing—fit to burst—with tears of mirth in his face. After all the problems that she had given everyone over that year, no one was feeling sorry for her and joined in.

**"****That's never - you're kidding -" Ron whispered, lifting the jar to his eyes.**

"If this is a joke, Hermione…" Tonks warned, though she was hoping that it wasn't.

"I doubt that she would joke about something like this," Arthur chuckled as Molly was shaking her head.

"So she was breaking the law to write lies about people?" she demanded.

"Sure looks like it," Arthur said, patting the back of her hand.

"Why are you even pretending to be surprise that she would do something like this?" Moody asked.

**"****No, I'm not," said Hermione, beaming. "I caught her on the windowsill in the hospital wing. Look very closely, and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she wears."**

**Harry looked and saw that she was quite right. **

Moody burst out laughing. "This is rich! How the mighty have fallen."

"And it looks like we now know how she got her to write that last article," Kingsley said with a smirk. "That is a big thing to hang over someone's head."

"Well, she shouldn't have messed with Hermione," Tonks said proudly. "You go girl!"

**He also remembered something.**

**"****There was a beetle on the statue the night we heard Hagrid telling Madame Maxime about his mum!"**

"That's right!" Arthur cried out, remembering the beetle that Harry was looking at.

**"****Exactly," said Hermione. "And Viktor pulled a beetle out of my hair after we'd had our conversation by the lake. And unless I'm very much mistaken, Rita was perched on the windowsill of the Divination class the day your scar hurt. She's been buzzing around for stories all year."**

"I can't believe this," Molly said angrily. "Those were private conversations and she's using this to listen in?!"

"Well, I can tell that we can find a use for this information," Remus said as Sirius continued to laugh.

**"****When we saw Malfoy under that tree…" said Ron slowly.**

**"****He was talking to her, in his hand," said Hermione. "He knew, of course. That's how she's been getting all those nice little interviews with the Slytherins. They wouldn't care that she was doing something illegal, as long as they were giving her horrible stuff about us and Hagrid."**

"Thatta girl!" Tonks clapped. "You've got something that she doesn't have! Brains!"

"Those Slytherins," Sirius said, wrinkling his nose. "Of course they would know."

**Hermione took the glass jar back from Ron and smiled at the beetle, which buzzed angrily against the glass.**

"Ah, the joys of revenge," said Sirius wistfully.

**"****I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London," said Hermione. "I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people."**

"Oh no!" Tonks cried out at once. "No, Hermione! Don't do that! You've managed to capture her and now you're gonna let her fly off?"

"I think that people might figure out that she's missing," Kingsley pointed out.

**Smiling serenely, Hermione placed the beetle back inside her schoolbag.**

**The door of the compartment slid open.**

"Who wants to bet that it's someone unpleasant there?" Sirius asked, the happy mood disappearing as if the air was being let out of a balloon.

**"****Very clever Granger," said Draco Malfoy.**

"So he knew that she was breaking the law," Molly frowned.

**Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him. All three of them looked more pleased with themselves, more arrogant and more menacing, than Harry had ever seen them.**

"I bet they are," said Remus, "I wonder how long that will last though."

"When the government is finally slapped awake, they'll know that their fathers are Death Eaters," Tonks said confidently. "I doubt that they'll be welcomed with open arms."

"Their family names will become mud," Moody smirked.

**"****So," said Malfoy slowly, advancing slightly into the compartment and looking slowly around at them, a smirk quivering on his lips. "You caught some pathetic reporter, and Potter's Dumbledore's favorite boy again. Big deal."**

For some reason, that line made him annoyed. But he ignored it as he read: **His smirk widened. Crabbe and Goyle leered.**

"Don't see what they're so proud of," Moody said with a yawn. "Yeah, they're parents are servants to a murderer. So what?"

"Alastor," Kingsley warned softly, as if he was reminding a child on his manners.

**"****Trying not to think about it, are we?" said Malfoy softly, looking around at all three of them. "Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?"**

**"****Get out," said Harry.**

"You tell 'em," Sirius cheered out. "Show them that they're not as cool as they think they are."

**He had not been this close to Malfoy since he had watched him muttering to Crabbe and Goyle during Dumbledore's speech about Cedric. He could feel a kind of ringing in his ears. His hand gripped his wand under his robes.**

"He really shouldn't fight," said Molly sadly.

"Maybe, but it's hard to listen to that know-it-all voice and not do anything," Tonks said.

"He's asking for trouble if you ask me," Sirius said firmly.

**"****You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!" He jerked his head at Ron and Hermione. **

"They're better than you will ever be!" Sirius yelled, holding up his fist.

"Rather be riffraff than what people like the Malfoy's are," Tonks said.

Sirius clasped his hand on Tonks's shoulder. "Well said."

But Kingsley was looking a little grave at the exchange.

**"Too late now Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well - second - Diggory was the f-"**

"Why that little…" snarled Arthur and Molly grasped his hand tightly.

"How could he say all those things?" Molly said shocked.

"He's as rotten as his father," Tonks snapped. "Can't someone just curse that bloody git all ready!"

"This kind of behavior and ideals had been ingrained into him his whole life," Kingsley sighed.

"Not that it would've changed anything," Moody said dully. "I doubt that it would've mattered if Potter had made friends with him or not. Voldemort would never let him live. After all, the kid not only embarrassed him multiple times, but he also made him look weak. There is no way he would forgive that."

**It was as though someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the blaze of the spells that had blasted from every direction, deafened by a series of bangs, Harry blinked and looked down at the floor.**

"What happened?" Arthur asked startled.

"Don't know," Sirius said, though he had a feeling that Malfoy finally said too much.

**Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway. He, Ron, and Hermione were on their feet, all three of them having used a different hex. Nor were they the only ones to have done so.**

"Ohh! Who?" Tonks asked eagerly, wondering what on earth happened to them.

**"****Thought we'd see what those three were up to," said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Malfoy as he followed Fred inside.**

Molly shook her head. Why was she not surprised that the twins were there.

"Give us some details here," Sirius grinned. "What's the good of cursing someone if you don't even know what happens to them?"

**"****Interesting effect," said George, looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus Curse?"**

**"****Me," said Harry.**

**"****Odd," said George lightly. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor."**

"Aww, Ickle Slytherins look all icky," Tonks cooed.

"You're kidding! I never knew that happened when those two were mixed," said Sirius, snapping his fingers together in frustration. "Why didn't we ever think of that?"

"You will not be trying that out," Molly warned him. "You are a grown man, Sirius."

**Ron, Harry, and George kicked, rolled, and pushed the unconscious Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle - each of whom looked distinctly the worse for the jumble of jinxes with which they had been hit - out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and rolled the door shut.**

Sirius chuckled at that. They just cursed three people and rolled them out into the hall like nothing happened.

**"****Exploding Snap, anyone?" said Fred, pulling out a pack of cards.**

**They were halfway through their fifth game when Harry decided to ask them.**

"Ask them what?" Arthur couldn't help but ask.

**"****You going to tell us, then?" he said to George. "Who you were blackmailing?"**

Molly's eyes darkened. "That's right…" she said darkly. "Just what was that about?"

**"****Oh," said George darkly. "That."**

**"****It doesn't matter," said Fred, shaking his head impatiently. "It wasn't anything important. Not now, anyway."**

**"****We've given up," said George, shrugging.**

"They never should've started it," Molly said at once. "Just what was so important that they would resort to blackmail? They could get into such serious trouble."

"I think that we might find out," Arthur said.

**But Harry, Ron, and Hermione kept on asking, and finally, Fred said, "All right, all right, if you really want to know… it was Ludo Bagman."**

"What?" Remus asked in surprise.

"What does Bagman have to do with this?" Arthur said, bewildered.

**"****Bagman?" said Harry sharply. "Are you saying he was involved in -"**

**"****Nah," said George gloomily. "Nothing like that. Stupid git. He wouldn't have the brains."**

"He's got that's right," Moody said, nodding.

**"****Well, what, then?" said Ron.**

**Fred hesitated, then said, "You remember that bet we had with him at the Quidditch World Cup? About how Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?"**

"I see it now. He didn't pay them," Remus said frowning.

"What?" Molly asked looking up at them. She didn't like the idea of her son's gambling to begin with; but if Bagman refused to pay them…?

**"****Yeah," said Harry and Ron slowly.**

**"****Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he'd caught from the Irish mascots."**

"I don't believe this," Kingsley said bitterly. "So now he's resorted to cheating some kids out of their money? That's theft."

**"****So?"**

"It vanished, Ron," Arthur said frowning. "I thought that you learned that."

"That is really low," Tonks said.

**"****So," said Fred impatiently, "it vanished, didn't it? By next morning, it had gone!"**

**"****But - it must've been an accident, mustn't it?" said Hermione.**

Sirius snorted. "If that was an accident, then I will keep my mother's portrait uncovered."

**George laughed very bitterly.**

**"****Yeah, that's what we thought, at first. We thought if we just wrote to him, and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough up. But nothing doing. Ignored our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us."**

"So that's what they were doing," Molly said angrily. While angry that Fred and George would gamble, she was furious at Bagman for taking that money from her sons. If he couldn't afford to pay them, then he should've have been gambling in the first place!

**"****In the end, he turned pretty nasty," said Fred. "Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything."**

"I don't believe this," Molly cried out.

**"****So we asked for our money back," said George glowering.**

**"****He didn't refuse!" gasped Hermione.**

"Course he did," said Remus calmly, "He obviously had no qualms about cheating two teens out of their winnings, so why would he care about giving them their money back? Especially if he's in debt to the Goblins."

"But he shouldn't be able to get away with this…?" Molly demanded.

"He has," Sirius spoke bluntly. "Bagman's on the run now isn't he? I doubt that the twins will be getting their money back anytime soon."

**"****Right in one," said Fred.**

**"****But that was all your savings!" said Ron.**

"I'm gonna kill him," Arthur hissed. "To take advantage out of the boys like that…"

"Good luck trying to find them," Moody said.

**"****Tell me about it," said George. "'Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee Jordan's dad had had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together. **

"And that's why I didn't want them to gamble," Molly moaned. "Nothing good can come from it. If you must gamble, then make only a couple Galleons…"

"And that's also the reason why we're in so much trouble getting the goblins to trust us," Kingsley sighed. "Because of his gambling debts."

**And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back?"**

**"****How?" said Harry.**

"Let me guess…?" Moody started.

**"****He put a bet on you, mate," said Fred. "Put a big bet on you to win the tournament. Bet against the goblins."**

"That explains a lot," Sirius said angrily.

"And I didn't think that it could get lower than that," Remus sighed.

**"****So that's why he kept trying to help me win!" said Harry. "Well - I did win, didn't I? So he can pay you your gold!"**

"Guess again," Sirius spat out.

**"****Nope," said George, shaking his head. "The goblins play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory, and Bagman was betting you'd win outright. So Bagman had to run for it. He did run for it right after the third task."**

"If that didn't mean the twins didn't get their money, I would say it serves him right," said Remus.

"It's their fault for making a bet with that idiot," Moody sighed.

Molly was torn. While she hoped that her sons learned their lesson on gambling, she wished that it didn't have to cost them so much.

**George sighed deeply and started dealing out the cards again.**

**The rest of the journey passed pleasantly enough; Harry wished it could have gone on all summer, in fact, and that he would never arrive at King's Cross… **

"That would be nice," Sirius said. "To travel the train all summer…" he remembered wishing that when he was a kid. Just the thought of having to go back to his family was to horrible for words and he always wished that he could've spent the whole summer enjoying traveling in the world with his friends. That would've been great.

**but as he had learned the hard way that year, time will not slow down when something unpleasant lies ahead, and all too soon, the Hogwarts Express was pulling in at platform nine and three-quarters. **

**The usual confusion and noise filled the corridors as the students began to disembark. Ron and Hermione struggled out past Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, carrying their trunks. **

Sirius couldn't help but snort at that.

**Harry, however, stayed put.**

"I know that you don't want to go, Harry," Tonks said sadly, "But you can't stay there all summer."

"It's better than going back to the Dursleys," Sirius hissed under his breath.

**"****Fred - George - wait a moment."**

"Now what's he going to do?" asked Arthur curiously.

**The twins turned. Harry pulled open his trunk and drew out his Triwizard winnings.**

Arthur stared. He didn't…?

**"****Take it," he said, and he thrust the sack into George's hands.**

"He's giving them his winnings!" said Sirius pointing out the obvious.

"He did what?!" Molly screamed out.

**"****What?" said Fred, looking flabbergasted.**

**"****Take it," Harry repeated firmly. "I don't want it."**

"He's giving him that money?" Molly whispered. She couldn't believe this… if her boys ending up taking that money…

**"****You're mental," said George, trying to push it back at Harry.**

**"****No, I'm not," said Harry. "You take it, and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."**

**"****He is mental," Fred said in an almost awed voice.**

"I can't believe this," Molly moaned. "You mean that he gave them a thousand Galleons?"

"If this is right," Sirius said going over it. "And it does sound like something that he would do."

**"****Listen," said Harry firmly. "If you don't take it, I'm throwing it down the drain. I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."**

"He makes a very good point," Sirius said.

**"****Harry," said George weakly, weighing the money bag in his hands, "there's got to be a thousand Galleons in here."**

"See?" Remus pointed out to Molly and Arthur, who were looking torn. "They're refusing it."

**"****Yeah," said Harry, grinning. "Think how many Canary Creams that is."**

"Note to self, don't eat anything the twins give you," said Remus grinning, he thought Harry had made a good choice in giving the money to the twins, it would go to a good cause. And considering how valuable the Marauder's Map has been to Harry, the prize money is probably a fair exchange.

**The twins stared at him.**

**"****Just don't tell your mum where you got it… although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it…"**

"I'm not," she said. "But that wasn't their money."

"But Harry didn't want it," Remus reminded her. "It was his choice to do what he wanted, and it brought back to many bad memories. At least this way, it was going to a cause that would help to create ways to make people laugh."

But Arthur's face was impassive. So Harry was helping out his children more than he ever could. First with Ginny, then Ron, and now with Fred and George. He knew that he shouldn't feel this way, but he couldn't help but feel like a complete failure once again. That a friend of the family seemed be doing more for them than he could…

**"****Harry," Fred began, but Harry pulled out his wand.**

**"****Look," he said flatly, "take it, or I'll hex you. I know some good ones now. Just do me one favor, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they're from you."**

"I wondered why they did that," Molly said, remembering that. Why didn't she see that something was up? Dress robes were expensive… and they weren't exactly known for being particularly kind to Ron.

"It's not like he's giving them much of a choice," Sirius pointed out. "Just think of it that Harry threatened them into taking the gold. They're actually the victims here if you think about it."

**He left the compartment before they could say another word, stepping over Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were still lying on the floor, covered in hex marks.**

"Probably hasn't done anything to hinder their looks," commented Sirius, "If they look anything like their fathers then it might be an improvement."

**Uncle Vernon was waiting beyond the barrier. Mrs. Weasley was close by him. She hugged Harry very tightly when she saw him and whispered in his ear, "I think Dumbledore will let you come to us later in the summer. Keep in touch, Harry."**

"I wish that we got him out of that house sooner," Sirius hissed.

**"****See you. Harry," said Ron, clapping him on the back.**

**"'****Bye, Harry!" said Hermione, and she did something she had never done before, and kissed him on the cheek.**

"Oh, don't tell me that this will turn into a freaky love triangle," Tonks asked worriedly.

Kingsley laughed. "I don't think that we need to worry about something like that."

**"****Harry - thanks," George muttered, while Fred nodded fervently at his side.**

"I can't believe this," Molly said, putting her hand up to rub her eyes. "And they never said a word…?"

"Because Harry was right," Remus said. "You never would've approved."

"But…" she started, but trailed off, unable to finish.

Sirius turned the final page and read out the last part of the book before anyone else could say another word.

**Harry winked at them, turned to Uncle Vernon, and followed him silently from the station. There was no point worrying yet, he told himself, as he got into the back of the Dursleys' car. As Hagrid had said, what would come, would come… and he would have to meet it when it did.**

And that was it. Sirius glanced up at them all and they could see that he was done. He then very slowly and deliberately, shut the cover of the longest book that they ever read. "And that's it," he said with a sigh.

The book just sat there on his lap and they all stared at it for a long time—all of them wondering just what to say and do now.

**(Just the epilogue to go and it'll finally be finished. So if you want to know if I'm doing the Order of the Phoenix, then you have to wait until then so don't you dare ask me. Because I will not answer.)**


	43. Epilogue: The Finale

**Epilogue: The Finale**

**(Make sure to read the P.S. if you want any real information)**

And that was it. Sirius glanced up at them all and they could see that he was done. He then very slowly and deliberately, shut the cover of the longest book that they ever read. "And that's it," he said with a sigh.

The book just sat there on his lap and they all stared at it for a long time—all of them wondering just what to say and do now.

"It's finally over," said Sirius calmly, though it felt like there was a war going on inside him. He felt sick to his stomach having read about his godson's private life. He knew that he would have to tell Harry about all this sooner or later… it didn't seem as bad as when he started reading, but the fact is that he had read about Harry's life, his feelings and all his secrets, without permission.

He felt a stabbing pain of anger at Remus for finding these books. He wished that the werewolf just ignored that room and never found these books. But that was neither here or there anymore. The fact is that he read these books with everyone here.

Suddenly he heard Molly let out a sad sigh.

"Poor thing," she said softly. "It must have really been so hard on him all this time…"

"This summer couldn't have been easy for him," Tonks sighed. "Carrying around all that inside him… he must've been ready to explode."

"Forget the summer," Sirius responded dully. "This whole year must've been hell for him."

"At least it's all over with," Arthur answered him gently. "We finally finished reading all the books. So we don't need to lose anymore sleep over it."

They all sat there in silence for the longest time, trying to think of what they should do now that it was finally over.

"Well," Kingsley finally said. "Now that it's over… maybe we should leave? After all, there's no more reason to stick around…?"

"Probably," Molly said, her eyes were now dry, but still very red. "Yes, I think that it's a good time for us to put all this behind us."

But as they all got up to leave, they noticed that there was still one person sitting.

"What is it now, Mad-Eye?" Tonks asked him in surprise. Moody was sitting in his winged armchair, his hands were folded up and he was leaning his scarred chin upon them, as if lost in thought. His magical eye swirled around to look at them all.

"You really want it to be over?" he asked them all in a surprisingly soft voice. He then reached down at his feet and pulled up the bag that he had with him all day before he threw it over to them.

Remus caught it with a grunt—it was a lot heavier than it looked.

"What is it?" Sirius asked as Remus opened the top and looked in.

"Found it," he answered coolly. "I visited Hogwarts in secret. Favor for Dumbledore you know. But then I found this little treat. I thought that you would prefer if we had it than someone like Umbridge."

"What is it?" Molly asked and she looked over at Remus's astonished face. Pale as the moon that he fears so much, Remus reached in and pulled it out.

It was a book. One larger than even the **Goblet of Fire **book they just got through with…

The cover was in every possible shade of blue… and written on top were eight words in an even darker shade of electric blue…

Remus croaked out, "**Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix**?"

TO BE CONTINUED…

**(End. I originally planned on only doing the first four books, but with all the requests, I felt that I had to do this. Yes, I'm doing the fifth book as well, but you all might have to wait a little longer before I get it up. But I am telling you right now that this will be the last book for this series. I've been thinking about doing a 'Reading the Deathly Hallows' book later on but we'll have to see about that. Also what is the point of writing post scripts if no one bothers to read them? **_**FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME! THE FIRST BOOK WAS DELETED! I MOVED IT TO ANOTHER SITE! IF YOU TAKE THE TIME TO READ THESE THEN YOU WOULD ALREADY KNOW THAT ALL YOU HAD TO DO IS LOOK UP ON MY PROFILE TO GET THE SITE! **_**Sorry for that, it's just that I'm sick of people never bothering to read these and ask me the same questions over and over again. For the last time, if you want to read my Sorcerer's Stone story, I went to the trouble of putting it up on my profile for you guys. I hope that you all take the time to read this and understand… if I get anymore PM's on where that story is, I'm sorry, but I don't intend to answer anymore. I hope that you don't consider this as being rude… but it's just that I don't know how many times I have to repeat myself. It's driving me crazy.)**


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